GEORGE COOPERGeorge Cooper, the twin brother of Commonwealth heavyweight champion Henry Cooper, died on 11 April, 2010, aged 75.As well as having a boxing career of his own, Mr Cooper helped his brother’s career as a coach and confidant.The Cooper twins were born on 3 May, 1934, and grew up on a council estate in South East London. They inherited their passion for boxing from their father.In his autobiography Henry wrote: “We went to school together, we went boxing together, we were together in the Army. We look alike, we think alike, in temperament we're similar and often we catch ourselves repeating each other's remarks.”They both joined Bellingham Amateur Boxing Club, George fighting as Jim Cooper to avoid confusion with another George Cooper boxing at the time. George could have matched his brother’s progress in the ring, and reportedly had a harder punch, but he suffered a cut eye and broken thumb, as well as a bout of rheumatic fever, which hampered his early career.The brothers Cooper signed professional contracts and fought their first professional bouts on the same bill in 1954. But in 1964 George retired after 16 wins, 14 losses and one draw.The twins were always at ringside for each other’s fights and George remained part of Henry’s entourage for the last decade of his career during which he added the European belt to his haul and came close to beating Cassius Clay in a controversial 1963 fight, before retiring in 1971.
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