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August 1999
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HE DIDN'T DO SO BAD
Joe Bugner never won any popularity contests, but then he was too smart to enter any. But nobody could dispute that the recently retired heavyweight was one of Britain’s best ever. GRAHAM HOUSTON reviews a colourful career |
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TOP DOG: Bugner was the most successful British heavyweight of the 1970s,
and he managed to prolong his career for two decades more
- Get Big Pic The long, winding road that was Joe Bugner’s boxing career came to an
end on 13 June in his adopted homeland of Australia, when his American
opponent, Levi Billups, was disqualified for low blows in the ninth
round.
"Aussie Joe", as he lately has been known, says there will be no more
comebacks (he has made two already). This time I am inclined to believe
him. He is 49, has been boxing professionally for 32 years (although in
11 of those years he was inactive) and his second wife, Marlene, says
she has long wanted him to retire. Enough is enough, and Bugner is
intelligent enough to know it.
He says that George Foreman’s unlikely comeback success spurred him to
give the game one, last try, in 1995, and he did pick up the Australian
championship and a couple of trifling titles. But it was a far cry from
the days when he was British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight
champion in the 1970s.
I was at ringside for most of his fights in the 1960s and ’70s. I even
covered Bugner in the London amateur championships in 1967, when he was
outpointed by the vastly experienced south Londoner, Billy Wells, a
cagey campaigner whose bald head made him look older than he was, in
the heavyweight semi-finals.
Although Bugner lost clearly, he fought with spirit, a mere
17-year-old and not much more than a promising novice up against a
smaller man but a veteran who had won the Amateur Boxing Association
title (British amateur title, for American readers).
Bugner’s trainer and mentor, Andy Smith, decided he would have more
control over the matching of Bugner were the big, blond teenager to turn
professional.
I would like to say I was there at the start. But when Bugner, from
rural St. Ives in the county of Huntingdonshire, made his professional
debut in December, 1967 - five days before Christmas in fact - I was
elsewhere.
Bugner’s debut took place at the London Hilton on a show staged by the
Anglo-American Sporting Club. In the main event, the welterweight Ralph
Charles was meeting an ordinary Frenchman, while Bugner’s opponent was
one Paul Brown, a trial horse from Birmingham by way of Jamaica. I had a
press pass for the show, but someone I was seeing wanted me to accompany
her to a staff Christmas party.
Oh, well, I thought, I won’t be missing much: Ralph Charles will
handle the Frenchman easily and Bugner’s got a guaranteed win.
Right on the first count, as Charles won in five rounds, but wrong on
the second: Bugner got hit on the chin, by a big right, and was knocked
out in the third round.
I thought, after such a shocking setback, that Bugner was never going
to amount to anything as a boxer - just a big, well-built young man (he
was a former schools discus champ) who could not take a punch.
But Bugner became one of the most successful British heavyweights
ever, making a record six defences of the European title in two reigns
as champion.
And anyone who was there for his debut could never have imagined that
Bugner would within six years be sharing the ring with heavyweight
legends Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in major (though losing) fights.
At 6ft 3ins, Bugner was big enough, jabbed well and boxed capably.
When he let his punches go, he could hurt an opponent. And, despite the
first-fight KO, he was to prove durable, too.
Still, the general reaction of veteran boxing observers who look back
on Bugner’s career is likely to be one of disappointment. He looked the
part physically but failed to deliver, they will tell you. Some say that
Bugner was never a natural aggressor, that his heart simply was not in
boxing - especially after an early opponent, a Trinidadian journeyman
named Ulric Regis, died from a brain injury days after being outpointed
by Bugner.
Others might blame the training methods of Andy Smith, the
trainer-manager, for instilling in Bugner an excessively defensive
style.
But Bugner stopped 12 of his next 13 opponents after being knocked out
by Paul Brown. This included four one-round wins.
At this stage of his career, Bugner was certainly letting his punches
fly, as he did the night at the Royal Albert Hall in February 1969, when
Bugner met a slugging Scot named Terry Feeley. Feeley had a reputation
as a heavy hitter, and his record included a two-round win over Bugner’s
old rival, Paul Brown. But Bugner overpowered and outclassed Feeley in
the opening round. I remember him throwing a left hook that did not land
squarely, and, with his glove hooked around Feeley’s head, simply
tossing his opponent to the floor.
There were people in the arena that night who were saying that,
finally, Britain had a genuine, exciting, heavyweight prospect.
But in his next fight, Bugner was unimpressive in outpointing Ulric
Regis at the old Shoreditch Town Hall in east London. The fight was
booed, as was the verdict when Bugner’s hand was raised after eight
rather desultory rounds, although my impression was that Bugner
dominated.
He had not seemed to punish Regis all that heavily, but then came the
news that the boxer from Trinidad had been taken to hospital and
undergone a brain operation.
