how would george foreman and joe bugner go around 1973 / 1974 ????? remember foreman had trouble with boxers peralta 2x and lost to jimmy young in 1977 / joe bugner was 6 foot 4 and 230 lbs and he was a boxer ...would he trouble big george??? discuss?
In the 1st round Bugner lands a hellacious uppercut that stuns Foreman but doesn't move him. After that first round, which Bugner sweeps on all scorecards, Foreman takes control from rounds 2 onwards, even outjabbing Bugner down the stretch, and wins a UD. Bugner then claims after the fight that he broke his hand in the first round.
Bugner's jab and size would pester George for two or three rounds, then George would bust him up and stop him, kind of like the Dino Dennis fight.
I think Bugner's jab and movement help him against Foreman for the first 2 or 3 rounds, unfortunately I don't believe he throws enough to keep Foreman at bay. Joe just wouldn't let his hands go enough to keep himself in the fight. Foreman will cut the ring off on him and bludgeon him in the corner for a TKO stoppage in the 5th round. He can run, but he can't hide.
Not unlike Byrd's viscous fluid uppercut. Have you never seen Bugner throw an uppercut before? He used it extensively in the ams and pulled it out when he needed in the pros. He nicknamed it "The New Yorker", or "The New Yorkshire", one of the two.
That "method" always worked for me. I am a method actor, but never had to act the pull out method. That s h i t was fo real, doe!
After Ali fried his brain (and never gave him a rematch) from 75 forward I saw three fighters that I thought (could) beat George Foreman given styles. Larry Holmes/Jimmy Young/Joe Bugner (given their various attributes) I was a Bugner fan circa 73-74, after his impressive effort against Ali in 73-72?, and his game effort against Joe in 73 (tho I've always said you can't judge a fighter based on a good effort in a LOSS). He got his shot against a (2nd reign, not as good) Ali in July 75. What did this wannabe do? Fought only to survive. Never once in that fight (I saw it on closed-circuit TV) did he exhibit any desire to take charge and try to win that fight. Sorry BoxedEars IMO he's simply a 'blip' on the screen of the many contenders in history. Great chin, big guy, great jab, some stiff punching power (when he choose to use it) with a heart made of 'play-dough'. The 'moderns' would have had him for lunch! Why not throw it all out on the table with his shot in 75? Have you watched that p*ss a** 'effort? Screw Bugner! I don't think he ever wanted anything but to make money off of his skills and never reach down and give a true champion's effort. Henry Cooper, at least, came to fight and gave a gallant effort in every fight he was in. May have beaten Joe in his last fight. He NEVER beat a worthy contender in his entire career! P*ss on the old men he was (decisioning). Cooper's win over Folley in 58-59 (and his clocking of Ali in June 63) see he came to fight Ali not to survive, trumps any win Bugner ever had! P*ss on Bugner!
Bugner more often than not stank the place out. People used to think he got stick from the fans because he was a Hungarian immigrant, that was rubbish. The reason he got stick was because they could see a 6'4" Adonis who seemed to have all the tools, who basically fought like a pacifist, the 2nd fight against Ali he was just happy to be there. You knew it was there lurking below the surface but apart from only occasionally like the Dunn fight it rarely came out. Sure he could go in there against your Ali's, Frazier's and Lyle's and survive, but at the end of the day he was a big disappointment.
Bugner went to the distance with a past prime Frazier and Ali but he hit the deck against Frazier. I think Foreman would have been too much for him early and Joe wasn't speedy or a mover, he could move but not a mover. Foreman gets him RSC by 4-5 rds