Gimme a break. Ali had predicted a 5th round stoppage and was just trying to protect that prediction. It caused a lapse in concentration due to overconfidence and he got caught. He got up immediately dusted it off and finished cooper in the next round according to his prediction. Cooper was not competitive in that fight at all. Secondly even though Liston was his next fight Ali was still green and undeveloped in that first cooper fight and arguably also in the Liston fight. Post Liston 1 , Ali was clearly a bigger and more mature fighter than pre.
Ali essentially toyed and played with Cooper in their first meeting. It was a wake up call after he hit the deck and it was during the 5th when he woke up and switched through the gears. Cooper was basically Ali's puppet on string in their second fight. It was like picking apples from a tree, with the odd apple falling off and hitting you in the face .
You could actually give Cooper the first four rounds from their first fight. He took the fight to Ali and did land the heavier, more eye-catching shots as Ali peppered him with the jab and didn't really land much at all in terms of power shots. It was one-way traffic in the rematch.
:: Not in my head haha. You could say Ali gave away those early rounds (first fight). He didn't throw much with intent whereas Cooper did (and landed), but Ali always seemed in control of proceedings.
