I liked Joe Bugner. I remember all his fights from Cooper onwards. The British media didn't like him and they didn't waste time trying to put him down whenever they had the chance. The man stood toe to toe with the supreme best boxers on the planet and anyone that stood there like that deserves high respect.
He really did fight the greats but never got the credit he deserved, I think that may have been part of him not seeming to have the necessary desire to win.
Absolutely! 70s was the best era for the heavyweight division. So many great fighters, and the division was deeper than it ever been before or after. The next closest decade for best heavyweights was the 90s, but 70s was better
Joe Bugner was a pretty good heavyweight boxer who was among the very best Britain produced. He was very much underrated and unfortunately fought in one of the toughest eras of boxing when, Ali, Foreman, Frazier and others reigned supreme. He handled himself really well against Sonny Liston when sparring. He also rocked Joe Frazier with an uppercut and again fought an excellent fight with the nod going to Joe. He had a great physique but lacked punching power but had stamina and a solid chin.
@@ravenaussie3760 Yes Bunger was born in Szoreg, Hungary, and after the Soviet invasion, he immigrated to the UK and in terms of boxing was the product of Britain.
After a period of inactivity, Bugner could have a chosen a easier opportunity for his comeback than Shavers. He picked up his career in the uk after this and eventually lost to Frank Bruno. The last time he fought was in Australia where he fought Bonecrusher Smith for the WBO Heavyweight championship. Although not in the same league as Ali, Frazier and Foreman he was still a very difficult opponent. Well done on a great career Joe.
yea, Lord, not a good choice in Shavers. The general public wont rate Bruno beating big Joe, but that was actually a great performance by Bruno, as Joe said "You had to be good to stop me!" he was right
His fight against Smith was the lesser WBF title, but still impressive he won a minor world title at near 50. And yeah during his 80s comeback Joe was lackluster, Shavers was a terrible choice to come back to. And foreshadowed his disappointing fights to come.
Marvelous Marvin Hagler got it right when commentating on a Harrison fight ... he kept referring to him as 'Audrey'! (Ps the incorrect spelling of 'marvellous' is part of Hagler's legal name).
Audley Harrison was loaded with talent, a big man who had speed and boxing skill. His career was a disappointment. He lost fights that he should have won, to Dominic Guinn and then to Michael Sprott. He was 39 years old when he was stopped by David Haye. To his credit, he knocked out Sprott in their rematch 3 years after their first fight.
Reading the comments boxer's get more respect after they have retired then they did during their careers I remember no one had a good word to say about Joe
Gotta give props to Bugner he fought about everyone there was to fight back then, twice with ALi, Frazier etc. If the Bug had a big punch it would have been lights out for a lot of people he faced. Gotta love a fighter who lays it all in the ring.
Apparently a guy died after fighting him ( think it was a punch) when coming up though the amateurs, always reminded me of that film with John Wayne ( the quite man) l remember reading about It and it never left him. He was Hungarian, and escape though bared wire with his family as a boy from Eastern Europe, whilst under Soviet control Hope lm wrong but pretty sure lm right, that's why he seamed to always hold back, great boxer , better than copper, but treated disgraceful by some of my countrymen, he stood toe to toe with the best one of the greatest heavyweights of all time vastly uderrated Australia gain was our lost
An ex bareknuckle heavyweight/pro boxer who has sparred with the best and fougonht some top guys in the ring and the cobbles, rarely if at all losing; he said Bugner is the hardest individual he's ever come across!
what makes boxers great is taking on competition that is equal or better and defeating them. Joe bugner fought the best of his time, Muhammad ali, Earnie Shavers, Joe frazier, chuck wepner,ronny lyle, Greg Page, Frank Bruno, James smith, and more. If anything the guy was managed right, He fought all the greats of his time and never backed down. Thats called boxing.
Man Earnie Shavers hit hard, you can just hear the sound of his big punches when they connect. That being said, Earnie didn't have particularly fast hands and regarded a jab as "what's that?" Given his technique of stalking and throwing bombs he was effective because of his extreme power, boxing people rate him as the hardest puncher of all-time even above Foreman.
Shavers always came of as a nice guy in interviews but in every fight he holds behind the head and then throws a vicious right uppercut that's how he got the 1st knockdown against bugner and many more
Watch this! Shavers v Quarry. Ali messing with both Frazier AND foreman at the start is classic! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uZw1GxU5C_I.html
Had the pleasure of meeting Aussie Jo back in '94 when he was a very special guest at our Australian Army boxing night at Kapooka - Wagga NSW ...Top fella..
I saw Joe sparring at the Jimmy Ellis Gym on Main Street in Venice, California. Joe was wearing headgear, and this sparring partner almost as big as he was, hit him in the side of the head so hard, it sounded like an axe hitting a tree. Joe just blinked and continued sparring. That punch, well, a lot of guys would have been knocked out. I'd have probably been killed if it was me. He was a total professional. It was just a day at the office for him.
