Was Joe Bugner Underrated?

Question

I ask this, because whenever his name is mentioned, it is met with derision or sarcasm, often hate.

It seems to stem from his win over Henry Cooper, and possibly because he was of Hungarian origin.

But i feel Bugner was underrated, he gave Joe Frazier a h**l of a fight, losing very narrowly, and fought well twice against Ali.

Bugner also beat good fighters in a good era, as well as Cooper, he defeated Jimmy Young, Jimmy Ellis, Manuel Ramos, Chuck Wepner, Eduardo Corletti among others. And even in the 80's he badly beat Greg Page, and also former contenders David Bey and James Tillis, not to mention Bonecrusher Smith, Anders Eklund etc.

Sure he fought badly sometimes, not trying against Ron Lyle, Marvis Frazier and Steffan Tangstad, fights he was well capable of winning......but i think that was because the public never really got behind him.

Answer 1

He destroyed his own reputation through arrogance, especially around the time that he made the ill-fated comeback against Bruno. From what I have seen he was a bit of a messy fighter, but had a really clumping hook on him.

Answer 2

I think around the time he was fighting Bugner was rated as the best in england and europe for most of the time and most people would rate him above Cooper etc. But Cooper will always be know as the man who knocked down Ali and potentially could have beat him. That clip is still shown often to this day and because of that Cooper is more well known. Also Cooper is a genuinely nice guy and seen as a man of the people and Bugner wasent as amiable and seemed to fall into the pantomine villan slot. I agree though i think to an extent he was underrated.

Answer 3

he bigged himself up as the great boxer......

resented  our  respect for Cooper.......

and was not very good at losing......these are qualities the British dont like.....

Answer 4

You have explained the reason for all of the 'hate' against Joe Bugner - it's race.  While Henry Cooper, is a Cockney and English and of the Anglo-Saxon race, Joe Bugner was seen as a foreigner and more importantly, a Hun.

So, it's a race thing really.

Strange to relate however that no one ever slagged off Mohammed Ali for beating Henry Cooper - well at least Henry managed to slap Ali to the canvas for the count of 2.  Best try ever.

Them woz the daze!!

Below - Clay [Ali] vs Cooper - commentary Harry Carpenter [I think - sounds like]

YouTube - Muhammed Ali vs. Henry Cooper

Muhammed Ali vs. Henry Cooper round 4. ... Would you like to comment? Join YouTube

for a free account, or log in if you are already a member. ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnEDM4EC5...

YouTube - Joe Bugner | Profile

Still, through the 1970s, Bugner fought them all, including Henry Cooper, ...

Muhammad Ali vs Joe Bugner2 1975 (intro and round 1) ... 2008 YouTube, LLC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MHz5QMTd...

Answer 5

No he was a Great fighter