Jean-Pierre Coopman

Jean-Pierre Coopman (born in Ingelmunster, Belgium, 7 November 1946) is a retired Belgian boxer who is best known for his title fight against Muhammad Ali in 1976, which Ali won by KO^[1] in round 5.^[2]

Early life

Jean-Pierre Coopman was born on 11 July 1946, in the Flemish (northern Belgium) community of Ingelmunster. Early in life, he showed a gift for artistry. He was instructed in sculpting by his stepfather, and Coopman's first fully paid job was as a stone cutter. The stone-cutting he learned from childhood was more specifically that of an artisan. His skills were put to use, among other things, in reparations of the medieval churches of Belgium—most notably, Saint Nicholas' Church in Ghent. By having to perform a kind of historic preservation, using and applying tools from this ancient period, Coopman developed great strength in his arms and hands.

In young adulthood, he appears to have been a lover of night-life, but after sparring several times with Gilbert Montagne, a noted Belgian middleweight, Coopman was urged to pursue a ring career, or at least to try. By his own words, once the decision was made, Coopman at least gave up smoking, and cold turkey at that.

Jean-Pierre Coopman (left), the producer of Camping Cosmos in the middle and Freddy De Kerpel (right) during the shooting of the movie Camping Cosmos, August 1995, Westende, Belgium.

Fighting career

Though best known in fight circles as an opponent of Muhammad Ali, Coopman had been fighting for a half decade, before being granted his title shot at "The Greatest". He began in the amateur ranks, rising quickly enough to compete in the 1971 European Championships, where he was knocked out by a far more experienced (315 fights) Soviet fighter. He turned professional, in 1972.

Coopman fought his early bouts primarily in Belgium, though he is recorded as having lost an early match versus Harald Skog, in Oslo, Norway. Another, more tenuous connection to Ali, is Coopman's loss (via decision) to Rudie Lubbers of The Netherlands, in 1973. Coopman's earlier record, as well shows a disqualification victory over Terry Daniels, who had also received a title shot during his own career, versus Smokin' Joe Frazier, in January 1972. Despite mixed fortunes, Coopman proved popular with his fellow Belgians, and by 1975, was able to pursue boxing as a full-time career; the company which employed him to sculpt, now paid him to fight, instead.

It has often been said of Coopman, that he was one of the least deserving fighters to fight for the heavyweight title. His fight with Ali was regarded as a glorified sparring session. Ali had recently had his third fight with Joe Frazier, the "Thrilla in Manilla", a match Ali later called, "the closest thing to Death." Understandably, the champion wanted an "easy" opponent. The match was made almost by happenstance, as the promotion fell to George Kanter, a Belgian by birth. Kanter, after surveying the European scene, contacted Charles de Jager, Coopman's manager, and shortly on, the match was made. Coopman, unknown outside Belgium, was overwhelmed by the sudden notoriety. Ali, he has always admitted, was a personal hero; from the beginning, he was grateful for the opportunity.

Coopman was dubbed "The Lion of Flanders" by the Western press, but he never called himself that, nor had ever used the moniker. The sobriquet, was thought to be apropos in light of Coopman's birthday (11 July is a national holiday in Flanders, marking a military victory over the French, in 1302). The challenger looked bad enough in sparring sessions, his training was quickly closed to the press.

The fight took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 20 February 1976 at Roberto Clemente Coliseum; the fight was not in any way broadcast by Belgian media as Coopman's native land was the first nation to ban boxing broadcasts. In those days long before Pay-Per-View, CBS Sports broadcast the bout to the USA for free, prime time. The bout itself, little more than a day in the gym for Ali, ended in Round Five. Though stopped, Coopman has always felt it a point of pride, that he emerged relatively unhurt and unmarked.

After the Muhammad Ali fight, Coopman became European champion after beating the Basque, Jose Urtain. Two months later, in Antwerp, he lost the title to Lucien Rodriguez of France. He retired in 1980. His last official fight was against Cookie Wallace.

In 1995 he fought another boxing legend, Freddy De Kerpel, acting in the film Camping Cosmos.

As of 2007 Coopman was painting oil paintings of famous boxers. He had, long before that time, painted a portrait of Ali, taken by way of visual reference, from a celebrated photo by Neil Leifer. He was also awarded the contract to sculpt a statue of Cyril Delannoit, a Belgian fighter acclaimed in his day, for having defeated Marcel Cerdan (1948; Brussels).

Coopman is the subject of "Lion", a tongue-in-cheek tribute by songwriter Freddy Blohm.

