Who preceded Joe Bugner as British heavyweight champion?
"Joe Erskine (Welsh boxer) Joseph ""Joe"" Erskine (26 January 1934 – 18 February 1990) was a heavyweight boxer from the Butetown district of Cardiff, Wales. He was an Amateur Boxing Association Champion, Inter-Services Champion, and British Army Champion in 1953. He began fighting as a professional in 1954 and was trained by Freddie Elvin. He held the British heavyweight title from August 1956 to June 1958. In all, he won 45 of his 54 professional bouts, losing 8, with one drawn. His best wins were against George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, Dick Richardson, Uli Ritter, Jack Bodell, Johnny Williams, Joe Bygraves"
"1986, adopting the nickname ""Aussie Joe"", beating fighters such as Greg Page, David Bey, Anders Eklund and James Tillis before retiring again after a TKO loss to Frank Bruno in 1987. He made a final comeback during the 1990s, winning the Australian heavyweight title in 1995 and the lightly regarded World Boxing Federation (WBF) heavyweight championship in 1998 at the age of 48 against James ""Bonecrusher"" Smith. He retired for the last time in 1999 with a final record of 69-13-1, including 43 wins by knockout. Bugner and his family fled to the United Kingdom in the late 1950s because"
"as the biggest all-British heavyweight bout since Cooper Vs Bugner in 1971. The bout took place in late 1987, and Bugner suffered an eighth-round TKO loss to the much younger and fresher world title contender for the Commonwealth championship in front of a huge crowd at White Hart Lane football stadium. Bugner promptly retired again following this defeat, only his 3rd stoppage defeat in 20 years. Inspired by the 45-year-old George Foreman's recapture of the heavyweight title, Bugner made a final comeback in 1995, beating Vince Cervi to win the Australian heavyweight title, followed by a win over West Turner."
"Joe Bugner József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a Hungarian-born British-Australian former heavyweight boxer and actor. He holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalized citizen of both Australia and the United Kingdom. As an actor, he is best known for his role in the 1994 action film ""Street Fighter"", alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia. Born in Szőreg, a southeastern suburb of Szeged in southern Hungary, Bugner and his family fled after the 1956 Soviet invasion and settled in Britain. Standing at with a prime weight of around , Bugner twice held the"
"fight, however, like with the Frazier and Eklund bouts, he appeared unmotivated and uninterested throughout. In 1986 Bugner moved to Australia, where he adopted the nickname ""Aussie Joe"" after taking out dual British-Australian nationality. In Australia, Bugner launched a fairly successful comeback, earning good victories over world title contenders James Tillis and David Bey and an impressive victory over former WBA heavyweight champion Greg Page, gaining a world ranking in the process, after which he spoke of challenging reigning heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. However, there was great clamour for a fight with fellow Briton Frank Bruno. The bout was touted"
"lightly regarded title - the WBF version of the heavyweight crown - by defeating former WBA World Heavyweight Champion James ""Bonecrusher"" Smith. At the age of 48 years and 110 days, it made him the oldest ever boxer to hold a world championship belt. Of course this world boxing version got no prestige in comparison with the best three federations. Bugner was to fight just once more, in 1999 at the age of 49 he defeated the durable fringe contender Levi Billups, after which he finally retired for good. His record for 83 professional fights is 69 wins (41 on"
"George Foreman and Muhammad Ali ever gave Frazier a harder fight. Many regard the Frazier bout as being Bugner's best career performance. After the Ali and Frazier fights, Bugner won a further 8 bouts in a row, his most notable victories being over top contender and ex-WBA World Heavyweight Champion Jimmy Ellis, the highly rated Mac Foster, and European title defences against Giuseppe Ros, Dante Cane and Mario Baruzzi. By the end of 1974 Bugner was rated among the top five heavyweight contenders in the world. Bugner challenged Muhammad Ali for the world championship in June 1975, the bout being"
"to Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Although the scorecards in the Ali fight were somewhat lopsided, Bugner fought well, and he won the respect of the boxing media and public alike. After their bout, Ali declared that Bugner was capable of being world champion. Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee later echoed that sentiment. The fight with Frazier in July 1973 at Earls Court in London was deemed a classic. After being knocked down by a tremendous left hook in the tenth round, Bugner arose and staggered Frazier to close the round. Frazier took the decision, but only narrowly, and arguably only"
