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Who was the first opponent to force Muhammad Ali to take a count?
Jim Smith, Gateshead

THE JUDGE: Ali was known as Cassius Clay when Sonny Banks dropped him with a left hook in the first round of his eleventh professional fight in New York on February 11 1962. Ali got up at two and forced a fourth-round stoppage. The only other opponents to drop him were Henry Cooper and Joe Frazier, each with left hooks. Chuck Wepner claimed to have knocked him down in the ninth round of their championship contest, but Ali insisted it was a slip and later produced photographic evidence to prove it.

Was Floyd Patterson the first Olympic heavyweight champion to challenge for the professional world heavyweight title?
Ryan Masters, Hereford

THE JUDGE: Floyd Patterson was Olympic champion at middleweight. The first heavyweight gold medallist to challenge for the world title was 1956 Melbourne Games champion Pete Rademacher, who was knocked out in six rounds by Patterson in his professional debut in 1957.

True or false: Alan Minter once beat heavyweight hero Henry Cooper?
Graham McDonald, Brighton

THE JUDGE: Alan Minter knocked out Henry Cooper in one round in London on January 20 1975. It was not Our 'Enery, of course, but an American with the same name. Cooper, now Sir Henry, retired in 1971, a year before Minter turned professional on his way to the world middleweight championship..

How many boxers has manager Terry Lawless guided to world championships?
J. Strong, Colchester, Essex

THE JUDGE: Four: welterweight John H. Stracey, lightweight Jim Watt, light-middleweight Maurice Hope and flyweight Charlie Magri. Lawless also steered Frank Bruno to his first two world title challenges.

Did Vince Hawkins ever fight Stan Rowan for the British middleweight title?
Mike Dyer, Manchester

Vince Hawkins was British middleweight champion from 1946 to 1948; Stan Rowan was British bantamweight champion in 1949. They never fought each other.

Did Scottish world lightweight champions Ken Buchanan and Jim Watt ever fight each other for a title?
Frank Trevorrow, Carlisle

THE JUDGE: They fought for the British lightweight championship in Glasgow on January 29 1973. Buchanan, from Edinburgh, won on points over 15 rounds. Ken had lost the world title to Roberto Duran six months earlier. Watt, from Glasgow, became world champion six years later.

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