Posted on 12/18/2010 10:20:36 AM PST by fabrizio
I was in a “redneck” type bar to watch Ali fight Joe Bugner in England. Crowd started out all how Bugner would “teach that N a lesson”.
By the time Ali knocked him out, they were on their feet cheering Ali.
He was just an incredible sports figure.
I was in a “redneck” type bar to watch Ali fight Joe Bugner in England. Crowd started out all how Bugner would “teach that N a lesson”.
By the time Ali knocked him out, they were on their feet cheering Ali.
He was just an incredible sports figure.
In defense of Joe Bugner (born Hungary 1950). He went 15 rounds with Ali in Malaysia for the title and lost a unanimous decision. He fought Ali at the Convention Centre in Las Vegas two years later and again lost a unanimous decision. One bout in 1973 and the other in 1975.
Of course you could be thinking of his bout with Henry Cooper, who scored a knockdown, then was stopped with a "cut eye". That knockdown was played and replayed for years.
It didn’t seem right to me either that the Brit Ali beat was Joe Bugner but I remembered that name, I’m sure you are right but I def don’t remember Cooper knocking Ali down, Wepner did as retold in Rocky. I am sure Ali knocked down and stopped the brit that is what they were cheering.
It was at Earls Court, London, when Ali fought Brian London. London had already been stopped in one round by Henry Cooper. He had no right to be in there with Ali. The fans were mugs for paying for that travesty. Yes, also I remember when Jerry Quarry of California, knocked out a British Heavyweight in one round. So inept was the home grown product, the fans cheered Quarry. I think that Brian London fight was the likely one.
Actually saw the bout between London and Ali on television in Canada.
Hi, well my memory gets more confusing because the two you mentionm are from 1966 or thereabouts, and this would have been in the 70’s. I wasn’t old enough to be in a bar, much less on a trip by myself, in 1966. However, I distinctly remember them mocking first Ali, then the other fighter, with fake Brit accents. So the fight should have been in England or against an English opponent. But I looked over Ali’s fight list and couldn’t come up with a sure match. Whichever fight it was, I didn’t dream it. Definitely wasn’t Jerry Quarry.
Amazing sequence. A truly magnificent fighter in his day.
Just thought that I might be getting off topic and hopefully do not want to disturb anyone.
After a lot of research I have determined it was one of Ali’s fights with Joe Bugner, but my memory of a knockdown or knockout is mistaken.
Bugner was Hungarian born, but he was the British and European champion and I know it was a Brit, the bar patrons did British accents first to mock Ali, then Bugner when he was losing. When Ali hit Bugner, they were saying things like “I think I’ll take a bit of a nap now” and that must have made me think Bugner got knocked down, or out.
Seeing Muhammed Ali fight live was a magical time, I can remember so clearly sitting in my dad’s 60’s Ford Fairlane and hearing Ali recite poetry about his upcoming fight with Sonny Liston, saying when he hit Liston the viewers would be amazed by the “launching of the first black satellite!”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.