"Bugner then fought fellow Briton and world title contender Scott Welch for the WBO Intercontinental Heavyweight Title. Welch proved too young and fresh for the now 46-year-old Bugner, handing him a TKO defeat in the 6th round. Bugner continued to fight on against far younger opponents. In 1996 he defeated the respectable Young Haumona for the Pacific and Australasian Heavyweight title, retained it against Waisiki Ligaloa in 1997, added the Australian title by defeating the tough Colin Wilson and defending both titles against Bob Mirovic in 1998. In 1998 Bugner's long-term tenacity finally gave him a world crown, albeit a"
"undefeated until the final fight of his career, and made more defences of his British and Commonwealth titles against Jack Bodell (TKO 2 and PTS 15) and Billy Walker (TKO 6). In 1968 Cooper added the European crown to his domestic titles with a win over Karl Mildenberger, and later made two successful defences of his title. In his last fight, in May 1971, a 36-year-old Cooper faced 21-year-old Joe Bugner, one of the biggest heavyweights in the world at the time, for the British, European, and Commonwealth belts. Referee Harry Gibbs awarded the fight to Bugner by the now"
"the WBA heavyweight title. After once again leading on the cards for most of the fight, he ran out of steam and was defeated by knockout in round eleven. Bruno once again got himself back into title contention with wins over former contender James Tillis and journeymen Reggie Gross and Chuck Gardner. In October 1987 Bruno faced the veteran Joe Bugner in an all British match up. Bugner although long past his peak, was coming off impressive wins over Greg Page, James Tillis and David Bey. Bruno won by TKO in the 8th round, the referee stopping the bout, although"
"Joe Bygraves Joe Bygraves (26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012) was a British heavyweight boxer. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight belt in 1956. Bygraves defended the title on three occasions, knocking-out Henry Cooper and holding Dick Richardson to a draw before losing the championship to Joe Erskine. Bygraves immigrated to Britain as a youth but did not take British citizenship until the end of his fighting career in 1967. Bygraves was born into a large family of 11 siblings, in Kingston, Jamaica in"
"prime fighting weight) fought the hard-hitting top contender Earnie Shavers, but was stopped in the second round due to a badly cut eye. However, Bugner decided to continue his comeback, stopping the useful John Denis and fringe contender Danny Sutton, as well as domestic contenders Winston Allen and Eddie Neilson. In 1983, a subdued and unmotivated Bugner lost to Marvis Frazier, showing little ambition throughout the bout. He followed this with a decision over future European champion Anders Eklund and a controversial loss to future World Title challenger Steffen Tangstad. Bugner appeared to have done enough to win the Tangstad"
"heavyweight categories, which was not reflective of the rest of the United Kingdom. The notable exceptions to this were the Dick Richardson of Newport and Joe Erskine from Cardiff, who, along with England's Henry Cooper and Brian London formed a quartet of promising British heavyweights during the late 1950s and early 1960s. The final decade of the twentieth century saw four Welshmen take World Championship titles. Steve Robinson became the WBO Featherweight Champion in 1993, followed by Robbie Regan (WBO World Bantamweight) in 1996, Barry Jones (WBO World Super-Featherweight) and Joe Calzaghe (WBO Super Middleweight), both in 1997. The first"
"Gunner Moir James Moir (17 April 1879 – 12 June 1939), better known as Gunner Moir and sometimes as ""Ex Gunner"" James Moir, was an English heavyweight boxer. He was British champion from 1906 to 1909 and challenged Tommy Burns for the world title. After retiring from boxing he took up acting, appearing in several films in the 1930s. Born in Lambeth, London, Moir began his boxing career whilst serving in the British Army in India, and when he returned to England in 1903 he was the Heavyweight Champion of the British Army in India. His first recorded professional fight"
"Bugner. In 1987 he was upset in eight rounds, as underdog (and regular Tyson sparring partner) Michael Williams came off the floor to stop Tillis. Later in the same year, he was stopped in five rounds on cuts by future champ Frank Bruno in London, and then knocked out in 10 rounds by hard-hitting Johnny DuPlooy in South Africa. Having failed to secure a rematch with Tyson in 1988, this time for the undisputed heavyweight championship, he made one last attempt at the big time. Tillis was brought in to fight reigning cruiserweight world champion Evander Holyfield, who was making"
"another failed attempt at Ingemar Johansson. One of his last wins was over Olympic gold medalist Franco De Piccoli in 1963, and in 1965 he failed to beat Canadian heavyweight champion George Chuvalo at the Albert Hall in London. His last recorded professional bout was against Hector Eduardo Corletti on 20 March 1967. * Biography Joe Bygraves Joe Bygraves (26 May 1931 – 16 January 2012) was a British heavyweight boxer. Bygraves turned professional in 1953, and after an impressive early career he successfully challenged Kitione Lave for the vacant Commonwealth Heavyweight belt in 1956. Bygraves defended the title on"
