40 years on Bugner reveals what it was like to fight Ali

atsch:nono Woops.... say it right now...the Brits make fun of Yanks for saying this...

 

Cooper did be Zora Foley in his prime, as well as Mildenberger. Those are excellent wins.

 

The fact is Bugner probably under achieved.There's a perception innacurate in my view that Bugner wasn't well liked by the British public because he was a Hungarian refugee. Early in his career he was very popular and got great support,people could see there was great potential in this young 6'4" blond adonis and the country got behind him.
However as time went on it became apparent that despite all his gifts he wasn't really prepared to put it all on the line,and was simply a pacifist and a survivor in there. He got beat off Jack Bodell FFS.
That's why he lost his popularity not because of his ethnic background,at least Cooper could be seen to be having a go.
Overall Bugners achievments are probably better than Coopers but at least Henry went out on his shield either knocked out or a bloodied mess.

 

the real reason of his lack of agression is that he killed a man in an amateur fight.
after that he wasn,t the same.

 

I know. I might have worded it wrong. I meant to say look at all the guys around then. Joe met Ali x2, Frazier, Lyle and Shavers. Foreman, Norton and Quarry were around back then. Strong era. Joe vs Jerry Quarry would have been a nice match.

 

So we give this underacheiver the benefit of the doubt because he fought a guy that died after fighting Joe (as a youngster) and that's the reason he NEVER stepped up and fought in a fight that meant anything?
Emile Griffith killed a man at roughly the same age; granted his KO% dropped off considerably but he had some of his bigger wins after that and was all over Monzon 10 years later!!! P**s on every excuse any Bugner nuthugger wishes to trowel out!

 

Where does this word "underachiever" come from?

When was Joe Bugner the favorite to become the world champion? Who exactly was he favored to beat for the title - was it Joe Frazier, George Foreman or Muhammad Ali?

Or, when he was older, when was he favored to win the title against Larry Holmes or Mike Tyson?

Joe Bugner was NEVER supposed to be the heavyweight champion. He got one title shot, against arguably the best heavyweight ever, and he lost a decision.

He was a top 10 contender throughout most of the 1970s - arguably the best decade in heavyweight history. He has some wins over guys who held "paper" belts - Ellis and Page - but he was never good enough to win it all ... and nobody ever thought he was.

Where are all these articles from the era that say Joe Bugner will be the heavyweight champion of the world or Bugner is better than these other champs? He achieved more than he was supposed to achieve.

He escaped the Soviets invading his country as a child. He became the best heavyweight in Europe. He was a top 10 contender for years during the best period in the division's history. He hung out with celebs and partied in Hollywood. And he became a top 10 contender again in the late 80s, and was on the verge of fighting Tyson, had he beaten Bruno.

Pretty good for some kid from Hungary. If anything, he was an overachiever.

 

Very good points. Even though Ali said he was capable of being World Chalion after their first fight-unless he was just being gracious.

And how about how well he did against Frazier? That was a very close decision, anyone think he actually deserved it?

I did not know all he did/ 83 fights until ancient.

"Bugner continued to fight on against far younger opponents. In 1996 he defeated the respectable Young Haumona for the Pacific and Australasian Heavyweight title, retained it against Waisiki Ligaloa in 1997, added the Australian title by defeating the tough Colin Wilson and defending both titles against [url]Bob Mirovic[/url] in 1998.
In 1998 Bugner's long-term tenacity finally gave him a world crown, albeit a lightly regarded title - the [url]WBF[/url] version of the heavyweight crown - by defeating former WBA World Heavyweight Champion [url]James "Bonecrusher" Smith[/url]. At the age of 48 years and 110 days, it made him the oldest ever boxer to hold a world [url]championship belt[/url].[url][11][/url][url][12][/url]
Bugner was to fight just once more, in 1999 at the age of 49 he defeated the durable fringe contender Levi Billups, after which he finally retired for good".


From: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bugner[/url]


He achieved quite a bit indeed!

 

Good post and I agree,although i've said he under achieved in an earlier post.
What I meant was not that i expected him to be a world champion,I just think with the basic tools he had plus the physique he could have done better.
Many times against mediocre opposition he stank the place out,he got beat off Jack Bodell for FFS.

 

Joe was at one point rated the fifth or sixth best heavy in the world and,considering the era,that was no mean feat. At this juncture only Ali,Frazier,Foreman,Norton and possibly Quarry were rated above him.

Just a little more workrate would have swung that close Ron Lyle decision Joe's way and it would have been rated a respectable victory.

 

It was his seventh pro fight and the tragedy was due
to a previously undiagnosed condition.


1969-03-11 : [url]Joe Bugner[/url] 211¾ lbs beat [url]Ulric Regis[/url] 192 lbs by PTS in round 8 of 8

• Location: Town Hall, Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom
• Referee: [url]Bill Williams[/url] 39½-38½

Regis collapsed the following morning due to a brain injury suffered during the fight and died three days later. An autopsy ruling indicated the death was due to a preexisting medical condition