Wow ! I remember this. I was there. Undercard on one of Salvador Sanchez's last fights a few months before he was to die in a tragic car accident. Larry Holmes also showed up to promote his upcoming fight with Gerry Cooney by sparring three exhibition bouts before addressing the crowd. 1982... Hard to believe it's been that long ago.
respect to Bugner in this one. He took some hard shots but he was getting some inside shots in himself. I think Shavers was on his way to a win anyway, but you can never tell. Two tough hombres...
It was a few ring-leaders in the media who crushed Joe's name into the dirt. The millions of British fans just followed them like sheep, wrecking his career and his name. He never made the money he deserved because of them, which is why he was forced to come out of retirement when he was way passed it. It took a lot of guts to carry on, when he kept getting booed in his own country.
Bugner was unpopular with British fans because he was not really British and retired Henry Cooper, who was very popular in what many thought was an unfair decision by a referee with an agenda. You did not have to be told that by the media of be a sheep for that to be the case. I am also not quite sure how the British media had anything to do with the money Bugner made in big fights against the likes of Ali twice and Frazier, who in his case came to London to fight.
Joe B was born Hungarian, then became "British", then became "Australian" (where he called himself "Aussie Joe"). It's difficult to tell what his "own country", as you put it, was.
Joe was a very game bloke and fought the best, losing against them but he didn't dodge anyone that's for sure. He just wasn't British, he was Hungarian. I don't know why the British in general never took to him as an outsider, but he wasn't at all popular.
Shavers was the much smaller man on this occasion, he looked like he was chopping an old oak tree down. !! Respect to Bugnar he was always a tough opponent.
Tough break for Bugner, who was standing up to Shavers's power before getting cut. In my opinion, at least, if Bugner hadn't been cut, he probably would have outlasted Shavers in a test of stamina. Shavers was known for unloading overwhelming attacks in the early rounds, projecting massive power in all his shots. Generally, if Shavers didn't finish the job by the fourth or fifth round, he was winded and vulnerable. Bugner certainly displays a great chin in this fight, as he withstands bombs that would have knocked most guys unconscious. Something important to keep in mind here is that this is Bugner's first serious fight in five years. That's a long period of inactivity. No doubt Bugner was ring rusty on this night. In retrospect, it's obvious that he made a big mistake in facing a formidable fighter like Shavers in his first bout after such a long period of inactivity. A senseless mistake, really.
I agree that Joe was well and truly in this fight at the time of the stoppage. Had the fight continued my money would have been on Bugner for the reasons you mention.
Spot on. Its quite baffling. The UK customarily attracted american heavyweights over in the 80's.Joe shouldve eased his way back in. What he did in Australia beating tillis,bey and page was exceptional....Foremanesque....but baffling again that he signs to fight bruno and comes in 25lbs overweight....up there with the decision to fight shavers when he did
@@Anthony-Testicali I agree that Bugner's 1982 UK comeback should have been handled in the same manner as Foreman's 1987 return. By this I mean Bugner should have been given, maybe, ten or 11 easy fights before facing a world ranked contender. For whatever reason, in 1983 Joe was rushed into action against Marvis Frazier. Given Bugner's style (overly defensive, low punch output rate, and inconsistent punching power), the swarming Frazier was not a good choice of opponent, and Joe dropped a decision. I guess Bugner's UK promoter at the time didn't want to invest too much money in his comeback. That may explain why the promoter and Bugner settled for the first contender offered to them (Marvis Frazier). That's a shame, because had Bugner been able to fight several of the other lower top-ten heavyweights of 1983, such as Tex Cobb, James Tillis, Reynaldo Snipes, and Trevor Berbick, he probably would have won, and then cashed out with a title fight against one of the champions.
@@Anthony-Testicali Something else about Bugner's 1982-83 UK comeback that must be considered is his lack of popularity with the English public. That may explain why Bugner's promoter was hesitant to give Joe a carefully orchestrated, long-term build-up of the sort that Foreman got in the late 1980s. That's just my guess.
Shavers has the highest KO percentage in the heavyweight division. Apart from Sam Langford (a boxer from the Dempsey era), Shavers may very well be the best heavyweight boxer never to have won a championship.
I remember watching him whip Ali's a$$ for 14 rounds, and then saw the bout handed to the champ on the basis of a final round flurry...I guess to become the champ, you really do have to BEAT the champ.
@@chokkan7 In the mid-70s, Ali had won several rather controversial fights. IMO, Ali lost against Jimmy Young, Ken Norton (in their second fight) and Ernie Shavers. Ali's last fight of any real quality was the second Spinks fight. He should have retired after that one.
Couple of tough SOB's. Bugner had a granite chin to have taken those shots. Shavers was a great puncher. Both would easily beat the faux champs of today.
