Sad to report that former heavyweight title challenger “Smoking’ ”Bert Cooper passed away on Friday at the age of 53.
John DiSanto of PhillyBoxingHistory.com wrote the following on his Facebook page: “We received the sad news today that Bert Cooper passed away this afternoon (05/10/19). Here is a photo of him at the Briscoe Awards a few weeks ago.”
“Bert gave Evander Holyfield a big scare in a fight for the heavyweight title, fought a true classic with Michael Moorer in Atlantic City, and gave us many, many more memorable nights. Bert was a very good fighter and a true character. I will miss him.”