After winning five and drawing two of his first seven fights, he suffered his first defeat in October 1979 at the hands of future British and Commonwealth welterweight champion Lloyd Hibbert.
Copper was out of the ring for over two years, returning in December 1984 at light middleweight with a win over Martin Patrick.
He faced Patrick again a month later, stopping him in the tenth round to take the BBBofC Southern Area light middleweight title.
Over the next three years he successfully defended his Southern Area title three times against Mick Courtney, each time winning on points, suffered defeats to Nicky Wilshire and French champion Yvon Segor, and beat Gaston Cool.
[2] Cooper's final fight came in March 1989, a win over future British champion and world title challenger Ensley Bingham.