Joe bugner

[jukel123 9,434]

Bugner became public enemy number one when he beat Cooper and left the country.The public never really took to him because he was a Hungarian refugee.

It's difficult for young blokes to understand what Cooper meant to British fans. We loved him. He was genuinely ' our Enery'. He was a 'bleeder' but accepted stoppages because of it with good grace. No tantrums. A gentleman in every sense. 

People criticised Bugner's style for being too cautious. Some say it was because an opponent of his died from injuries he sustained against Joe. They reckon he was never the same after the tragedy. That might be true, but I also think the black Americans changed the Boxing public's mindset. People began to expect knockouts and praised concussive  punchers but Joe was more old school, where dodging punches, defence and footwork were more highly prized.

He was a magnificent physical specimen. I remember him saying he was offered more than he'd ever been paid for a fight to appear in porn. I guess it would have been lady porn or perhaps poofter's porn, lol, but he turned it down in disgust.

As gnash says, in any other time he would have been world champion. Ali himself says he was one of the top three boxers he ever faced.

Afterthought.... Bugner fought Cooper at 21 years of age. He had already had 35  fights. Amazing by today's standards.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by jukel123

[jukel123 9,434]

On 03/09/2025 at 13:01, gnasher16 said:

Shame about Bugner he fought all the big names of his day,could take a good shot just lacked a bit of power himself.....think he had a bit of a raw deal after the Cooper fight and ended up in Oz,then they brought him over for Bruno to bash up but he did better than most people thought.....i remember seeing him spar in the Thomas a Beckett a few times he was a big fella who could box and move,probably would of been a world champion in any other era than the one he boxed in.....Rip.

https://youtu.be/6jd9Xj2tzVI?si=Sg7TtybPo-CtewM2

[Seagull 831]

38 minutes ago, jukel123 said:

Bugner became public enemy number one when he beat Cooper and left the country.The public never really took to him because he was a Hungarian refugee.

It's difficult for young blokes to understand what Cooper meant to British fans. We loved him. He was genuinely ' our Enery'. He was a 'bleeder' but accepted stoppages because of it with good grace. No tantrums. A gentleman in every sense. 

People criticised Bugner's style for being too cautious. Some say it was because an opponent of his died from injuries he sustained against Joe. They reckon he was never the same after the tragedy. That might be true, but I also think the black Americans changed the Boxing public's mindset. People began to expect knockouts and praised concussive  punchers but Joe was more old school, where dodging punches, defence and footwork were more highly prized.

He was a magnificent physical specimen. I remember him saying he was offered more than he'd ever been paid for a fight to appear in porn. I guess it would have been lady porn or perhaps poofter's porn, lol, but he turned it down in disgust.

As gnash says, in any other time he would have been world champion. Ali himself says he was one of the top three boxers he ever faced.

Afterthought.... Bugner fought Cooper at 21 years of age. He had already had 35  fights. Amazing by today's standards.

 

I'm not sure he was good enough to win a world title but he was a solid contender.