***** Shavers would certainly have a puncher's chance against Vlad (especially younger Vlad) but older, smarter Vlad would jab-and-hold him all night until he ran out of steam, and then kill him with 1-2s. Bugner would get wiped out.
Calm down, slugger. I wasn't referring to Vitali at all-- I was talking about the younger version of Vlad (you know, the one that got knocked out by guys like Corrie Sanders and Lamont Brewster) in contrast to "older" Vlad (the one who hasn't been down in nearly a decade).Sorry if I was unclear.
***** No worries at all-- I've seen those guys too! The ones who would bet their lives that some of the slow 200-lb boxers of yesteryear would "destroy" the Klitschkos...
Respect to Joe Bugner - He was a true Champion - He was often criticised for lacking natural aggression in the ring but Bugner's heart was never in boxing after, Ulric Regis, died from brain injuries soon after being outpointed by Bugner at London's Shoreditch Town Hall. and it's been said that Bugner never punched his full weight after that. The 23-year-old Bugner lost a twelve-rounder by decision to both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Although the scorecards in the Ali fight were somewhat lopsided, Bugner fought well. After their bout, Ali declared that Bugner was capable of being world champion and Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee agreed. The fight with Frazier in July 1973 at Earls Court in London was deemed a classic. After being knocked down by a tremendous left hook in the tenth round, Bugner arose and staggered Frazier to close the round. Frazier took the decision, but only narrowly, and arguably only George Foreman and Muhammad Ali ever gave Frazier a harder fight. In 1998 Bugner's long-term tenacity finally gave him a world crown, the WBF version of the heavyweight crown - by defeating former WBA World Heavyweight Champion James "Bonecrusher" Smith. At the age of 48 years and 110 days, it made him the oldest ever boxer to hold a world championship belt - RESPECT TO JOE
@@Doordas uhh..no lol shavers was way harder of a puncher lol..sry but no one had the right hand like shavers..lol study ur boxing foo..even Ali said that himself when asked who was the strongest puncher he faced..so i take Ali's word on it.
@@TheOneAndOnlyZelenkaGuruHe did hit Ali, they actually fought twice, it's not only the famous fight of the knockout, first time went 15 rounds and Ali smashed Liston and of course sonny punched him
Joe Bugner was a very good fighter. British never forgave him for a points win over Henry Cooper in Coopers final fight. Bugner took the British, European and Empire titles, I Henry's final defence. Bugner was a good fighter with a devastating punch but, like Max Baer before him, killed an opponent and he never unleashed his bombs again, but got by with boxing skills and his granite chin.
For the umpteenth time Shavers got away with illegally holding an opponent behind the neck while simultaneously throwing the right upper cut. That's the same illegal maneuver Shavers used to knock out Jimmy Ellis. Bugner was able to get up from that punch because of his good chin. If you watch Shavers' other fights you'll see him attempt that same maneuver again and again when he gets in close.
Joe Bugner was the inspiration for "Glass Joe" in the Punch Out video game from the 80's. First thing I thought of upon seeing the thumbnail, lol. Kind of unfair to the real Joe. Tough cat who fought in era of absolute giants. And everyone had a glass jaw vs Shavers; the dude had the friggin death touch, man.
@@dustylover100 I played it in a pub in Kent in the 90’s! It was called mike Tyson’s punch out. I got to Tyson a few times but he was literally impossible to beat!
@TheEnlightened77 Bugner was an oddity. He was actually capable of hitting pretty hard but the style of fighting that he learned as an amateur was an upright one. So it was instinct for him not to bend his body very much or use any shoulder / body roll to generate power when he was hooking. He was effectively an arm puncher in most of his fights. It was rare, but on occasion he got mad and let the punches go. His KO of Richard Dunn is an example.
Bugner was the toughest and best white boxer of the 70s who went the distance with Lyle, Frazier and many others that none of the other white boxers who challenged them could accomplish this much punishment, skill and technique with these opponents as he never got the credit he deserved.
Website guy Yes, I agree, they all had their weird if not cheating tactics and behaviours... Although I sincerely doubt Holyfield's headbutts were on purpose. Some are the result of two heads clashing, the other guy getting the worst of it: see the first Tyson fight. After the first butt, resulting in the opening of the main cut on Tyson's eyebrow, comes the second butt (more visible on screen), causing Tyson to crouch in pain. That time, it's claimed Holy butted him. But instead, it's Tyson's head litterally smashing into Holy's head. My point of view.
Bugner was born in Hungary and left when he was 5. He was raised in the UK, and represented the UK as a boxer. He even referred to Britain as "my country". Bob Hope was born in Britain, that doesn't mean he was British.
Monster puncher. He was only right over the heavyweight weight limit though correct? I want to say I seen him listed at 202lbs for a fight. I Could be wrong.