"London on 1 October 1923. Joe Beckett Joseph Beckett (4 April 1892 – 12 March 1965), also known by the nickname of ""Joe"", born in Wickham, Hampshire was an English professional light heavy/cruiser/heavyweight boxer of the 1910s and early 1920s, who won the National Sporting Club (NSC) (subsequently known as the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC)) British heavyweight title, and British Empire heavyweight title, and challenged for the NSC British Light heavyweight title, and European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight title. Joe Beckett's first professional boxing bout was a knockout defeat by Packy Mahoney (Ireland) at the National Sporting Club,"
"former IBF heavyweight title holder Tony Tucker, Frankie Swindell, Brian Sargent, Calvin Jones and Gerard Jones, all from the USA, during this period. In 1996 Akinwande faced American Jeremy Williams for the WBO World Heavyweight Title which had been vacated by Riddick Bowe, a fight which Akinwande was to win via a 3rd round stoppage. Akinwande went on to defend the belt twice, with victories over Russian Alexander Zolkin by TKO and a decision over fellow Briton Scott Welch, who had won the WBO Intercontinental Title with a stoppage over the 46-year-old Joe Bugner. The WBO belt was then vacated"
"British, Commonwealth and European titles from Henry Cooper. The bout was in May 1970, at Wembley, and Bugner won by a technical knockout in the fifth, signalling an end to London's career. After retiring from boxing, London became a businessman in his hometown of Blackpool, owning several nightclubs, and is still a fitness fanatic running 12 miles a day. Teetotal all of his life, in 2006 it was revealed that he was still only a few pounds over his fighting weight. He is married with three children. In January 1971 English footballer Bobby Moore was embroiled in what became a"
"Heavyweight boxers. He is a member of ""Blackpool Sportsmen's Aid Society"" (BSAS) which raises funds for local charities and sporting needs in Blackpool. Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (born 19 June 1934), known professionally as Brian London, is an English retired heavyweight boxer. He was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion from 1958 to 1959, and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, losing to Floyd Patterson in 1959 and Muhammad Ali in 1966, both times via knockout. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine, and Dick Richardson, who dominated the British boxing"
"was also refused. Because a deal could not be made, Bowe instead chose to vacate his WBC title and proceeded to make the first defense of his remaining titles against Michael Dokes. Based on the strength of his victory over Ruddock, the WBC decided to name Lewis the new WBC Heavyweight champion. Though George Foreman had been brought up by Lewis as a possible opponent, he ultimately agreed to face the WBC's number one contender Tony Tucker in his first defense. Tucker briefly held the IBF Heavyweight title in 1987 but lost it in his first defense against Mike Tyson"
"on 11 November 1978 from a brain tumor. Jack Gardner (boxer) Jack Gardner (6 November 1926 – 11 November 1978) was a British heavyweight boxer. He was the Heavyweight Champion of Great Britain, the British Empire, and Europe. Gardner was a top ten contender for the Heavyweight Championship of the World and retired with a record of 28 wins, 23 by knockout, and 6 losses, a total of 34 fights. Jack Gardner was born on 6 November 1926 at Market Harborough, England. He served in the Grenadier Guards in the British Army from 1945 to 1951. He earned the rank"
"Bowe held a press conference to dump his WBC title into a trash can and relinquished it to avoid a mandatory defence against Lewis. On 14 December 1992, the WBC declared Lewis its champion, making him the first world heavyweight titleholder from Britain in the 20th century. Lewis defended the belt three times, defeating Tony Tucker, whom he knocked down for the first time in Tucker's career, and Frank Bruno and Phil Jackson by knockout. The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time two British-born boxers fought for a version of the world heavyweight title in the"
"second, former and future Italian heavyweight champion Uber Bacilieri in the fourth before scoring a second round victory over ex-Commonwealth and European champion Don Cockell. Cockell retired after his contest with Lave, having just a year earlier faced Rocky Marciano for the World Heavyweight title. Lave's successes led to a title challenge for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight title. His opponent was Joe Bygraves, who had defeated Lave in 1955. The two met on the 26 June 1956 at the Empire Pool in Wembley, and again the fight went the full distance, with the result going the same way, to Bygraves."
