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

‘Aussie’ Joe Bugner reveals what it was like to punch his old adversary and friend Muhammad Ali

It’s been 40 years since Joe Bugner went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship of the world. Aussie Joe, 65 this week, has lived on the Gold Coast for more than two decades and recently had a stent placed in his heart. But he comes out swinging to talk about his greatest opponent.

MANY PEOPLE SAY MUHAMMAD ALI WAS THE GREATEST ATHLETE IN HISTORY? WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE?

Very difficult. We fought twice. Ali was so fast and evasive. He was hard to nail with more than one punch at a time but I did manage to get my left jab going in both fights and I connected with plenty of shots. I trained very hard for both fights. I’m proud of the fact that I’m the only man in history to go the distance with both Ali and Joe Frazier. And I went the distance with Ali twice, in 1973 in Las Vegas and again in 1975 in Kuala
Lumpur.

ALI TALKED HIMSELF UP BETTER THAN ANY ATHLETE IN HISTORY. HE CALLED HIMSELF “THE GREATEST.” WAS HE REALLY THAT GOOD OR WAS HIS REPUTATION INFLATED BY THE HYPE?

He was that good. To me he was like football’s Georgie Best, a great natural talent with charisma. He had two great weapons. He was utterly fearless no matter what happened in a fight and he was able to dominate opponents psychologically as much as physically. His speed for a big man was quite incredible. He was the greatest heavyweight of all time in my opinion. He was bigger than the sport of boxing, too. He marketed his own fights and himself unlike any athlete in history.

ALI BECAME SUCH A BIG FACTOR IN YOUR LIFE. WHEN DID YOU FIRST LAY EYES ON HIM?

He came to London in 1963 to fight Henry Cooper, who was a big star in England and a man I eventually beat for the British, Commonwealth and European titles. Ali was still known as Cassius Clay then. The fight was a huge outdoor event at Wembley Stadium. Ali was winning but Cooper landed a big left hook and dropped him at the end of the fourth round just as the bell rang. Ali was badly hurt but he came out the next round and unloaded on Cooper and the fight was stopped because of a bad cut.

THEN HE BECAME THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP?

The next year Ali won the title in a big upset against Sonny Liston, a fighter I later sparred with, a big powerful guy who terrified everyone. But Ali gave him a boxing lesson. Then Ali came back to England in 1966 and stopped Cooper again at ****nal’s Stadium in Highbury in London. Both the Cooper fights were huge news in England. At the time I was a schoolboy more interested in athletics than boxing. I was England’s national junior discus champion at 14. Track and field was my first love but I was also doing boxing training at the Bedford Boys Club and my coach thought I showed a lot of promise.

SO WHEN DID YOU AND ALI FIRST MEET?

In New York in 1969. I was 19 years old and Ali was attempting a comeback after being banned from boxing for three years for refusing to join the American army. I’d been boxing as a professional since 1967 and was seen as a rising star in Britain. My managers took me to America to train with some of the greats. Ali offered me $10,000 — which was a small fortune in those days — to spar with him. I first met him in a coffee shop at
Lowe’s Midtown Hotel in Manhattan while I was having breakfast. There were 200 people surrounding him as soon as he walked in. The first thing he says is ``so you’re this white boy thinks he can whup me? You caaan’t whup me. Man you soooo ugly. Your mamma must have been sad when she had you.’’ I said “Muhammad if you think I’m ugly you haven’t seen my sister.” That stunned him. For the first time in his life he was speechless. But then he came back and said: “Boy, know how fast I am? I’m so fast I can put the light out and be in bed before it gets dark.”

SO HOW DID THE SPARRING GO?

First up we did five rounds at Gil Clancy’s gym in Lower Manhattan. I was very nervous. Ali was already this great figure in sporting history and I was this big lanky teenager. He was a legend, my idol. I had butterflies flying around my stomach at 100 miles an hour. There was a big crowd watching and once again Ali wanted to put on a show. I had one tactic only against him and that was not to let him beat the **** out of me. I was taller than him and had a longer reach so I kept sticking my left jab at him and then covering up when he attacked. I landed plenty of jabs and a few rights. Sparring the master was an education. After the sparring finished Ali told me I hadn’t given him a black eye but a white eye.

YOU BECAME QUITE GOOD FRIENDS WITH HIM AFTER THAT?

We had a good relationship. He and I both liked to joke around. He would hire me as a sparring partner for different fights. I learned so much from him in sparring and all the time I was making my own career as a fighter in England. His jab was the main thing I tried to copy. Fast and snappy, a great weapon in both attack and defence.

SO IN FEBRUARY 1973 YOU FIGHT HIM FOR REAL IN LAS VEGAS. FRANK SINATRA AND SAMMY DAVIS JR ARE RINGSIDE AND YOU HAVE A BIG FIGHT WITH ELVIS PRESLEY ON THE EVE OF THE BOUT?

