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Requiem for a heavyweight - Joe Bugner's life and times
JOHN WIGHT describes the boxer’s decades-long career that saw him fight some of the most iconic and legendary heavyweights of all time
Joe Bugner, 1974
In a town shaped by hardship and history, a grassroots boxing club led by Andrew McFarlane gives purpose to the next generation — including a rising champion, writes JOHN WIGHT
AMONG the pantheon of fan-favourite British heavyweight fighters of all time, Joe Bugner is one name that doesn’t immediately jump out, which, given his record and legacy, belongs in the box marked travesty.
Though his was a career that stretched from the 1960s all that way up into the 1990s, Joe Bugner is most synonymous with the 1970s, along with such cultural artefacts as flared jeans and long hair for young male hipsters; T-Rex, Slade and The Glitter Band for those old enough to remember when glam rock was a thing; the three-day week and power cuts; and also such TV classics as Love Thy Neighbour, Bless This House, George and Mildred, and Grange Hill.
Joe Bugner — like John Conteh, John H Stacey, Dave Boy Green, and Charlie Magri — flew the flag for Britain throughout that tumultuous decade, but did so while being much maligned.
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