Joe bugner

[jukel123 9,449]

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 yesterday at 16:12 by jukel123

[jukel123 9,449]

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 841]

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.

[gnasher16 31,565]

18 hours ago, jukel123 said:

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

Good clip that is mate thanks for posting it never seen that before..... i didnt know he was involved in a ring tragedy,interesting that.

Dont know if you've ever watched that Cooper/Bugner fight but i remember watching it years ago thinking it was a close fight that could have gone either way yet Harry Carpenters commentary made it sound like a total robbery.....as you say Cooper was the nations darling.

Not sure if its even available to watch still but the Bugner/Frazier fight was a good close fight, i remember folk saying his most disappointing fight was against Earnie Shavers he'd taken it on short notice and was carrying weight and got done in a couple of rounds but for the most part i certainly think Bugner was able to raise his game for the bigger names.

[jukel123 9,449]

4 hours ago, gnasher16 said:

Good clip that is mate thanks for posting it never seen that before..... i didnt know he was involved in a ring tragedy,interesting that.

Dont know if you've ever watched that Cooper/Bugner fight but i remember watching it years ago thinking it was a close fight that could have gone either way yet Harry Carpenters commentary made it sound like a total robbery.....as you say Cooper was the nations darling.

Not sure if its even available to watch still but the Bugner/Frazier fight was a good close fight, i remember folk saying his most disappointing fight was against Earnie Shavers he'd taken it on short notice and was carrying weight and got done in a couple of rounds but for the most part i certainly think Bugner was able to raise his game for the bigger names.

I remember a particular fight on TV where Bugner was blatantly nutted.

Bugner lost his rag and after the ref paused the fight and warned his opponent, Joe came out absolutely furious. He launched a barrage of punches and knocked the fella out.

The papers next day were full of praise for him and we all hoped we would see a new Bugner in his next fight. But he reverted back to his old ways.

I rated him highly despite his style.

You are right his Frazier fight was very close.

I think he did win the Cooper fight. Harry Carpenter was out of order saying " how can you take the man's three titles like that". I think that comment helped turn the public against him.

Thr British public can be very fickle. They took to Bruno but not Bugner. Even before his controversial win against Cooper,  people were cool about  Bugner. I guess he was a natural counter puncher and not a come forward type.

When Bugner fought Bruno it was like ' come on Frank, punish that so and so for stealing the title from 'our enery'. Bugner was way out of shape but put up a decent show before eventually being overpowered by Bruno"s fire power.