Ringside Report Remembers Heavyweight Contender Joe Bugner

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Recently it was my birthday and as I am at an awkward age, people struggle to work out what to buy me for my birthday. The extensive number of books in the kitchen, living room and in our office, do not help apparently as people are confused over what I would like and whether I already have a copy of books that I would enjoy.

Often, I therefore get a book token and find myself down the book store looking at the volumes that I would normally avoid due to them being a bit expensive and as I am a second hand fiend, likely to be a fraction of the price online! The book token therefore gives me choice and I love it.

This time round I knew what particular volume of stories I was after, as I already have Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime, so there is no way I can keep currying favor with my Publisher “Bad” Brad Berkwitt here on RSR since he wrote it! I immediately went to Steve Bunce’s Big Fat Short History of British Boxing. It takes the approach of telling us year by year what happened from 1970 all the way right up to 2016 in British boxing. It’s a great read and Mr Bunce has been my go to guy for opinions and views since I found him on the BBC broadcasts he used to do on a weekly basis. If he does not know the British boxing story, then it is not worth knowing – trust me!

It was as I was dipping into this marvelous volume of stories of his that I was reminded of a controversial figure in British boxing who has had a bit of a raw deal through no fault of his own.

Considering this is a guy who fought the great Ali twice and had been a tremendous figure and storyteller for most of his career it is a bit of a shame. He was able to straddle two eras in British boxing by taking on two of the most popular icons of this sport and take the heat that came with fighting against the heroes of each generation.

Joe Bugner 69-13-1, 43 KO’s, was a boxer who started professionally in 1967 and finally finished in 1999. In between the list of people he fought included Frank Bruno, James Tillis, Ali – twice, Richard Dunn, Joe Frazier, Brian London, Henry Cooper and Ernie Shavers. When you list it like that, you think he would be an icon on pedestals like Bruno and Cooper but I hated Bugner.

It was irrational on my part, though I was not alone and most of us found our distaste for him fueled by the fact that 1, he beat Cooper, 2, he talked funny because he was an immigrant and 3 he then took on Bruno. It was utter nonsense not to give the guy credit for what he achieved and what he contributed and the idea that it was a different time – the 1970’s – is no excuse.

I had the dichotomy early because whilst in Primary School we got a half Hungarian boy come to join our class. He was a little aloof and took time to integrate with us and most of never really got to know Michael Molnar. It was a name that was a bit different from ours and though I cannot remember any overt racism, there must have been implied racism and I cannot discount the issue of Bugner similarly being “different” that fueled our attitudes.

Jozsef Kreul Bugner was the son of parents who had fled persecution from Communist Hungary during the 1956 uprising. In the 1970’s their son was ranked in the top 10 heavyweights of the time and his honors included the British and Commonwealth titles – twice – and three times the European heavyweight championship. He fought for a legitimate world title once, in 1975 against Ali and lost, initially retiring in 1976 but then making comebacks more often than Sinatra.

During those comebacks, and now settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, he managed to win the Australasian and Pacific and Australian title and also the World Boxing Federation title in 1998, at 48 years of age against James “Bonecrusher” Smith.

The greatest crime perpetuated by a man who turned professional in 1967 at the tender age of 17, who lost on his debut and then racked up some impressive wins throughout the late 60’s was ending the career of Henry Cooper early in the next decade. The fight was delayed from 1970 when it was first really touted to 1971 to allow Bugner to become old enough to fight for the Commonwealth belt: you had to be 21 at the time.

15 rounds of boxing for the British, Commonwealth and European titles in March 1971 saw Bugner beat Cooper by ¼ of a point on the card of the single judge – Harry Gibbs. There were plenty who thought Bugner had won it due to his superior defensive boxing and work on the inside whilst others argued Cooper had been far more aggressive and deserved the victory. Whatever the debate, Cooper was never to box again and Bugner became the top heavyweight in the UK rankings but not in the heart of the nation. It was massively unfair as Bugner was to go on and prove how durable he was and how much he deserved to now be in amongst the elite in world boxing.

Even when both Angelo Dundee and Muhammad Ali claimed he was good enough to be a world champion, the British public failed to take heed. Joe Frazier went in against Bugner in 1973 and it was hailed as classic with Frazier beating our Joe over the 12 rounds but again the British public were cool.

His world title fight against Ali in 1975 was in Kuala Lumpur and any previous plaudits for his abilities were wiped out, with smug over opinionated faces telling you he was just a flash in the pan, when he had to fight defensively due to the extreme heat. It was a comfortable fight for Ali and now the heat was truly turned up on Bugner as he thought about his future, the following year he was to retire for the first time.

Bugner was unfortunate to fight British boxing heroes and try and take their mantle at a time in British society where diversity was a dirty word. That he did not achieve the love and fame that his abilities deserved are dreadful. The fact is that if he was staring his career now we would see him mentioned in with the likes of Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte, David Haye and people would think he had a real chance.

It should not take away from his legacy that he came back and fought some questionable fights as he got older because he gave us such entertainment before. Having read again about the fight in 1971 with Cooper it took me seconds to re assess my view of Aussie Joe. Guilt is not an admirable condition but having looked back, I can see just how good he was and how much he contributed to my love of the sport; after all boxing needs two to make a fight. Bugner was always game for that.

Win an autographed copy of Mike Tyson’s autobiography “UNDISPUTED TRUTH” by clicking HERE and subscribing to be entered to win this great prize along with any future ones!

[si-contact-form form=’2′]