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Aussie Joe Bugner born (March 13 1950) in Szőreg,
Hungary, was an Australian and Britain|British 
heavyweight boxer. 

His family arrived in the United Kingdom in the
late 1950s. They settled in the Cambridgeshire
town of St Ives, Cambridgeshire|St Ives.  

He was a frequent fighter in the amateur ranks and
had losing challenge for the A.B.A Heavyweight
title in 1967, which ended in the semi final 
against "Bombardier" Billy Wells.  

He turned professional in 1967 on the advice of
his then trainer and friend Andy Smith.  He had a
losing debut against Paul Brown (boxer)|Paul Brown
on the 20th December 1967 at the London Hilton,
where was knocked out in the third round. After
his debut he went on to stop 12 of his next 13
opponents. This included four one-round wins.

He alienated the majority of British boxing fans
by his defensive boxing style and also by winning
the British, Empire and European titles from the
national favourite, Henry Cooper (boxer)| Henry
Cooper  in a controversial victory in 1971.

His critics argue that his heart was never in
boxing after an early opponent (Ulric Regis) died
with brain injuries soon after being out pointed
by Bugner.

Joe twice went the distance with Muhammad Ali:
* first on February 14th, 1973 in Las Vegas
* then again on June 30th, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur
Both times he lost on points.

He won the 'WBF' version of the heavyweight crown
in 1998, by defeating James "Bonecrusher" Smith.

He later moved to Australia, where he acquired the
name Aussie Joe Bugner and where he now lives on
the Gold Coast, Queensland|Gold Coast, Queensland.

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



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