Early years

Joe and his family fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1950s because of the Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary in 1956 after the Hungarian Uprising of that year. They settled in the Cambridgeshire town of St Ives in the Fens, and so, as local custom dictated, he was known as a Fen Tiger. At school Bugner excelled in sports and was the national junior discus champion in 1964. He lived and trained in Bedford during his early boxing years; he was a regular at Bedford Boys Club under the training of Paul King and attended Goldington Road School in Bedford.

Boxing career

1960s

Bugner had a short amateur career, fighting sixteen times and winning thirteen bouts. He turned professional in 1967 (at the unusually young age of seventeen) on the advice of his then trainer and friend Andy Smith. Smith was unhappy with the choice of Bugner's opponents and believed that he could better control the quality of his opponents if Bugner turned professional. He had a losing debut against Paul Brown on 20 December 1967 at the London Hilton, where he suffered a TKO in the third round. Showing gritty determination, after his debut the teenage Bugner went on to win a remarkable 18 consecutive fights in under two years during 1968 and 1969 (including 13 stoppage victories) before narrowly losing to the older and vastly more experienced Dick Hall. He bounced back and rounded off the 1960s with three further stoppage victories.

1970s

In 1970 Bugner emerged internationally as an outstanding young prospect, and by the end of the year he was world-rated. He won nine consecutive bouts that year, including victories over well-known boxers such as Chuck Wepner, Manuel Ramos, Johnny Prescott, Brian London, Ray Patterson, Eduardo Corletti, Miguel Angel Paez and George Johnson.

Bugner was now positioned to challenge world-rated Englishman Henry Cooper, who had nearly knocked out Muhammad Ali a few years previously, for Cooper's British, British Commonwealth and European titles. However, because Bugner was still too young to fight for the British Commonwealth title (the minimum age was twenty-one years old at the time), this much anticipated bout had to be postponed until the next year. While waiting to come of age, in 1971 he defeated Carl Gizzi and just weeks later and weeks before facing Cooper, drew with Bill Drover.

Early in his professional years Bugner earned a reputation as a tough, durable but often exceptionally defensive and cautious boxer; he retained that image for the rest of his career. He was criticized often for lacking natural aggression in the ring. Some observers argued that Bugner's heart was never in boxing after an early opponent, Ulric Regis, died from brain injuries soon after being outpointed by Bugner at London's Shoreditch Town Hall.

Defeat of Henry Cooper

In March 1971 Bugner finally met veteran Cooper, and won a fifteen-round decision. Bugner won the bout by the slimmest of margins, 1/4 point, on the card of the lone official, Harry Gibbs. The British sporting public and press were deeply divided about the verdict. Many felt that Cooper deserved the decision due to his steady aggression. But Bugner fought effectively on the defense and scored often with his left jab, and in the opinion of many, was the rightful winner of the bout. The Times, among others, scored the fight in favour of Bugner. Still, the outcome of the bout is regarded as one of the most controversial in British boxing history.

Nonetheless, Bugner was now the British, British Commonwealth, and European champion, and for the first time he was ranked among the world's top ten heavyweights. Bugner would remain in the world ratings for most of the rest of the decade.

Bugner retained his European title with a decision over tough German heavyweight Jürgen Blin.

However, later in 1971 Bugner lost decisions to underdogs Jack Bodell and Larry Middleton; sandwiched between these losses was a victory over Mike Boswell. The Bodell fight was particularly costly, depriving Bugner of his British, British Commonwealth and European championships. Bugner's relative inexperience, his youth and lack of an extensive amateur background, (and possibly the lingering controversy surrounding the Cooper fight), were the chief causes of these defeats.

In 1972 Bugner won eight consecutive fights, including a knockout over Jürgen Blin for the European championship, an impressive knockout against the tough Tony Doyle (who had beaten Thad Spencer and Terry Daniels, and had taken Jerry Quarry the distance) and had further KO's over the then-unbeaten Doug Kirk and the useful Italian Dante Cane. By the end of that year, Bugner had acquired sufficient seasoning as a boxer, that his manager began seeking matches against the world's best heavyweights.

Prime years

In 1973 Bugner began the year by retaining his European belt with a victory over the capable Dutchman Rudie Lubbers. The 23-year-old Bugner then lost twelve-round decisions to Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Although the scorecards in the Ali fight were somewhat lopsided, Bugner fought well, and he won the respect of the boxing media and public alike. After their bout, Ali declared that Bugner was capable of being world champion. Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee later echoed that sentiment. 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. Many regard the Frazier bout as being Bugner's best career performance.