Professional boxing record

36 Wins (20 knockouts, 13 decisions, 3 DQ), 16 Losses (6 knockouts, 9 decisions, 1 DQ), 2 Draws [3]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Draw	36-16-2	Freddy De Kerpel	MD	6	05/04/1999	Ghent, East Flanders	57-57, 58-58, 57-58.
Loss	36-16-1	Dragomir Milo Popovic	TKO	5	16/05/1981	Liege
Win	36-15-1	Vincenzo Pesapane	TKO	3	03/04/1981	Piacenza, Emilia Romagna
Loss	35-15-1	Pierre Babo Kabassu	PTS	8	25/12/1980	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	35-14-1	Rudie Lubbers	TKO	5	29/09/1980	Energiehal, Rotterdam
Loss	35-13-1	Albert Syben	PTS	10	27/06/1980	Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Brussels
Loss	35-12-1	Winston Allen	KO	1	01/05/1980	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	35-11-1	Denton Ruddock	PTS	10	02/02/1980	Turnhout, Antwerp
Loss	34-11-1	Avenamar Peralta	PTS	10	25/12/1979	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	34-10-1	George Butzbach	PTS	10	01/11/1979	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	34-9-1	Rudy Gauwe	PTS	12	30/09/1978	Turnhout, Antwerp	Belgium Heavyweight Title.
Win	34-8-1	Scotty Welsh	DQ	1	02/09/1978	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	33-8-1	Mario Baruzzi	TKO	6	22/04/1978	La Louviere, Hainaut
Win	32-8-1	Santiago Alberto Lovell	TKO	3	11/02/1978	Liege
Loss	31-8-1	Alfredo Evangelista	KO	1	26/11/1977	Brussels	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Draw	31-7-1	Tony Moore	PTS	10	01/11/1977	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	31-7	Kurt Luedecke	PTS	10	09/09/1977	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	30-7	Lucien Rodriguez	UD	15	07/05/1977	Antwerp	EBU Heavyweight Title. 139-150, 139-150, 142-150.
Win	30-6	Jose Manuel Urtain	KO	4	12/03/1977	Sportpaleis, Antwerp	EBU Heavyweight Title.
Loss	29-6	Lucien Rodriguez	PTS	10	15/01/1977	Brussels
Win	29-5	Neville Meade	PTS	10	25/12/1976	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	28-5	Roy Wallace	PTS	10	20/11/1976	Liege
Win	27-5	George Jerome	KO	4	01/11/1976	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	26-5	Hennie Thoonen	TKO	6	09/10/1976	Antwerp
Loss	25-5	Hennie Thoonen	DQ	5	31/05/1976	Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam
Win	25-4	Ba Sounkalo	PTS	10	07/05/1976	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	24-4	Muhammad Ali	KO	5	20/02/1976	Roberto Clemente Coliseum, Hato Rey	WBC/WBA World Heavyweight Titles. Coopman knocked out at 2:46 of the fifth round.
Win	24-3	Lisimo Obutobe	TKO	7	01/11/1975	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	23-3	Domingo Silveira	PTS	10	04/10/1975	Antwerp
Win	22-3	Terry Daniels	DQ	7	17/05/1975	Antwerp
Win	21-3	Karsten Honhold	TKO	6	12/04/1975	Menen, West Flanders
Win	20-3	Jan Lubbers	PTS	10	14/03/1975	Bruges, West Flanders
Win	19-3	Adriano Rosati	TKO	5	21/02/1975	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	18-3	Charley Green	KO	8	17/01/1975	Ghent, East Flanders
Win	17-3	Vasco Faustino	PTS	10	25/12/1974	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	16-3	Bernd August	PTS	10	22/11/1974	Ghent, East Flanders
Win	15-3	Lino Finotti	KO	4	01/11/1974	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	14-3	Rocky Campbell	KO	6	27/09/1974	Turnhout, Antwerp
Loss	13-3	Rudie Lubbers	PTS	10	27/04/1974	Ghent, East Flanders
Win	13-2	Ferenc Kristofcsak	DQ	3	22/02/1974	Roulers, West Flanders
Win	12-2	Ireno Werleman	KO	1	25/01/1974	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	11-2	Jean Belval	PTS	6	23/12/1973	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	10-2	Horst Lang	KO	3	16/11/1973	Ghent, East Flanders
Win	9-2	Erwin Josefa	KO	3	01/11/1973	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	8-2	Juan Rodriguez	TKO	3	08/09/1973	Izegem, West Flanders
Loss	7-2	Ireno Werleman	KO	2	18/05/1973	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	7-1	Ray Philippe	KO	5	05/05/1973	Ghent, East Flanders
Win	6-1	Ermanno Festorazzi	PTS	6	16/03/1973	Ingelmunster, West Flanders
Win	5-1	Gino Martinis	PTS	6	16/02/1973	Ingelmunster, West Flanders
Loss	4-1	Harald Skog	PTS	6	25/01/1973	Messehallen, Oslo
Win	4-0	Kilani Ramdani	PTS	6	25/12/1972	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	3-0	Antonio Rimasti	KO	4	08/12/1972	Tournai, Hainaut
Win	2-0	Siegfried Ackers	TKO	2	01/11/1972	Izegem, West Flanders
Win	1-0	Norbert Suehrig	TKO	3	29/09/1972	Menen, West Flanders

References