"to Max Baer almost exactly 25 years before Johansson's triumph. Johansson would be the last European to win the heavyweight title until Italy's Francesco Damiani became the inaugural WBO heavyweight champion in May 1989. As the WBO was a fledgling sanctioning body at the time and not considered a legitimate world title, it was not until Great Britain's Lennox Lewis was awarded the WBC title in 1992, 33 years after Johansson's victory over Patterson, that a European again held a recognized version of the heavyweight title. It was also not until 1999, when Lewis unified the titles against Evander Holyfield,"
"middleweight champ Joe Butler on 18 March 1893 in Philadelphia and was defeated in the second round. The two met again in a title match in Philadelphia on 20 February 1894 in Philadelphia, and this time, Craig emerged the victor, winning in the fourth round. Craig never defended the title, which went vacant. He moved to London, England later that year, and began campaigning in Great Britain in October. He competed for the middleweight championship of England, losing to Dan Creedon on October 14, 1895 but winning the title by defeating George Chrisp 24 November 1898 via a K.O. in"
"at such an advanced age. A benefit was held for Bugner in 2008 by Kevin Lueshing. In November 2009 Bugner replaced Camilla Dallerup on day 4 of the British TV show ""I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!"". He left the show on day 16 after losing a bushtucker trial called 'Jungle Jail' to fellow celebrity Stuart Manning. Bugner has three children, James, Joe Jr., and Amy, from his ex-wife Melody. Bugner's autobiography, 'Joe Bugner - My Story', was published by New Holland Publishing (Australia) in November 2013. Joe Bugner József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a"
"that Cooper deserved the decision due to his steady aggression. But Bugner fought effectively on the defense and scored often with his left jab, and in the opinion of many, was the rightful winner of the bout. ""The Times"", among others, scored the fight in favour of Bugner. Still, the outcome of the bout is regarded as one of the most controversial in British boxing history. Nonetheless, Bugner was now the British, British Commonwealth, and European champion, and for the first time he was ranked among the world's top ten heavyweights. Bugner would remain in the world ratings until his"
"George Gardiner (boxer) George Gardner (born March 17, 1877 – July 8, 1954), was a famous Irish boxer in America who was the first undisputed World Light Heavyweight Champion. He held claims to both the World Middleweight Title as well as the World Heavyweight Title. He was the second man in history to hold the World's Light Heavyweight title, defeating the first Light Heavyweight Champion, Jack Root by KO after 12 rounds. George Gardner's name is often misspelled, ""George Gardiner"", which was an alias although some believe it was the correct spelling. He signed his name ""George Gardner"", though several"
"Brian London Brian Sidney Harper (born 19 June 1934), known professionally as Brian London, is an English retired heavyweight boxer. He was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion from 1958 to 1959, and twice challenged for the world heavyweight title, losing to Floyd Patterson in 1959 and Muhammad Ali in 1966, both times via knockout. He was one of a quartet of British boxers, with Henry Cooper, Joe Erskine, and Dick Richardson, who dominated the British boxing scene throughout the 1950s and 1960s. An orthodox fighter, London was 6 feet tall and fought at about 14 stone 9 pounds (205"
"previously, for Cooper's British, British Commonwealth and European titles. However, because Bugner was still too young to fight for the British Commonwealth title (the minimum age was twenty-one years old at the time), this much anticipated bout had to be postponed until the next year. While waiting to come of age, in 1971 he defeated Carl Gizzi and just weeks later and weeks before facing Cooper, drew with Bill Drover. Early in his professional years Bugner earned a reputation as a tough, durable but often exceptionally defensive and cautious boxer; he retained that image for the rest of his career."
"Joe Beckett Joseph Beckett (4 April 1892 – 12 March 1965), also known by the nickname of ""Joe"", born in Wickham, Hampshire was an English professional light heavy/cruiser/heavyweight boxer of the 1910s and early 1920s, who won the National Sporting Club (NSC) (subsequently known as the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC)) British heavyweight title, and British Empire heavyweight title, and challenged for the NSC British Light heavyweight title, and European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight title. Joe Beckett's first professional boxing bout was a knockout defeat by Packy Mahoney (Ireland) at the National Sporting Club, Covent Garden, London on 18"