Which heavy contender from the 70 s came out looking the best?

Jimmy Young beat Foreman and came close against Ali and Norton - I should think he'll be tough to beat.

 

I agree Solomon. Two wins against Lyle, a win against Foreman and although Ali's my hero I watched that fight and as far as I'm concerned Young won.
Also a draw against Shavers and a controversial loss.

 

Joe Bugner.

He never had any of the defeats that Young had. Bugner never would have drew with Billy Aird.

Nobody knocked Bugner out when he was a contender, he took Ali and Frazier the distance which was more than Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena and Ron Lyle managed.

Years after Lyle, Norton and Young were finished Bugner also beat Page, Tillis and Bey.

 

Young would not have lost to D!ck Hall either. Your point?

 

Page had won3 of his last 6.
Bey 2 of his last 5'
Tillis 2 of his last 6.
Bugner got them at the right time,having said that his name is as credible for the 70's as any other contender who did not wear the crown.

 

My point is for every D!ck Hall there is a Randy Neuman on Jimmy Youngs record. BUgner was a teenager fighting a southpaw journeyman in a learning fight when he dropped that decision to Hall. Even so even by that point Joe had already beat jack O Haloran the giant who beat Cleveland Williams and took Norton the distance.

Bugner then beat Manuel Ramos, Edwardo Corletti, Prescott, Brian London, Roberto Davila, chuck Wepner and Henry Cooper by the time he was 21! He went on to beat Mac Foster, Jimmy Ellis and Jose Luis Garcia and fared better against Ali and Frazier than Jerry Quarry or Ron Lyle ever did.

 

But not bad for a guy Bugners age. Back then those were the guys that guys were getting title shots out of. Who did Tyson beat to get his shot? Biggs beat Bey to get his shot. Douglas got his shot beating Page. Bruno got his shot out of beating Tillis.

 

Surely Young beating Foreman and Lyle (twice), all but beating Ali trumps anything Bugner did? Who by the way got beat off Jack Bodell.

 

Rubbish.

Young was 9-4 when he drew Aird and damaged his hand in the fight from rare accounts yet you've thrust it forward as if it's meaningful. Bugner was 19 fights into his pro career and here you are thrusting excuses forward yet Young receives no such pardon. Hall had lost his prior fight by tko to a guy 12-13-2. He was also a blown up middleweight/light heavyweight.

Your response to my hint at fairness is to go even further left field. Randy is Young's 10th fight for gods sake. Unless these guys were beating Bugner and Young when they were prime they ain't worth bringing up. Mike Weaver was another with plenty of bad early losses before somewhat soaring. Thrusting forth such losses as important in order to denigrate is below shallow.

Young and Bugner are both good shouts. Youngs wins over Foreman, Lyle x 2 and efforts against Norton and Ali would make him almost impossible to toss here for mine. If judged fairly that is.

 

or jack bodell...

 

Young is THE MAN! But damn, Bugner had some career, definitely doesn't get the credit he deserves. You could take any of the top guys of the seventies and go with them, what a talented group. And Solomon, that young loss to Shavers was controversial? How so please? Also, of the guys retaining their marbles, Shavers and Holmes comes to mind, and as far as I know Bugner too

 

I think the longevity that Bugner showed is worth something. He beat Lyle on my score card and young had close fights with Lyle too. Bugner also fought better versions of Ali than Young and Lyle did. His 1973 fight with Ali is more competitive than I imagine Young would fare with that version. Young fought a pretty awful version of Ali who wasn't even in shape. Let's be fair here, Ali would be lucky to beat ANY contender with that performance. Then later Young lost twice to Ossie Ocassio right after his bout with Norton.

I think Bugner, like Young, is about as high as you can get without being a champ. I just think Joe had more fights than Young. Neither are uncrowned champions.

 

I don't know, you'll have to ask Cecil about that!

As for Bugner, you can't fault his longevity, but he doesn't have a single truly world class win. I would say that Quarry, Lyle and Shavers all deserve to be rated ahead of him.