After the Ali and Frazier fights, Bugner won a further 8 bouts in a row, his most notable victories being over top contender and ex-WBA World Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Ellis, the highly rated Mac Foster, Pat Duncan and European title defences against Giuseppe Ros, Dante Cane and Mario Baruzzi. By the end of 1974 Bugner was rated among the top five heavyweight contenders in the world.

Bugner challenged Muhammad Ali for the world championship in June 1975, the bout being held in Kuala Lumpur, with Ali winning a relatively one-sided fifteen-round decision. Bugner performed fairly well, but maintained a strictly defensive posture throughout most of this fight, perhaps due to the blistering tropical heat, and as a result he was widely scorned by the media and public. In an interview during an April 2008 reunion with Henry Cooper, Bugner defended his tactics in the Ali fight as having been necessary due to the extreme temperature and humidity of the outside venue.

Regains British, European & Commonwealth titles

Early in 1976, Bugner announced his retirement from boxing, stating that he no longer felt motivated to fight professionally. Within months however he returned to the ring, expressing disgust at Richard Dunn's performance against Ali and in October he blasted out Richard Dunn in the first round to reclaim the British, British Commonwealth, and European championships. Onlookers state that they had never seen Bugner angry before, and that while Dunn's supporters had waged a quite unsportsmanlike campaign against Bugner, if he had fought like that in his earller career he could have gone further.

In 1977, Bugner lost a close twelve-round decision away from home to top contender Ron Lyle. The scores were 57-53 and 56-54 for Lyle against 55-54 for Bugner. After this bout, Bugner again retired, making only sporadic comebacks to the ring over the next decades.

1980s

Bugner returned to the ring for brief periods in the 1980s and 1990s, but due to the effects of age and inactivity, he was never again as effective as he had been during his prime.

After a three-year absence from the ring, Bugner returned in May 1980, knocking out fringe contender Gilberto Acuna, before promptly retiring again. In 1982, a ring rusty Bugner (having had only one short fight in 5 years and weighing in some 25 lbs above his prime fighting weight) fought the hard-hitting top contender Earnie Shavers, but was stopped in the second round due to a badly cut eye. However, Bugner decided to continue his comeback, stopping the useful John Dino Denis and fringe contender Danny Sutton, as well as domestic contenders Winston Allen and Eddie Neilson. In 1983, a subdued and unmotivated Bugner lost to Marvis Frazier, showing little ambition throughout the bout. He followed this with a decision over future European champion Anders Eklund and a controversial loss to future World Title challenger Steffen Tangstad. Bugner appeared to have done enough to win this fight, however, like with the Frazier and Eklund bouts, he appeared unmotivated and uninterested throughout.

Comeback in Australia

In 1986 he moved to Australia, where he adopted the nickname Aussie Joe after taking out dual British-Australian nationality. In Australia, Bugner launched a fairly successful comeback, earning good victories over world title contenders James Tillis and David Bey and an impressive victory over former WBA heavyweight champion Greg Page, gaining a world ranking in the process, after which he spoke of challenging reigning heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. However, there was great clamour for a fight with fellow Briton Frank Bruno. The bout was touted as the biggest all-British heavyweight bout since Cooper Vs Bugner in 1971. The bout took place in late 1987, and Bugner suffered an eighth round TKO loss to the much younger and fresher world title contender for the Commonwealth championship in front of a huge crowd at White Hart Lane football stadium. Bugner promptly retired again following this defeat, only his 3rd stoppage defeat in 20 years.

1990s

Inspired by the 45-year-old George Foreman's recapture of the heavyweight title, Bugner made a final comeback in 1995, beating Vince Cervi to win the Australian heavyweight title, followed by a win over West Turner. Bugner then fought fellow Briton and world title contender Scott Welch for the WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. Welch proved too young and fresh for the now 46-year-old Bugner, handing him a TKO defeat in the 6th round.

Bugner continued to fight on against far younger opponents. In 1996 he defeated the respectable Young Haumona for the Pacific and Australasian Heavyweight title, retained it against Waisiki Ligaloa in 1997, added the Australian title by defeating the tough Colin Wilson and defending both titles against Bob Mirovic in 1998.

In 1998 Bugner's long-term tenacity finally gave him a world crown, albeit a lightly regarded title - 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.

Bugner was to fight just once more, in 1999 at the age of 49 he defeated the durable fringe contender Levi Billups, after which he finally retired for good.

Fight record

His record for 83 professional fights is 69 wins (41 on knockouts), 13 Losses and 1 Draw. He last fought in June 1999 beating Levi Billups, who was disqualified for low blows.

