Has anyone seen this fight and could they give me some info on it? I've heard Bugner showed a lot of heart in giving Smoking Joe a good scrap but have never been able to get hold of a copy of it,and I'd like to know if it was actually a good fight and how it played out . Thanks.
The entire fight is on youtube.com. Frazier wins the fight by a wide margin, but Bugner puts on a very competitive losing effort. I think the referee's final score (in those days the ref was the only scoring official in English fights) was 6-3-3. Bugner actually hurt Frazier twice with booming right hands, in the fourth and tenth rounds. Bugner also shows that he can take a whale of a punch, and that he has an excellent left jab. Overall, Frazier's relentless attack enabled him to stay ahead on points throughout the fight. He inflicted facial injury on Bugner, and dropped him in the tenth round temporarily with a brutal left hook to the head. Bugner's reputation as a world class heavyweight in the '70s was based mostly on his performance against Frazier. Based on this fight, many observers regarded Bugner as potentially the best heavyweight worldwide outside of Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton.
If you could've transplanted Frazier's heart and fighting spirit into Bugner's body you would've had the best HW in the world at that time and one of the very best at any time. Bugner had all the physical attributes but lacked a little "chutzpa" if you will. Too cautious & unwilling to press the attack more. Still a damn good HW though.
I think Bugner killed someone in the ring earlyin his career, after that, although a decent fighter he lacked kiler instinct.
yes although a losing effort,that was bugners best career performance.this was fraziers first fight after losing the first time to foreman and he came ready and prepared.the bugner camp had done their homework,and the leading right uppercut which foreman had employed to demolish frazier,was used by bugner to good effect and he did hurt frazier a couple of times with it,but he obviously lacked the power of big george and frazier just kept coming on.the posts above are correct about bugner just lacking that extra killer instict to go to the next level.he had talent and durabilty,could survive against any of the top guys of the day,but that was the trouble,it come down to simply survival.
A big 'if'. His best performance ever is judged to be a fight in which he lost. Zero quality wins. Every name guy he beat was past prime. No heart, no fire. Embarrassed himself in the Ali title fight and I paid good money to watch him cover up and bicycle away all night. :twisted: Badmouthed Cooper a while back...at least Henry decked young Clay and decisioned a prime-time Folley which tops anything on Joe's resume...my $0.02
Cooper's win over Folley was regarded as a terrible decision. In the rematch, Folley stopped Cooper in two rounds. As for Bugner's lack of quality wins, it is true that he never beat a bonafide, top tier contender. However Bugner did beat many fighters who were hovering on the edge of the top ten when he defeated them (Ellis, Foster, Cooper, Wepner, Dunn, Garcia, Bey and Page were all ranked 10th to 20th worldwide when they met Bugner). These wins, coupled with the rest of Bugner's record, qualify him as a legitimate top ten contender throughout the '70s, hands down.
Frazier did leave Bugner off the hook at one point and held back. Joe was an intense fighter but also showed compassion. Joe(Frazier) probably would've killed Bugner at one point but didn't really have to in order to get the victory.
Make this a wrap. One small thing to add. Fraizer wore pink trunks in the ring. I think this was a heavyweight first.
The poor buggers name was Ulric Regis. He died a couple of days after losing on points to Joe,but I don't know if it was due to the severity of the beating or not.All I know is that it was said to have affected Joe deeply to the point of him hating boxing,but since it was the only way he knew how to earn a dollar he kept at it.But it does explain the ultra-cautious style he employed afterwards. Very sad.:-(
Ulric Regis; but Bugner with hindsight and irony lacked that killer instinct before Regis. Bugner was not interested in the sport, just the money. That is fair enough, it is after all the toughest sport in the world. But it does frustrate you when you see what Bugner could of been when watching the Smokin' Joe fight.
