How good was Joe Bugner in the 1970s

Joe bugner was the best that the British had to offer in terms of heavyweight boxers during the 70s .

After studying some tapes on him he was a VERY capable fighter , but just seemed to lack the passion to win .

How would he fair in todays heavyweight scene?, alot of people forget Joe Bugner during the 1970s, but he gave Ali and Frazier a good fright .

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Lack of passion may have been due to him accidentally killing a man in the ring very early in his career.

 

An excellent athlete turned boxer who wasn't the same after the death of Ulric Regis - didn't have the desire to attack consistently, too reliant upon his defense.

 

Joe would do well today, would likely win a belt before losing it in an uninspired performance to someone he should have beaten. As you already pointed out in your opening post his lack of inner fire would always mean he would never hold on to any belt for long, he just wasn`t a fighter at heart. He was a very capable boxer though and knew he could make some dough from fighting so he stuck with it, but he was always conscious of wanting to keep his brains intact after he retired and thus he fought accordingly by employing a mainly safety first style.

 

I'm with the Bull once again ...

 

Having heard him commentate I think his plan of keeping his brains intact failed miserably.

 

Bugner was unquestionably a world class heavyweight, and he was a legitimate top 10 contender for most of the '70s. Many boxing fans and journalists fail to give Bugner credit for this. As a result, many of today's fans don't realize how good Bugner was.

I followed Bugner's career in the '70s, and here's how I'd rate Bugner relative to his peers in the 1972-77 period (pre-Larry Holmes period):

Guys who were better than Bugner:

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Frazier
3. George Foreman
4. Ken Norton
5. Jerry Quarry
6. Jimmy Young

Guys who were roughly equal to Bugner (winner would depend on who was having the better day):

1. Ron Lyle
2. Ernie Shavers
3. Oscar Bonavena

Guys who Bugner could definitely beat:

1. Jimmy Ellis
2. Floyd Patterson
3. Duane Bobick
4. Stan Ward
5. Ernie Terrell
6. Chuck Wepner
7. Scott LeDoux
8. Mac Foster
9. Al "Blue" Lewis

As to Bugner supposedly lacking "passion" or aggressive drive, I disagree. I think Bugner was just not a natural offensive fighter, hence he seemed passive too often. Bugner functioned chiefly by fighting defensively, waiting his opponent out, and dominating with his lightning quick left jab. He tended not to take chances.

Strong fighters who could force Bugner into his defensive shell gave him trouble.

 

Bugner was a very talented fighter although not a huge puncher ...

There is a very good doc on him on Youtube you can access that is very interesting about his fight with Henry Cooper ...

 

Joe was a big strong kid who did not too hard, could box a little but was content with going through the motions and surviving..His size was a factor vs Ali and Frazier but he did not really fight like he thought he could win, still there was a lot of garbage in the 70's and Joe was not garbage...He would get blasted by Vlad or Vitali and Valuev and Chagaev should have no touble beating him

 

oh c'mon, valuev is hopeless.

 

:rofl:rofl:rofl

 

Different styles but...a bit 'Larry Donald' if you see what I mean.
Certainly had the tools to succeed at the top level, and had some good wins, but you're left feeling they never quite brought everything to the ring.

 

1970's or 2000's Joe would always find a way to blow it. The Frazier fight showed Bugner could easily compete with any fighter now a days, but Joe was just glad to be there and not prepared to go the extra mile to make him a champ.

Say what you want about the Klitschko's, but they do train properly and do what it takes to get the job done, something I never saw Joe do against the best, the Frazier fight just proving the rule.

 

Bugner would probably have stood a 50/50 chance of victory against Valuev and Chagaev. In fact, I might even give Bugner a very slight edge against both guys.

The Klitschko brothers would have beaten Bugner decisively, but Bugner would have gone the distance in both cases. Here, Bugner's durability, size, and defensive acumen would see him through to the final bell.

 

Tbooze, the Frazier of the Bugner fight was not,,,,smoking Joe by any means. Joe was in slow motion sparring the whole way and when he floored Bugner he held back on his follow up hook as Bugner was going down. Later Joe was asked why he held back that punch on the wide open Englishman and he said, I didn't want my mom to be mad at me. Now you tell me that was a fired up Frazier!