The late great Joe Bugner shared the ring with a number of legendary heavyweights, including Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
He first fought Ali in February 1973 in Las Vegas, losing by unanimous decision, before challenging the American icon for the world heavyweight championship in July 1975 rematch. Bugner – who had lost to Frazier on points in ’73 – again suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Ali at the conclusion of their clash in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
This would be Bugner’s only world title challenge, although he did capture the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight titles shortly after when he knocked out Richard Dunn in the first round of their clash at Wembley Stadium in London.
In a resurfaced round of ‘Best I Faced’ with The Ring Magazine, Bugner – who sadly passed away this month – revealed Earnie Shavers was actually the biggest puncher that he ever faced, overlooking the likes of Ali and Frazier.
“He was an enormous puncher, but I have a real issue with that fight because of a conversation Shavers and I had years later. Apparently, Don King told Earnie to get me out of that ring by any means necessary and not to worry about disqualification.”
Known for his thunderous punching power, Shavers is widely considered to be one of the best heavyweights to have never won a version of the world heavyweight championship.
‘The Black Destroyer’ stopped Bugner in the 2nd round of their non-title bout in Texas in May of 1982, handing the Brit the ninth defeat of his tenure at the time.
Shavers did challenge for the title on two occasions during his professional career but was beaten by Ali in 1977 and then by Larry Holmes just a few years later.
