I have never been treated so warm and friendly and I had always said England was my second home.

Even though I’d come to destroy their champion, they treated me with a kindness and courtesy I never felt in my home town Louisville or any city in America.

They even criticised the Queen for meeting with Henry Cooper but not with me.

Jack Solomon, the English promoter, took me to a theatrical outfitter who made up a king’s crown for my head and a royal robe.

I wore it at the weigh-in and announced to the crowd: “I’m the king of the world.”

Now that I look back, I’m surprised at the sense of humour they had. They seemed to understand what I was doing even more than the people back home.

They knew I was campaigning: “This ain’t no jive, Henry Cooper will fall in five.”

The next night, Cooper came out throwing punches with all his might. I outboxed him and, when I started whipping my right to his head, jabbing with combinations, the blood began gurgling out of a cut above his eye.

It was the third round and I moved back because my prediction called for the fifth and I wanted to be on time.

I dropped my guard and glanced down ringside at a screaming woman — Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor.

Suddenly something exploded against my jaw. I was down on the floor. I was dazed and numb. The stadium was roaring. The referee was counting.
But before he said four, the bell rang.

Back in my corner my trainer, Angelo Dundee, discovered that the seam of my boxing glove was busted. It took nearly a minute to make the replacement.

Many times I’ve been asked if I needed the extra minute it took. But the truth is, I wasn’t shaken up that much.

I believe a regular minute would have been enough to clear my head. But of course, the extra minute gave me new vigour and I came out shooting jabs and hard, straight, slashing rights across to the head.

The cut over Cooper’s eye opened again and in the clinches I could see the blood pumping out, gushing out.

It splattered on my chest and trunks, across his face. I looked around for the referee to stop it.

Some of the audience still had hope for Cooper. But for me the fight was over.

The referee finally came up.

No human-being should have to take that kind of a beating just to please a bloodthirsty crowd.