I vaguely recall that Bugner was part Hungarian, possibly a contributing factor as to why the British press and public did not embrace him nearly as much as Cooper.
Hardest puncher of all time, based on what? Shavers was barely a small cruiser by modern's standards, fought under 200lbs and was barely over it in his career... Had a padded record full of light, small cans, with laughable losing records and already stopped before, and he never knocked out anyone good... I'm sure certain light-heavies from today hits harder than him, let alone cruisers and super-heavyweights... In my opinion he wasn't even the best puncher from his era, Foreman certainly was, and i know what Ali and few others said, i prefer to look at facts...
From what I can research, this is only one of two times in Bugner's entire career he was knocked down. The other was by Joe Frazier in their 1973 bout.
I agree a fight between shavers and foreman would have been something to see, may be not the most skilled or fast of boxers but two of the hardest hitters of all time, easily in the top 10
@Simon P i think foreman would have won, foreman did have a better chin, only Ali stopped him through his boxing skills and game plan. Foreman fault boxers like Frazier, Norton who had the same build and style similar to shavers, he was brilliant with them type of boxers. Even in his come back when he was in his forties against Evander Hollyfield Morrison and Moorer they only wobbled foreman. I personally would say Foreman would win
Earnie holds with the left, then delivers the right upper cut that finished jimmy ellis and many others, yet bugner survived 3 of them. say what you like about bugner, but he had a hell of a chin on him .....
he knew Bugner had a good jab and a belting right hook... if you remember on he caught Joe Frazier with it towards the end of the 13th round... Frazier was happy to hear the bell.
Ernie was doing some dirty business in that fight. The knock down came from Ernie holding head and introducing an upper cut. Then fight was ended by a head butt. The ref must have decided to take this fight off.
This was just before his UK comeback. Remember Joe beating Winston Allen - which was the start of the much celebrated rivalry with big Frank Bruno. Shavers was a bit like Bruno in as much as he had a huge punch but suspect stamina.
Always think stamina is really misunderstood. We have only so much energy and when it is spent it is spent. Every punch you throw makes you weaker. Shavers simply spent his early.
Bugner withstood the same punch that sent Jimmy Ellis to la la land. Without the cut Bugner would probably have worn down Shavers like other fighters did
Bugner was the guy who could "talk a good fight." His fight against Frazier was his best. World Class fighter sure, but came second against the very best.
I enjoy following the boxing in the 60s- 80s era much more than today. I guess I have to give Ali credit for that. But there was a whole different thing then. They looked so much better than today. Maybe because they had longer amateur careers except from some boxers
I grew up with Bugner from when he was 16 and I was 13 and he was like a brother to me. My comment is concerning this fight with Shavers and the management team he had at "this time". Knowing Joe and his history concerning management, I stand by my views. Shavers was a very big hitter and not the fight to take at such an early stage of a comeback. Joe was there for the money only, not for the love of boxing and it shows. And there wasn't a rematch, Why? Because Shavers hit too hard! Best.
It’s a pity the fight ended when it did. As it was starting to get interesting, Even with all those fights behind him, Bugner still had good recuperative powers.
This poor man never had a chance to become a world champion.. I think the reason was just because a few really tough boxers living at his time’s .. truly Shavers was a real world heavy weights champion without getting that title officially..
good old joe,beat bonecrusher smith to win the wbf heavyweight title aged 48,oldest ever to win a title belt...ok nobody has heard of it but still,48 yr old and still knocking them down,ernie ended up as a doorman in blackpool uk,still looked fit an well last time i remember seeing him.
Not looking it up and from memory, Ali x 2, Ernie Shavers and joe Frazier in the 70s and Frank Bruno in his last fight in the 80s when he was pretty old. Dont know the other 3 maybe richard dunn for the british championship was one.
Looked it up, he beat Richard Dunn, but he lost 13 fights in his pretty much 3 careers including his first fight. But fought some names on the way, took Ali the distance in the early 70s twice and Joe Frazier, lost on a cut to Ernie Shavers but beat "jack" London and Henry Cooper, came back again then moved to Australia eventually winning the WBF championship which wasnt thought much of, he had earlier lost to Frank Bruno on a TKO, but beat Anders Ekland, James quick Tillis and James Bonecrusher Smith to win the said title so no slouch. Retired in 99 after starting his career in 67. Makes Deontay Wilders resume look pretty pathetic. London, Henry Cooper, Dunn, Ali, Ron Lyle, Frazier, Ali, Shavers, Bruno, Ekland, Tillis, Smith. Lost many of them but not the first and last 3, at least he fought someone.
Larry Merchant, he was always an a@shole. Go back and listen to him talk with Julio Cesar Chávez or Floyd Mayweather after one of their fights. Also notice that when he spoke of the cut on Joe's head, he mentioned that it was balding. He was always antagonistic and rude.
