Joe Bugner

At 74 years old, Joe Bugner has this physical status:

József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a Hungarian-born British-Australian former heavyweight boxer and actress.

He has triple citizenship, both as a citizen of Hungary and a naturalized citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom. He is best known for his role in the 1994 action film Street Fighter, as an actor, alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia. Bugner and his family immigrated after the 1956 Soviet invasion and settled in Britain, born in Szoreg, a southeastern suburb of Szeged in southern Hungary.

Bugner won the British and British Commonwealth heavyweight titles twice and was a three-time European heavyweight champion, weighing in at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 kg).

He was ranked among the world's best ten heavyweights in the 1970s, fighting such opponents as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Jimmy Ellis, Manuel Ramos, Chuck Wepner, Earnie Shavers, Kevin Hart, Duncan Rice, Robert Gibbon, Walter Ellis, Mohammed Bennett, Keith Wepner, Douglas Carter, Colin Smith, Bill Wepner, George Johnson, Alberto Corletti, Julio Blin, and George Johnson, Jr.

In 1975, he competed for the world heavyweight championship, losing on points in a second bout with Ali. Bugner retired from boxing in 1976, but over the next two decades, he made sporadic comebacks with varying success.

He moved to Australia in 1986, adopting the nickname "Aussie Joe" to beat wrestlers such as Greg Page, David Bey, Anders Eklund, and James Tillis before retiring in 1988 after a TKO loss to Frank Bruno.

He made his comeback in the 1990s, winning the Australian heavyweight championship in 1995 and the less coveted World Boxing Federation (WBF) heavyweight championship in 1998, defeating James "Bonecrusher" Smith at the age of 48.

He retired in 1999 for the last time in 1999, with 43 wins by knockout and 43 losses.

Early years

Bugner and his family immigrated to Hungary in the late 1950s as a result of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising in Hungary. He was one of about 80 refugees held in the students' Hostel at Smedley's factory in Wisbech at the start. They settled in St Ives, Huntingdonshire, near the Fens, and so, as local custom dictated, they were identified as a Fen Tiger. Bugner excelled in sports and was the national junior discus champion in 1964. He lived and worked in Bedford in the early days of boxing; he was a regular at Bedford Boys Club in Bedford during Paul King's time as a coach and attended Goldington Road School in Bedford.

Life outside boxing

Bugner and his partner, Marlene, opened a vineyard after heading to Australia. It failed in 1989, and the Australian dollar lost an estimated two million Australian dollars. He now lives in Brisbane, Queensland.

Bugner has worked in film. He appeared in one of many PSAs themed Be Smart, Be Safe; these concerned teaching children how to cross a road or a street safely. Bugner appeared in an Italian film Io sto con gli ippopotami with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in 1979. He served as the Russell Crowe advisor on Cinderella Man, a film about heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock. Bugner was kicked out early in the programme, prompting him to describe Crowe as "a wormless worm and a f*****g girl" during his time.

Bugner is recovering from a serious back injury he sustained while doing wrestling in his middle years. He also has financial difficulties. Given his financial difficulties, he was compelled to re-enter the ring at a young age. Kevin Lueshing donated to Bugner in 2008.

Camilla Dallerup was replaced by Bugner on day 4 of the British television show I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in November 2009. After losing a bushtucker trial named 'Jungle Jail' to fellow actor Stuart Manning, he left the show on day 16.

James, Joe Jr., and Amy, from his ex-wife Melody, have three children.

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

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Boxing career

Bugner had a short amateur career, winning sixteen times and collecting thirteen times. He became a professional in 1967 (at the youthful age of seventeen) on the recommendation of his then-trainer and friend, Andy Smith. Smith was dissatisfied with Bugner's picks and felt he could better monitor his opponents' quality if Bugner were to be a natural performer. On December 20, 1967 at the London Hilton, where he was TKO in the third round, he had a losing debut against Paul Brown. The teenage Bugner, who had a tenacious resolve since his debut, went on to win 18 straight battles in under two years between 1968 and 1969 (including 13 stoppage victories), before losing to the older and more familiar Dick Hall. With three more stoppage victories, he bounced back and rounded off the 1960s.

Bugner was a worldwide success as a young boy in 1970, and by the year's end, he was world-ranked. He has won nine straight bouts this year, including victories over well-known boxers like Chuck Wepner, Manuel Ramos, Johnny Prescott, Brian London, Eduardo Corletti, Charley Polite, and George Johnson.

Bugner was now in a situation to face world-rated Englishman Henry Cooper, who had barely knocked out Muhammad Ali a few years ago for Cooper's British, British Commonwealth, and European titles. However, since Bugner was still too young to compete for the British Commonwealth title (the minimum age was twenty-one years old at the time), the much-anticipated match had to be postponed until the following year. He beat Carl Gizzi and drew with Bill Drover just weeks later and weeks before meeting Cooper while waiting to come of age, 1971.

Bugner's reputation as a tough, tough, dependable, and cautious boxer began early in his career; he kept that image for the remainder of his life. He has been chastised for lacking natural aggression in the ring. Bugner's heart was never in boxing after an early opponent, Ulric Regis, died of brain injuries shortly after being baldheaded by Bugner at London's Shoreditch Town Hall, according to some commentators. Many believed that Bugner never punched his entire body until that point.

In March 1971, Bugner met veteran Cooper and won a fifteen-round tie. Bugner won the competition by the slimmest of margins, by 1/4 point, on the cards of Harry Gibbs, the lone official. The verdict split was deeply divided by the British sporting public and press. Many believed that Cooper deserved the dismissal due to his continuing violence. But Bugner fought effectively on the defense and scored often with his left jab, and in the opinion of several, he was the correct winner of the fight. The Times, among other things, voted for Bugner in the competition. However, the result of the game is considered to be one of Britain's most turbulent in boxing history.

