Tributes paid to boxer Joe Bugner, who lived and trained in Bedford and twice fought Muhammad Ali
Tributes have been paid to British boxer Joe Bugner, who lived and trained in Bedford after fleeing Hungary with his family in the 1950s, following his death at the age of 75.
Bugner died at a care home in Brisbane, Australia, having moved to the country during the 1980s.
Bugner finished his 32-year professional career with a record of 69 wins, including 41 by way of stoppage, 13 defeats and one draw.
He arrived in Bedford as a refugee from Hungary in 1956, and attended Goldington Road Secondary School in the town.
Val Harrison, whose late mum Georgina Harper taught Bugner English at the school told Bedford Today: "The class she had was a vertical stream called The Remove.
"It had pupils from 11 to 15, which was the school leaving age then.
"They were all children with special needs, be they physical, learning, or language problems, such as Joe had when he arrived from Hungary.
"He stayed in mum's class long enough for him to be sufficiently competent in English to be able to cope in a class with children of his own age.
"His boxing ability was swiftly recognised and he started training and being entered for competitions.
"Joe was big for his age, so when he started boxing with other boys, mum said he was frightened of hurting them and that was why he was, at first, reluctant to fight.
"Mum followed his career avidly until the day she died, and was happy to have had a small part in helping him on his way."
Bugner was a former British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, who was twice beaten by Muhammad Ali, including for the 1975 world heavyweight title in Kuala Lumpur.
Boxing writer Alan Hubbard, writing in a 2016 blog for Olympic news website insidethegames.biz recalled an exchange between Bugner and the assembled press following the fight.
"Having opined that the British heavyweight Joe Bugner ‘had the physique of a Greek statue but with fewer moves’ he [sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney] was in conversation with Bugner as he climbed out of a swimming pool, after waltzing around for 15 rounds with Ali in Kuala Lumpur, barely breaking sweat.
"Get me Jesus Christ and I’ll fight him tomorrow,” Bugner declared to us.
“Hugh quickly countered: “Joe, you’re only saying that because you know he’s got bad hands.””
Bugner suffered a heart attack in 2014, and was living at a care home in Brisbane, when he died on September 1.