Law student Astijus Kazlauskas spars with 1948 boxing legend Ron Cooper

Boxing legend Ron Cooper hands over Olympics torch—from 1948!

Mike Brooke Friday, July 20, 2012
2:52 PM

A symbolic handover ceremony has been carried out with an official torch from the 1948 London Olympics by East End boxing legend Ron Cooper, who competed in the post-war Games 64 years ago.

Ron, now in his 80s, represented Great Britain as a lightweight in 1948.

He passed the torch at a mock ceremony at the University of East London this week to law student Astijus Kazlauskas, an up-and-coming boxer himself.

The veteran boxer said: “If you compare London 2012 with the 1948 Olympics, it’s like chalk and cheese.”

Ron and club coach Mickey May are also official Torchbearers who pound the streets when the relay passes through east London tomorrow (Sat).

The Relay goes by all three UEL campuses at Silvertown and Stratford. The torch disembarks from the Woolwich Ferry at 10.20am and makes its way past UEL’s Docklands campus then the Stratford campus around 12.25pm, on its way along the Bow Road and Mile End Road, through Stepney Green, Whitechapel Road and Commercial Street towards Shoreditch and Hackney.