Regis died, and perhaps something went out of Bugner after that. Or
maybe, despite his run of quick wins, he had never really been the
aggressor that those victories made him out to be.
Bugner developed poise and boxing acumen over the years that followed
but displays of two-fisted fighting were rare.
He had some dull fights and a few positively dismal appearances, the
most famous being his non-challenge against heavyweight champion
Muhammad Ali in 1975.
But on the way up, matchmaker, Mickey Duff generally did a superb job
of making fights for Bugner against the right sort of opponents at the
right time, often against well-known veterans whose decline had not yet
become glaringly obvious.
Bugner did his part, winning consistently. He had a big following.
Yet, generally speaking, the fans never really embraced Bugner in a
consistent way. Some thought it was because he was born in Hungary, or
because he received an unpopular points victory over the folk hero Henry
Cooper in 1971 - or both.
Rather, I believe, the problem was that the fans truly wanted Bugner
to do well only for him to fall short of expectations.
There were jeers, to be sure, but there were also nights when Bugner
heard the cheers. For instance, he had a Royal Albert Hall crowd roaring
when he won a narrow points victory over the hulking Irish-American Jack
O’Halloran, who was 6ft 5ins, not only taller but considerably heftier
than Bugner.
O’Halloran was not especially talented but he had the height, the
reach and the weight, and in the first few rounds he scored points with
a surprisingly quick left jab. Bugner looked tense and apprehensive
early - a bit overawed, in fact. But by the middle of the fight Bugner
was coming on, starting to open up. The last few rounds were all Bugner
as he backed up the much bigger man and even had the massive O’Halloran
looking shaky.
After this there were a series of technically efficient showings from
Bugner - and some dreary ones. He was outsmarted by a veteran American
southpaw named Dick Hall and could only get a draw with a Scots-born
Canadian named Bill Drover. But he ended the career of ex-British champ
Brian London in five rounds and easily outpointed well-respected British
opponents Johnny Prescott and Carl Gizzi as well as defeating American
Ray Patterson (Floyd’s younger brother) and Manuel Ramos, a Mexican who
had faced Frazier in a title fight.
Bugner was the underdog against Henry Cooper, but after 15 rounds
referee Harry Gibbs had it in Bugner’s favour by the narrowest margin of
a quarter-point under the old fractional method used in Britain at the
time. There was much booing from the packed, 10,000 crowd at Wembley and
almost all the writers had Cooper winning.
Still, the 21-year-old Bugner was now British, Commonwealth and
European champ. Had he instantly produced a couple of dramatic
performances I am sure that the fuss over the Cooper verdict would have
been overcome. But instead Bugner seemed to be regressing in his first
two fights after the win over Cooper. First, Bugner barely defeated the
willing but ordinary German, Jurgen Blin, in a European title defence,
and then he was soundly outpointed over 15 rounds by the earnest if
inelegant southpaw, Jack Bodell, to lose the three titles.
There was a point in the later rounds when Bodell seemed to run out of
gas, physically sagging, and it appeared that Bugner could yet save the
day with a determined assault. But Bugner let the opportunity pass him
by, and it was Bodell who, as we now say, sucked it up. Bodell finished
strongly, even sending a demoralised Bugner to the canvas in the 14th
round.
Physically, in the ring with Bodell, Bugner looked like one of those
Greek-god statues but unfortunately was nearly as lifeless.
Perhaps it had all happened too quickly. Maybe he faltered
emotionally. The reaction to his win over Cooper must have been
upsetting. It was as though Bugner felt he could not do anything right
as far as the public was concerned, so why bother?
But Bugner pulled himself together. He was praised for gamely going 12
rounds with Muhammad Ali, despite getting cut over the eye, in February
1973, the year before Ali stunned George Foreman.
And in July 1973, came what I always will regard as Bugner’s greatest
night, when he lost honourably to Joe Frazier in a gruelling, compelling
12-round struggle at Earls Court in west London.
Bugner’s nose was bloodied, he was on the point of being overwhelmed
at times, but he banged back and had Frazier’s left eye swollen and
closing. And, in the 10th round, Bugner finally answered the critics who
doubted his courage when, after being knocked down, he not only got off
the floor but buckled Smokin’ Joe’s knees with a cracking right-hander.
It was hot and cold showings after that. We had the passive 15 rounds
with Ali in Kuala Lumpur, followed by a one-round wipe-out over a
British rival, Richard Dunn, in the most aggressive showing from Bugner
since his beginning days as a professional. Dunn, a Yorkshire southpaw
who had been five rounds with Ali, never had a chance to get into the
fight against Bugner.
And yet, in his next fight after that, Bugner went back to his
conservative, safety-first ways when being outpointed by ex-convict Ron
Lyle at Las Vegas. As with Jack Bodell, it was a fight that, it seemed,
Bugner could have won - should have won - if only he had dug down and
put some pressure on the other man instead of backing up and allowing
himself to be outhustled.
