Former international heavyweight boxing champion Joe Bugner is the only white boxer to have gone the distance – twice – with the great Muhammad Ali. The first time was on February 14th, 1973 in Las Vegas and the second on June 30th, 1975 in Kuala Lumpur. Both times, Joe lost on points. He has also gone 12 rounds with the legendary Joe Frazier, losing a close verdict and beat James Bonecrusher Smith for the world title in 1998 to become the oldest world heavyweight champion ever at the age of 48.
Born in Hungary, and having boxed out of both England and Australia, “Aussie” Joe won every major Boxing title in the world including the British, Commonwealth, European, Australian and PABA titles. At the age of 48 he claimed the World title which he defended and won the following year.
Joe is in great demand as a speaker for all occasions and recently returned from Hong Kong where he was the honored guest speaker for the football Sevens. He is also a very accomplished TV and movie actor and has co-starred in numerous films – his latest being the critically acclaimed Australian crime caper ‘Getting Square’.