The night before the Ali fight I told Elvis to go and get stuffed. I was always a big fan of his singing but he lost me that night. He had given Ali this beautiful white robe which had the words ``People’s Choice’’ spelt out in gemstones on the back. Ali was no longer the world champ but was angling to get a fight with the titleholder Joe Frazier. At the time Elvis was performing at the Las Vegas Hilton. Before the fight Elvis invited about 50 or so people to his hotel suite for a party. I was on my best behaviour but I said to him ``Excuse me, Elvis that’s a beautiful robe you gave Ali. I’d love one too because as you know I’m the only one in the fight who is actually a champion.” I had just defended my European championship. But Elvis turns around and says ``Man you’re no champion’’ just like that. He tried to humiliate me. I told Elvis to get stuffed and I walked out. His bodyguard, a guy they called Big Red, comes over and says ``hey man whatya doin ... no one speaks to the King like that.’’ I said ``tell Elvis he’s a ****head.’’

SO FIGHT NIGHT ARRIVES. YOU’RE 22 AND FACING YOUR IDOL, THE BLOKE YOU RECKON IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME. IF YOU WIN YOU MAKE HISTORY. NERVOUS?

I was actually very confident. I was only young but already very experienced. By that stage I’d had 48 professional fights and had beaten Henry Cooper and the best in Europe. I’d also sparred Ali many times so I felt I knew what to do to beat him. I tried very hard and if you watch the fight you see that I came out very aggressively and rocked him in the first round with my right hand. My jab worked well too but Ali was just sharper and faster and he was able to pick me off. He won on points over 12
rounds. Still, I gained a lot of credit on the world stage for giving him a good fight.

WHAT WAS THE TOUGHEST THING FOR YOU TO OVERCOME?

He had speed, great technical skills and of course the confidence to impose his will. I tried to out-jab him because I had the reach advantage but once he got his distance he would counter with his own left hand and bring out combinations of punches from nowhere. I caught him with a beautiful right hand and he said, “Damn, good punch white boy, do it again!” Now, I was only 22 and pretty naive. When I tried the same punch again he was ready and caught me with four solid punches to the jaw.

SO THEN YOU BOTH GO AWAY FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS BEFORE A REMATCH?

My next fight was against Joe Frazier at Earls Court in London. George Foreman, who was the new world heavyweight champion, did the TV commentary and he told viewers he thought I won, but Smokin’ Joe got the decision. Then Ali beat Frazier and stopped Foreman in Zaire to regain the world title. I won eight fights straight between 1973 and 1975 and Ali agreed to a rematch.

HE WOULDN’T GIVE YOU HOME GROUND ADVANTAGE?

No. The fight was in a huge stadium in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia because Ali and his promoter Don King wanted to fight before a big Muslim audience. It was in broad daylight and coming from England I found the heat and humidity overpowering. Lionel Rose beat a Japanese fighter on the undercard. I don’t know whose plan it was to unsettle me but I got a death threat just before the fight. I had all these commandos guarding me from a potential sniper attack but I’m 6ft 4in (193cm) and they were all 5ft 2 (155cm). It wasn’t a lot of protection.
I was very fit but Ali handled the heat better than me. He fought with his hands low but only when he was out of punching range. His radar worked very well and he was able to slip punches and counter when he got in range. When I set myself to punch Ali seemed to know what was coming and he responded in a flash. In the later rounds Ali still had the fitness to dance around me and stay out of any trouble.

continued below....

 

YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH ALI ENDURED?

Yes. I lived in Beverly Hills for 10 years from 1975. My neighbours included Dean Martin and Tom Jones, who was best man at my wedding. Ali had a house in Han**** Park not far from me. Two of my kids went to the same school as Ali’s daughter Laila and I met my wife at Joan Collins’ house.

DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH HIM?

I saw him a few years ago when I was in America but I prefer to remember him when he was at his peak. I spent some time with him at the Sydney Olympics. The Parkinson’s disease had ravaged him even that long ago but he was still too sharp for me. I said to him: “Muhammad, damn you’re lookin’ good’’ and he whispers “Joe Bugner, I wish I could say the same.’’ I gave him a kiss and he froze and said “Don’t do that again.’’ I said “Muhammad it’s a common custom for Europeans.’’ And he says “Man we ain’t in Europe.’’

FOR YOUR FIRST FIGHT WITH ALI YOU RECEIVED $125,000 AND HE RECEIVED $275,000. BIG MONEY FOR 1973 BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU READ FLOYD MAYWEATHER COULD
RECEIVE $200 MILLION FOR FIGHTING MANNY PACQUIAO ON MAY 2?


That’s just absurd. I hope Pacquiao knocks him out. From what I’ve read Mayweather is not a very nice person. Mayweather might be unbeaten but he’s certainly no Muhammad Ali.

Article by Grantlee Kieza

 

I particularly liked Joe's summary of Ali :

"He had two great weapons. He was utterly fearless no matter what happened in a fight and he was able to dominate opponents psychologically as much as physically. His speed for a big man was quite incredible. He was the greatest heavyweight of all time in my opinion. He was bigger than the sport of boxing, too. He marketed his own fights and himself unlike any athlete in history".

 

Eminem who?