Nonetheless, Bugner was the British, British Commonwealth, and European champion, and for the first time, he was ranked among the top ten heavyweights in the world. For the majority of the 1970s, Bugner would remain in the world rankings.

Bugner defended his European title with a victory over tough German heavyweight Jürgen Blin.

However, Bugner won the match against underdogs Jack Bodell and Larry Middleton, who were defeated by this defeat in 1971. The Bodell war was a costly, depriving Bugner of his British, British Commonwealth, and European championships. The key factors that led to these setbacks were Bugner's relative inexperience, his youth, and a lack of a large amateur network.

Bugner defeated Jürgen Blin in the European championship in 1972, winning eight straight fights, including a knockout over Jürgen Blin. Bugner's manager had a lot-improved ring skills and gained enough experience by the end of the season, allowing him to compete against the world's best heavyweights.

With a victory over Rudie Lubbers, the versatile Dutchman, Bugner started the year off by retaining his European belt. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier followed him in the second round after the 23-year-old Bugner lost in the 12th round. Despite being clearly defeated, Bugner fought hard and gained the respect of the boxing media and the general public alike. Ali declared that Bugner was destined to be the world champion following their match. Angelo Dundee, Ali's manager, echoed his sentiment later. The confrontation with Frazier in July 1973 at Earls Court in London was deemed a masterpiece. Bugner arose and staggered Frazier to finish the round after being knocked down by a huge left hook in the tenth round. Frazier made the call but only marginally, and Frazier's only George Foreman and Muhammad Ali ever gave Frazier a tough fight. Several commentators regard the Frazier episode as Bugner's best career result.

Bugner defeated an additional 8 bouts in a row after the Ali and Frazier fights, his most notable victories being over former WBA World Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Ellis and Mac Foster. Bugner was rated one of the world's top five heavyweight champions by the end of 1974.

In June 1975, Bugner faced Muhammad Ali for the world championship, with Ali winning a close five-round decision in Kuala Lumpur. Bugner did fine during most of the war, but mainly because of the blistering tropical heat, and as a result, the media and public hated him. Bugner defended his Ali tactics in an interview during a reunion with Henry Cooper in April 2008 as having been crucial due to the extreme temperature and humidity of the outside location.

Bugner resigned from boxing in 1976, saying he no longer felt motivated to fight professionally. Richard Dunn's performance against Ali in November was back in the ring, expressing indignation against him, and in October, he blasted out Richard Dunn in the first round to regain the British, British Commonwealth, and European championships. Onlookers state that they never got bugner angry before, and that although Dunn's allies waged a virulent war against Bugner, if he had fought like that in his earlier career, he may have pushed further.

Bugner lost a close twelve-round match against top candidate Ron Lyle in 1977. Lyle's scores were 53-54 against 55-54 for Bugner. Bugner returned from retirement after this fight, but it was only after a string of sporadic comebacks to the ring over the next decade.

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

Bugner returned to the ring in May 1980, knocking out fringe challenge Gilberto Acuna before abruptly retiring. Earnie Shavers, a hard-hitting top contender, was stopped in the second round due to a badly cut eye. However, Bugner decided to continue his comeback by deterring John Denis and fringe contender Danny Sutton, as well as domestic candidates Winston Allen and Eddie Neilson. A depressed and unmotivated Bugner lost to Marvis Frazier in 1983, losing little hope throughout the contest. He concluded this with a decision over Anders Eklund, the future European champion, and Steffen Tangstad's tragic loss. Bugner seemed to have done enough to win the Tangstad match, but he didn't seem motivated and uninterested throughout his bouts with the Frazier and Eklund bouts.

After becoming an Australian citizen, Bugner migrated to Australia in 1986, where he adopted the name Aussie Joe. Bugner began a successful comeback in Australia, winning big victories over international champions James Tillis and David Bey, as well as a landmark victory over former WBA heavyweight champion Greg Page, who regained a world ranking in the process after which he talked about former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. However, there was a lot of excitement for a contest with fellow Brit Frank Bruno. The match was billed as the biggest all-British heavyweight bout since Cooper Vs Bugner in 1971. Bugner suffered his eighth-round TKO loss to the much younger and fresher Commonwealth championship contender for the Commonwealth championship in front of a huge audience at White Hart Lane football stadium on October 24th. Following this loss, Bugner retired quickly, but this was his third time that he had lost in 20 years.

Bugner made a last comeback in 1995, beating Vince Cervi to win the Australian heavyweight title and then a victory over West Turner, inspired by George Foreman's recapture of the heavyweight crown. Bugner then met fellow Briton and world champion Scott Welch for the WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. Welch was too young and fresh for the now-defunct Bugner, who was handed a TKO draw in the 6th round.

Bugner's battle against much younger opponents pressed on. He defeated Young Haumono for the Pacific and Austral Heavyweight titles in 1996 and then retained it against Waisiki Ligaloa in 1997, defeating Colin Wilson and defending both titles against Bob Mirovic in 1998.

Bugner's long-served crown gave him a world crown, but in a little-regarded tournament - the WBF's version of the heavyweight crown - in 1998, despite losing former WBA World Heavyweight Champion James "Bonecrusher" Smith. It made him the oldest ever boxer to win a minor championship belt at 48 years and 110 days.

Just once more, the bugger attacked. He defeated Levi Billups, a veteran fringe artist who had been disqualified for low blows, in June 1999.

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