He fought Evander Holyfield, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Moorer, Chris Byrd, Ray Mercer, and Corrie Sanders, among others.
Cooper came out of Philadelphia and was trained in his early years by ex-champ Joe Frazier, and rose in the rankings with a series of explosive knockouts in the Cruiserweight division.
However Cooper bounced back in 1991, stopping Joe Hipp in 5 rounds and then being matched on short notice with Evander Holyfield for the undisputed heavyweight championship after two opponents dropped out.
Cooper's career went downhill from this point, being outpointed by veteran Mike Weaver for the obscure National Boxing Association Heavyweight title in China and then losing to prospects like Corrie Sanders, Chris Byrd, Fres Oquendo, and Joe Mesi.
On June 18, 2010, Cooper, aged 44, made a successful comeback after eight years out of the ring, a sixth-round knockout of Corey Winfield in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.