Joe Bugner: Tough competitor who always welcomed a challenge
Tough enough to take both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier the distance, Joe Bugner earned grudging admiration for his abilities but was starved of the adoration a British heavyweight typically commands.
His Hungarian roots and a safety-first style might have contributed to the apathy but UK fans and media never got over his close and controversial win over national treasure Henry Cooper, when Bugner was 21.
It was Bugner’s second shot at Ali, having fallen short in 1973, the year in which he also took on Frazier. Ali and Frazier shared 10 opponents and Bugner is the only fighter neither could finish.
Bugner always welcomed a challenge in a career that spanned four decades and encompassed 69 wins, 13 defeats and one draw, once remarking: “Get me Jesus Christ and I’ll fight him tomorrow.”
A love-hate relationship with the sport saw the 6ft 4in curly blond-haired Bugner retire more than once but he was welcomed with open arms after emigrating to Australia in the mid-1980s, dubbed ‘Aussie Joe’ as he finally found the affection he was looking for.
Bugner reflected his mother “had more balls than anyone I have met in the boxing ring” after the family settled in St Ives in Cambridgeshire and it is likely he inherited her strength and resilience.
After being advised to turn professional at 17 in 1967, Bugner bounced back from being knocked out on his debut by a bus driver to win 31 of his next 33 bouts before a seminal meeting with Cooper in 1971.
Cooper’s retirement party was spoiled by referee Harry Gibbs, who after 15 gruelling rounds awarded young upstart Bugner victory by a quarter of a point, when fights were scored in fractions.
His sculpted face and torso plus a defensive approach that relied heavily on a ramrod jab led to celebrated sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney remarking Bugner possessed “the physique of a Greek statue but with fewer moves”.
He heard the final bell in 1973 in 12-round contests against boxing royalty in Ali then Frazier, who knocked Bugner down but neither of the decorated Americans could get the stoppage.
An eight-fight winning streak earned Bugner another crack at Ali, a few months removed from regaining the world title in the Rumble in the Jungle. While George Foreman was powerless to resist Ali’s whirring fists, Bugner went 15 rounds with the champion but his face was bloodied and swollen.
Bugner retired for the first time afterwards but was back within a few months, knocking out Richard Dunn in a round in 1976 to regain the British, Commonwealth and European belts.
However, his love for boxing had clearly waned and he fought sporadically for the next decade, ending his career seemingly for good after being stopped by Frank Bruno in eight rounds at White Hart Lane in 1987.
By that point, Bugner was living in Australia, where he made a comeback in 1995 amid financial strife. Despite his advancing years, Bugner won the Australia heavyweight title and the lightly-regarded WBF title before hanging up the gloves for good in 1999 at the age of 49.
He dabbled in the film industry either side of retirement, appearing in the 1994 action-thriller Street Fighter alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Kylie Minogue while he was a contestant in the television show ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here’ in 2009.
Bugner spent the final years of his life in a Brisbane care home after being diagnosed with dementia. He is survived by his three children: James, Joe Jr and Amy.