This was in March 1977, and it was followed by a three-year
retirement. Bugner came back to try his luck in America, but lost to
Earnie Shavers in two rounds (due to a cut, although he was dropped in
that fight).
He was promoted for a while by Frank Warren in London and won four
fights, but in June 1983, at Atlantic City, in a fight seen live on
American and British national television, he was well outpointed by the
much smaller, 11-years-younger Marvis Frazier, son of Smokin’ Joe.
By 1986 Bugner was living in Australia, where he and wife Marlene were
operating a vineyard two hours north of Sydney. Three successive wins in
Australia over "name" heavyweight veterans - former contenders James
Tillis and David Bey and ex-champ Greg Page - earned Bugner a final big
payday in Britain, against Frank Bruno at Tottenham Hotspur football
ground in north London in October 1987. Predictably, Bugner was battered
in eight rounds but the old pro took his lumps gamely.
That looked like the end for Bugner, but eight years later he was back
again, aged 45 and a grandfather. He had been hammered by the recession
of 1989, the vineyard had failed and he estimated having lost one and a
half million Australian dollars. He was not ashamed to admit he needed
the money.
Talk of a big fight with George Foreman was fantasy on Bugner’s part,
but he did win the Aussie title, and in July last year could actually
call himself a world champ - as recognised by a small-time sanctioner -
after James "Bonecrusher" Smith suffered a dislocated shoulder in the
opening round. The combined ages of the two men totalled 93 years.
The fight with Levi Billups was in effect a farewell performance.
Bugner’s wife of 22 years, Marlene, said she has insisted that there
will be no more comebacks. This time, she told reporters, the retirement
is definite. Bugner said: "I’ve had a very good run," and indeed he has.
He leaves the game - finally - with a record of 69 wins, 13 losses and
a draw, and he stopped 41 opponents.
Americans will remember Bugner mostly for the way he covered up for
almost the entire 15 rounds against Ali, but British boxing followers of
a certain age will know that Bugner had far better nights.
I cannot think of any British heavyweight who could have fought a
better, or braver, fight against Joe Frazier than Bugner did that warm
July night in 1973.
A case could be made for Bugner having been the best heavyweight ever
produced in Britain (Lennox Lewis, although London-born, came through
the Canadian amateur system before returning to Britain to turn
professional).
Bugner frustrated us, but also, on occasion, thrilled us. He created
considerable excitement during his rise to the top, remained a big name
and was involved in some of the biggest British fights of the 1970s.
Although Bugner talked a far better fight than he actually fought when
he came back to Britain to meet Bruno, it was just Joe doing his bit to
hype the event. There was never any malice in Bugner, and his good
nature, the way he never took himself too seriously, struck a chord with
the down-to-earth Australians.
We may never know the full impact, if any, the death of Ulric Regis
had on Bugner’s career. My own feeling is that Bugner never really liked
to hit people for a living. He thought too much, and never really had
the basic instinct of a fighter. But for all that, Joe didn’t do badly -
not badly at all.
That fight
Joe Bugner’s points win over Henry Cooper in March 1971, was one of the
most controversial in British ring history. Referee Harry Gibbs, the
sole arbiter as is still the custom with British title fights, had the
boxers dead-level after 14 rounds. But Bugner clearly outworked a tiring
Cooper in the last round, snatching victory on referee Gibbs’s card by
733/4 points to 731/2 under the old quarter-point method.
I, too, had Bugner pulling out the win although the overwhelming
reaction was one of outrage. In the BBC-TV recording, shown the next
evening, commentator Harry Carpenter exclaimed: "I find that amazing!"
when Gibbs raised Bugner’s arm.
My impression was that Bugner had outscored Cooper in the early
rounds, then let the fight slip away as Cooper came on towards the end.
It was surprising to all of us at ringside on the night that the
36-year-old Cooper was closing more strongly than his 21-year-old
opponent: the late rounds traditionally favour the younger man. I can
remember that Cooper dominated the 12th, 13th and 14th rounds to such an
extent that there seemed no way Bugner could halt the older man’s
momentum.
But then Cooper’s age and the exertions of the previous 14 rounds
seemed to catch up with him as Bugner finally, in the last round,
reasserted himself. It was as if Bugner had shut down mentally for three
rounds in a row but suddenly realised that he still felt strong, that
there were just three minutes to go, that he was unlikely to be knocked
out and simply decided, as we say today, to go for it.
In his autobiography, Box On, Gibbs wrote that Cooper appeared to
accept the decision and added: "The crowd reaction in protest was
predictable, and as I remember it not particularly hostile despite the
boos. Henry was London’s idol and I suppose seventy five per cent of
those in the hall came to see him win."
Gibbs’s scoresheet was printed in the book, showing he had given six
rounds to Bugner, five to Cooper and four even.
When the film of the fight was shown in its entirety the next evening,
the reaction of many of those who watched it seemed to have been that
the fight had indeed been desperately close. |
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