The above picture is of Tsar Nicholas II or Russia, do you see the scar on his forehead? while on tour in Japan before he was made Tsar in 1894, he was attacked by a sword wielding man who gave him his scar. Nicholas' cousin Prince George of Greece parried the second blow with his cane thus saving his life, the attacker's motives are unclear, I suspect penis issues, 95% of men have them , no he wasn't wielding a pork sword or beel bayonet.As it is boxing day I was going to do a post about the Boxer rebellion , but who really gives a shit? well I don't and thats who really counts, so here is one of the most famous British Boxing icons and a little info on him, for those in the know, splash it on all over.
Henry Cooper, shared a locker room with kevin Keegan and his perm.Henry Cooper is often regarded as the most popular of all British boxers and affectionately known to Britons as "Our 'Enry", a reference to his Cockney origins. He was at one time the British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. Cooper fought Muhammad Ali twice, firstly in a non-title fight in 1963 at Wembley Stadium, when Cooper knocked Ali (then Cassius Clay) down in the fourth round with his trademark left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer". The bell rang before Cooper could complete a knockout, and Ali was so dazed that his trainer, Angelo Dundee, cut his glove. Another had to be fetched, giving the future champion time to recover. The British boxing newspaper 'Boxing News' conducted an investigation into the 'split glove' incident in 2003. Using the original television and radio broadcasts to determine length of time between rounds 4 and 5 it was discovered that Cassius Clay only gained 5 seconds extra and not the mythical 3-5 minutes. The gloves were never changed. After this fight a spare pair of gloves was always required ringside. Ali was obviously impressed by the knockdown and on the 40th anniversary telephoned Cooper to reminisce. Ali later said, on British television, that Cooper "had hit him so hard that his ancestors in Africa felt it". In 1966 they met a second time to contest the world title. Cooper succumbed again to his weakness, a tendency to cut, and Ali went on to be "The Greatest".
Where did the name Boxing day come from? well the toffs used to leave their castles the day after Christmas to have sport at the expense of the poor people, they would get the riff raff and cut off their ears and put them into boxes wrap them up and give them to poor children to see the looks of horror on their faces as they realize that have severed ears instead of a toy.
The term to box yer ears is also derived from this practice . Saint Stephen is the patron saint of the deaf.
