A British auction house claims to have an authentic (left-hand) glove that the legendary Muhammad Ali used in the June 18, 1963 fight at Wembley Stadium against the British Henry Cooper. The glove, signed by the English boxer and not by Ali, is red, sheepskin and cotton lining. It is sold together with all the documentation that attests to its authenticity..
Where did the glove come from?
The origin of Ali’s glove is linked to its factory, Baily’s Tanneries from Glastonbury who They got an exclusive contract with the British Boxing Board of Control, to make boxing gloves in the most significant fights within the islands. Made by Percy Green, June Griffin and Lilian Whitcome, the glove ended up in the hands of Richard MayersCEO of Baily’s, who gave it along with a handwritten letter and his curriculum vitae, to the family that is selling it today, in 1992.
As a particularity it has a defect in the knuckle area, for which the glove was returned to the factory after the fight, to be analyzed (which is why Mayers kept it). When this met Cooper, in 1980, got him to sign the glove to add more value to it. So far so good but the problem begins when we find out that this is not the first glove that is attributed to that Ali fight that appears on the market, since In 2001, Christie’s auction house auctioned a pair of gloves.it was said, the ones that Ali used at Wembley and that ended up being sold for £37,600.
Detail of the glove at auction
So?
The auction house, based in Somerset, is willing to show, actively and passively, that They have an authentic piece of that historic fight for British boxingand not only does Mayers’ letter and his resume attest to this, but also that They say they are willing to pass a DNA test if necessary.
Additionally, a representative of the auction house stated: “The gloves sold at Christie’s were not authenticsince they were unable to prove its real origin. They have no proof that it was connected to the combat in question because as soon as it was finished, the glove was sent for inspection to the factory where it remained until the director gave it to the mother of the current owner. Christie’s did not want to make any statement on the matter..
When Mayers gave the glove to the mother of the current owner, Simon Hawkins of Seaton, Devon, he did so with a letter that read: “I declare that this glove is genuine and I have always been aware of its meaning and provenance.“Today, the object is kept in a secret warehouse awaiting the auction to be held in June 2025 coinciding with the anniversary of the fight and could reach half a million pounds.
More Ali material up for auction
It is neither the first nor will it be the last of the items related to Muhammad Ali to go up for auction. A few months ago at MARCA we echoed the auction that took place at Sotheby’s New York and in which the pants that Ali wore before Frazier in the ‘Thrilla in Manila’which They were expected to reach 6 million dollars and were auctioned at 3.8 million. It should be noted that that same garment It sold in 2012 for $150,000. and in the month of April of this year it multiplied its value by 40.
