Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Bugner

Boxing competition
Muhammad Ali vs Joe Bugner
DateFebruary 14, 1973 & June 30, 1975
VenueLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, US & Merdeka Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Title(s) on the lineWBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight titles (1975)
Tale of the tape
Boxer United States Muhammad Ali Australia Joe Bugner
Hometown Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. Szőreg, Hungary
Purse $2 million $500,000
Pre-fight record 47–2 51–6–1
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 224 lb (102 kg) 230 lb (104 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBA, WBC, and The Ring heavyweight champion Heavyweight champion of Europe (EBU)
Result
Ali won both fights via UD

Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner fought two boxing matches with each other. Their first bout took place on February 14, 1973; and the second for the world's heavyweight championship on July 1, 1975. Ali won both matches through unanimous decisions on points.[1][2][3]

Background

After returning from his nearly four year boxing ban, former champion Muhammad Ali attempted to take the heavyweight title from the new champion Joe Frazier in March 1971. The much anticipated fight, dubbed Fight of the Century, resulted in Ali suffering his first professional defeat, losing a 15-round decision to Frazier. Undeterred, Ali went on to win nine straight fights in under 18 months before facing off with Bugner.

Joe Bugner rose to prominence around the same time of the first Ali-Frazier fight, winning the British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight titles in a close 15-round match with the famous Henry Cooper. Although he lost the titles six months later, he regained the European title the following year, after scoring an eight-round knockout over new champion Jürgen Blin.[4]

Fights

First fight

The pair first faced off in Las Vegas on February 14, 1973. Ali was heavily favored to defeat Bugner, and was given 8-1 odds. Ali entered the match confident, and predicted that he would stop Bugner in seven rounds. Ali entered the ring wearing a robe studded in jewels and bearing the phrase People’s Choice, the robe was a gift from Elvis Presley.

Bugner lost the fight, but fought well, earning the respect of the crowd and Ali.[5] Despite suffering a cut over the left eye in the first round, Bugner fought on courageously and went the 12 round distance, neither man being knocked down. Ali later stated he believed Bugner had what it took to become the future world heavyweight champion, an opinion shared with his trainer Angelo Dundee.[6] This would be Ali's last fight before his infamous fight with Ken Norton less than two months later.

Rematch

Bugner went on to fight Joe Frazier, losing a hard-fought 12-round match to the former champion. After these defeats, Bugner mounted an eight fight win streak, holding his European title and rising to #5 among the top ten heavyweight contenders, leading to his world heavyweight title shot. After suffering his second professional defeat, Ali avenged both loses in rematches with both Norton and Frazier, before regaining the world heavyweight title in a 1974 fight with George Foreman.[7]

The 1975 title fight with Bugner was Ali's third title defense since 1974, and was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and remains the only world heavyweight championship fight hosted in the nation's history. Being held in June, the location of the fight was very hot, creating difficulties for both men. Despite the heat, Ali performed very well, fighting aggressively against the bigger challenger, forcing Joe against the ropes and clinching to prevent counters and also used his now famous rope-a-dope tactic minimally. Bugner lasted the 15 round distance, and once again neither man was knocked down, but Ali won the fight on points by a comfortable margin. This was Ali's last fight before the famous Thrilla in Manila, a third fight with Ali's arch-rival Joe Frazier.[8][9][10][11]

References

  1. ^ "Muhammad Ali's ring record". ESPN. 19 November 2003. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  2. ^ "'Aussie' Joe Bugner reveals what it was like to punch his old adversary and friend Muhammad Ali". Courier Mail. 7 March 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  3. ^ "What it feels like to be hit by Muhammad Ali". Sydney Morning Herald. 21 December 2004. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Joe Bugner's professional record". BoxRec.
  5. ^ Halloran, Richard (1973-02-15). "Ali Cuts Bugner and Outpoints Him in 12". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  6. ^ "Ali in a world of his own". Sports Illustrated. 26 February 1973. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  7. ^ Thomas Hauser (1991). Muhammad Ali:His Life and Times. Simon & Schuster. pp. 250, 303–4.
  8. ^ "On This Day: Muhammad Ali outclassed Joe Bugner to set up third fight with Joe Frazier". Boxing News. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  9. ^ "How I gave Ali a white eye". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 January 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  10. ^ Stephen Brunt (2002). Facing Ali. The Lyons Press. pp. 149–56.
  11. ^ Felix Dennis; Don Atyeo (2003). Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years. miramax books. p. 238.
  • v
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Fights
Media
Docu films
and series
FamilyTeam and
associatesBooks
  • The Greatest: My Own Story (1975 autobiography)
  • The Fight (1975)
  • Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times (1991 biography)
  • The Tao of Muhammad Ali (1997)
  • King of the World (1998 biography)
  • Facing Ali (2002)
  • Muhammad Ali: The Glory Years (2002 biography)
  • The Soul of a Butterfly (2004 autobiography)
  • Twelve Rounds to Glory (2007 biography)
  • Ali: A Life (2018 biography)
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