Joe Bugner: British heavyweight is dead

The British boxing world mourns the loss of one of its most controversial legends: Joe Bugner died at the age of 75, as the Hungarian native had come to England as a refugee and rose to the heavyweight star. Bugner’s name will remain connected to that historical March 1971 in Wembley forever when he defeated Henry Cooper three days after his 21st birthday and ended his career.

For Bugner, this victory became the curse of his life. “I wish I never had this fight,” he said later. His sporting qualities were more clearly shown in other duels. In 1973 and 1975 he went into a World Cup fight against Muhammad Ali. He also delivered an epic fight against Joe Frazier in 1973. These duels against the biggest names of the heavyweight era can be documented, even if he went out of the ring as a loser.

After the end of his first marriage to Melody Bowd in 1978, Bugner moved to Los Angeles to the Australian journalist Marlene Carter, whom he had met at a party at the film icon Joan Collins. In Beverly Hills, the couple used friendships with Dean Martin, Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Tom Jones was the best man at her wedding in 1978.

After his sports career, he tried as an actor in various films and TV series. Among other things, he was seen next to Bud Spencer in several productions before moving to Australia, where he became known as “Aussie Joe”.

The couple bought a winery in Australia, but the business failed. The financial pressure drove Bugner back into the ring at over 40 years. In 1998 he again conquered a World Cup title at the age of 48, but the little respected WBF version. In 2009 he performed on the TV show “I’m a Celebrity … get me out of here” (the British version of the jungle camp). In 2013 he published his autobiography “Joe Bugner, My Story”.

Wife Marlene Carter died in 2021, Bugner spent his last years with dementia in a nursing home in Brisbane. He leaves three children from his first marriage.