Joe Bugner holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalised citizen of both Australia and the United Kingdom.
44 Facts About Joe Bugner
2.
Joe Bugner unsuccessfully challenged Muhammad Ali for the heavyweight championship in 1975, losing by unanimous decision.
3.
Joe Bugner was ranked among the world's top ten heavyweights in the 1970s, fighting such opponents as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ron Lyle, Jimmy Ellis, Manuel Ramos, Chuck Wepner, Earnie Shavers, Henry Cooper, Brian London, Mac Foster, Rudie Lubbers, Eduardo Corletti, Jurgen Blin and George Johnson.
4.
Joe Bugner retired from boxing in 1976, but over the next two decades, he made sporadic comebacks with varying success.
5.
Joe Bugner moved to Australia in 1986, adopting the nickname "Aussie Joe", beating fighters such as Greg Page, David Bey, Anders Eklund and James Tillis before retiring again after a TKO loss to Frank Bruno in 1987.
6.
Joe Bugner made a final comeback during the 1990s, winning the Australian heavyweight title in 1995 and the lightly regarded World Boxing Federation heavyweight championship in 1998 at the age of 48 against James "Bonecrusher" Smith.
7.
At school, Joe Bugner excelled in sports and was the national junior discus champion in 1964.
8.
Joe Bugner 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.
9.
Joe Bugner had a losing debut against Paul Brown on 20 December 1967 at the London Hilton, where he suffered a TKO in the third round.
10.
Joe Bugner bounced back and rounded off the 1960s with three further stoppage victories.
11.
In 1970 Joe Bugner emerged internationally as an outstanding young prospect, and by the end of the year, he was world-rated.
12.
Joe Bugner won nine consecutive bouts that year, including victories over well-known boxers such as Chuck Wepner, Manuel Ramos, Johnny Prescott, Brian London, Eduardo Corletti, Charley Polite, and George Johnson.
13.
Joe 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.
14.
However, because Joe Bugner was still too young to fight for the British Commonwealth title, this much-anticipated bout had to be postponed until the following year.
15.
Early in his professional years, Joe 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.
16.
Joe Bugner was often criticised for lacking natural aggression in the ring.
17.
Some observers argued that Joe Bugner's heart was never in boxing after an early opponent, Ulric Regis, died from brain injuries soon after being outpointed by Joe Bugner at London's Shoreditch Town Hall.
18.
Many said that Joe Bugner never punched his full weight after that.
19.
In March 1971, Joe Bugner finally met veteran Cooper, and won a fifteen-round decision.
20.
Nonetheless, Joe 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.
21.
Joe Bugner would remain in the world ratings for most of the 1970s.
22.
Joe Bugner retained his European title with a decision over tough German heavyweight Jurgen Blin.
23.
However, later in 1971, Joe Bugner surprisingly lost decisions to underdogs Jack Bodell and Larry Middleton; sandwiched between these losses was a victory over Mike Boswell.
24.
In 1972 Joe Bugner won eight consecutive fights, including a knockout over Jurgen Blin for the European championship.
25.
In 1973 Joe Bugner began the year by retaining his European belt with a victory over the capable Dutchman Rudie Lubbers.
26.
Joe 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.
27.
Joe 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.
28.
Early in 1976, Joe Bugner announced his retirement from boxing, stating that he no longer felt motivated to fight professionally.
29.
In 1977, Joe Bugner lost a close twelve-round decision away from home to top contender Ron Lyle.
30.
Joe Bugner returned to the ring for brief periods in the 1980s and 1990s but was never as effective as he had been during his prime due to his age and inactivity.
31.
In 1982, a ring-rusty Joe Bugner fought the hard-hitting top contender Earnie Shavers, but was stopped in the second round due to a badly cut eye.
32.
However, Joe Bugner decided to continue his comeback, stopping the useful John Denis and fringe contender Danny Sutton, as well as domestic contenders Winston Allen and Eddie Neilson.
33.
In 1983, a subdued and unmotivated Joe Bugner lost to Marvis Frazier, showing little ambition throughout the bout.
34.
Joe Bugner followed this with a decision over future European champion Anders Eklund and a controversial loss to future World Title challenger Steffen Tangstad.
35.
Joe Bugner appeared to have done enough to win the Tangstad fight like with the Frazier and Eklund bouts, he appeared unmotivated and uninterested throughout.
36.
In 1986 Bugner moved to Australia, where he adopted the nickname Aussie Joe after becoming an Australian citizen.
37.
The bout took place on 24 October 1987, and Joe 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.
38.
Joe Bugner promptly retired again following this defeat, only his 3rd stoppage defeat in 20 years.
39.
Joe Bugner then fought fellow Briton and world title contender Scott Welch for the WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title.
40.
Welch proved too young and fresh for the now 46-year-old Joe Bugner, handing him a TKO defeat in the 6th round.
41.
In 1979 Joe Bugner featured in an Italian film, Io sto con gli ippopotami with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, he worked with Bud Spencer in his films in the 1980s.
42.
Joe Bugner worked as the expert adviser on the Russell Crowe film, Cinderella Man, which was a film about the heavyweight boxer James J Braddock.
43.
Joe Bugner suffers from a serious back injury he sustained from training for fights in his middle years.
44.
Joe Bugner left the show on day 16 after losing a bushtucker trial called 'Jungle Jail' to fellow celebrity Stuart Manning.