In an interview in 2004, Bugner said that the hardest puncher he had ever faced was Earnie Shavers and the biggest beating he took was from Ron Lyle.

Life outside boxing

After moving to Australia, Bugner and his wife Marlene opened a vineyard. It failed in 1989, and he lost an estimated two million Australian dollars.

He now lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland.

Bugner has had some work in the film industry. In 1979 he featured in an Italian movie, Io sto con gli ippopotami with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, he worked with Bud Spencer in his movies in the eighties.

He worked as the expert adviser on the Russell Crowe film, Cinderella Man, which was a film about the heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock. Bugner was dropped part way through the project, which prompted him to call Crowe, "a gutless worm and a f*****g girl".

Joe suffers from a serious back injury he sustained from training for fights in his middle years. He also has financial problems. It was these financial problems which prompted him to re-enter the ring at such an advanced age. A benefit was held for Bugner in 2008 by Kevin Lueshing.

In November 2009 Bugner replaced Camilla Dallerup on day 4 of the British TV show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!. He left the show on day 16 after losing a bushtucker trial called 'Jungle Jail' to fellow celebrity Stuart Manning.

He has three children, James, Joe Jnr and Amy from Melody a previous wife.

Bugner's autobiography, 'Joe Bugner - My Story', was published by New Holland Publishing (Australia) in November 2013.

Professional Boxing record

69 Wins (41 knockouts, 26 decisions, 2 disqualifications), 13 Losses (4 knockouts, 9 decisions), 1 Draw
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	69-13-1	Levi Billups	Disqualification	9	1999-06-13	Broadbeach, Australia
Win	68-13-1	James Smith	TKO	1	1998-07-04	Carrara, Australia
Win	67-13-1	Bob Mirovic	Decision	12	1998-04-20	Carrara, Australia
Win	66-13-1	Colin Wilson	Decision	12	1998-01-13	Broadbeach, Australia
Win	65-13-1	Waisiki Ligaloa	TKO	7	1997-06-03	Southport, Australia
Win	64-13-1	Young Haumona	KO	5	1996-07-05	Carrara, Australia
Loss	63-13-1	Scott Welch	TKO	6	1996-03-16	Berlin, Germany
Win	63-12-1	West Turner	KO	3, 2:36	1996-02-02	Perth, Australia
Win	62-12-1	Vince Cervi	Decision	12	1995-09-22	Carrara, Australia
Loss	61-12-1	Frank Bruno	TKO	8	1987-10-24	White Hart Lane, London
Win	61-11-1	Greg Page	Decision	10	1987-07-24	Sydney, Australia
Win	60-11-1	David Bey	Decision	10	1986-11-14	Sydney, Australia
Win	59-11-1	James Tillis	Decision	10	1986-09-15	Sydney, Australia
Loss	58-11-1	Steffen Tangstad	Decision	10	1984-02-18	Copenhagen, Denmark
Win	58-10-1	Anders Eklund	Decision	10	1984-01-13	Randers, Denmark
Loss	57-10-1	Marvis Frazier	Decision	10	1983-06-04	Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win	57-9-1	Danny Sutton	TKO	9	1983-04-20	Muswell Hill, London
Win	56-9-1	John Dino Denis	TKO	3	1983-02-16	Wood Green, London
Win	55-9-1	Eddie Neilson	TKO	5	1982-12-09	Bloomsbury, London
Win	54-9-1	Winston Allen	KO	3	1982-10-28	Bloomsbury, London
Loss	53-9-1	Earnie Shavers	TKO	2, 2:14	1982-05-08	Reunion Arena, Dallas
Win	53-8-1	Gilberto Acuna	TKO	6	1980-08-23	Inglewood, California
Loss	52-8-1	Ron Lyle	Decision	12	1977-03-20	Caesars Palace, Nevada
Won	52-7-1	Richard Dunn	KO	1	1976-10-12	Wembley, London
Loss	51-7-1	Muhammad Ali	Decision	15	1975-06-30	Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
Win	51-6-1	Dante Cane	TKO	5	1975-02-28	Bologna, Italy
Win	50-6-1	Santiago Alberto Lovell	TKO	2, 2:15	1974-12-03	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	49-6-1	Jimmy Ellis	Decision	10	1974-11-12	Wembley, London
Win	48-6-1	Jose Luis Garcia	KO	2	1974-10-01	Wembley, London
Win	47-6-1	Piermario Baruzzi	TKO	10	1974-05-29	Copenhagen, Denmark
Win	46-6-1	Pat Duncan	Decision	10	1974-03-12	Wembley, London
Win	45-6-1	Mac Foster	Decision	10	1973-11-13	Wembley, London
Win	44-6-1	Giuseppe Ros	Decision	15	1973-10-02	Royal Albert Hall, London
Loss	43-6-1	Joe Frazier	Decision	12	1973-07-02	Earls Court, London
Loss	43-5-1	Muhammad Ali	Decision	12	1973-02-14	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	43-4-1	Rudie Lubbers	Decision	15	1973-01-16	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	42-4-1	Dante Cane	TKO	6	1972-11-28	Ice Rink, Nottingham
Win	41-4-1	Tony Doyle	TKO	8	1972-11-14	Wembley, London
Win	40-4-1	Jürgen Blin	KO	8	1972-10-10	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	39-4-1	Paul Nielsen	TKO	6	1972-07-19	Croke Park, Dublin
Win	38-4-1	Doug Kirk	TKO	5	1972-06-06	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	37-4-1	Marc Hans	TKO	3	1972-05-09	Wembley, London
Win	36-4-1	Leroy Caldwell	Disqualification	5	1972-04-25	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	35-4-1	Brian O'Melia	TKO	2, 1:39	1972-03-28	Wembley, London
Loss	34-4-1	Larry Middleton	Decision	10	1971-11-24	Ice Rink, Nottingham
Win	34-3-1	Mike Boswell	Decision	10	1971-11-17	Houston, Texas
Loss	33-3-1	Jack Bodell	Decision	15	1971-09-27	Wembley, London
Win	33-2-1	Jürgen Blin	Decision	15	1971-05-11	Wembley, London
Win	32-2-1	Henry Cooper	Decision	15	1971-03-16	Wembley, London
Draw	31-2-1	Bill Drover	Decision	10	1971-02-10	Bethnal Green, London
Win	31-2	Carl Gizzi	Decision	10	1971-01-19	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	30-2	Miguel Angel Paez	TKO	3	1970-12-08	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	29-2	George Johnson	Decision	10	1970-11-03	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	28-2	Hector Eduardo Corletti	Decision	10	1970-10-06	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	27-2	Chuck Wepner	TKO	3	1970-09-08	Wembley, London
Win	26-2	Brian London	TKO	5	1970-05-12	Wembley, London
Win	25-2	Ray Patterson	Decision	8	1970-04-21	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	24-2	Manuel Ramos	Decision	4	1970-03-24	Wembley, London
Win	23-2	Roberto Davila	TKO	4	1970-02-10	Picadilly, London
Win	22-2	Johnny Prescott	Decision	8	1970-01-20	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	21-2	Charley Polite	TKO	3	1969-12-09	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	20-2	Eddie Talhami	TKO	4	1969-11-11	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	19-2	Phil Smith	TKO	2	1969-10-14	Royal Albert Hall, London
Loss	18-2	Dick Hall	Decision	8	1969-08-04	Hotel Piccadilly, Manchester
Win	18-1	Moses Harrell	Decision	8	1969-06-09	Belle Vue, Manchester
Win	17-1	Tony Ventura	Decision	8	1969-05-20	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	16-1	Jack O'Halloran	Decision	8	1969-04-15	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	15-1	Lion Ven	TKO	5	1969-03-25	Wembley, London
Win	14-1	Ulric Regis	Decision	8	1969-03-11	Shoreditch, London
Win	13-1	Terry Feeley	TKO	1	1969-02-25	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	12-1	Rudolph Vaughan	TKO	2	1969-01-21	Kensington, London
Win	11-1	George Dulaire	TKO	4	1968-12-19	Bethnal Green, London
Win	10-1	Gene Innocent	TKO	3	1968-11-12	Wembley, London
Win	9-1	Paul Brown	TKO	3	1968-11-04	Connaught Rooms, London
Win	8-1	Vic Moore	TKO	1, 2:15	1968-10-08	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	7-1	Obe Hepburn	TKO	1	1968-08-18	Wembley, London
Win	6-1	Paul Brown	TKO	4	1968-05-28	Royal Albert Hall, London
Win	5-1	Billy Wynter	Decision	6	1968-05-21	Bethnal Green, London
Win	4-1	Mick Oliver	Retired	3	1968-05-06	Mayfair, London
Win	3-1	Bert Johnson	KO	3, 0:40	1968-03-26	Bethnal Green, London
Win	2-1	Jim McIlvaney	TKO	2	1968-02-27	Bethnal Green, London
Win	1-1	Paul Cassidy	TKO	2, 2:04	1968-01-30	Bethnal Green, London
Loss	0-1	Paul Brown	KO	3	1967-12-20	Mayfair, London

[ Source: Wikipedia ]