The Grudge: Joe Bugner vs Henry Cooper 1/2

[sirpico123]

both of them were no big shakes in boxing world, at least bugner realised it and coopers olympic record was pathetic

[75amoeba]

Joe Bugner is brilliant. Keep on shining Joe.

[duranfan1985]

RIP Our 'Enry.

[smith2781]

R.I.P Henry Cooper

[hainesarobert]

Bugner had no bottle , big man but bottleless, no heart or guts.

[DrJReefer]

@hainesarobert Not strictly true. He tended to fight more when he got hurt. Look at his fight with frazier.

[Edgey1988]

@hainesarobert He'd twat you, you mug!

[spotswood4444]

@hainesarobert That is not the case, if Bugner had had a decent manager and trainer he would have beated Ali.

Bugner had the strongest chin ever. He was only knocked out once against Bruno, but even that was only a TKO.

Bruno would have been destroyed by Bugner if Bugner had been younger.

[TheSarge303]

how old was cooper when he fought bugner?

[trevorlee59]

@TheSarge303

bugner was 21, cooper 37

[paulthepill]

i dont think cooper ever spoke to harry gibbs from that day on.

[mizofan]

Cooper lost lots of fights, didn't dare fight Liston, should have been disqualified v Erskine, the fight with Bugner was close and he's best remembered for knocking down a young Ali who soon stopped him. He was popular as he had the famous ' ammer and was always a trier, fighting through trouble with cuts, but he wasn't quite as great as some like to think.

[bugsy48]

I agree with you entirely, Liquidindian911. If you watch carefully, you'll see that it was a, more or less, stray right cross that set Ali up, then Cooper caught him with two beautiful left hooks that had him reeling. I don't think he even saw the third one coming that dumped him on his arse. However, there's no getting away from the fact that Ali really was a class act and a fine and deserving champion.

MsG

[tellthetruthg]

Ask Ali if it was luck. He got smacked plain and simple. The difference is Ali got up and won. No shame getting put in the room as Ali called it it's how you handle getting out that matters. Big men hit hard period. The public watching from the outside thinks, that punch wasn't that hard, Bugner or Cooper would knock the snot right now out of any Bar hog or poster on youtube.

[REDnWHITEarmyFTM]

cooper is a gentlemen bugner is a thug

[Isleofskye]

@REDnWHITEarmyFTM

As a 56-year-old thats NOT true M8!

You are right Henry was a True and lovely Gent but Bugner played the Panto, Villian and had a great sense of humour.

BOTH were great in different ways.

[mizofan]

@REDnWHITEarmyFTM See Cooper v Erskine 3; he wasn't such a gentleman then!

[kkrisz76]

Jóska a mi fiunk! Kár, hogy itt Magyarországon senki nem foglalkozik vele, pedig parádés pályafutása volt...

[malcjow]

Mardy Cooper.

[fjbutch]

Met Aussie Joe During my time in the Australian Army boxing tournaments,,,presented trophies to our recruits at Kapooka ... and was an inspiration to our diggers ...... True Gentleman ,,,,,

[Doderhultarn89]

"ordinary convicts who made good" lol.

[JAYROX1969]

It was fixed, Cooper all the way, Bugner isn't even English.

[elnick1000]

sure would be nice to see this fight, to see who really should have won.

[capablemachine]

That's the oldest 21 year old I've seen.

[malcjow]

Cooper was - is - a Londoner and Londoners don`t like anyone beating the London fighters.

If Cooper had have been knocked out the Londoners would still have said Cooper won or he was fowled - its a closed shop down there.

[taildragger53]

@malcjow Ha ha..That's very true....i wonder just how many boxers since the 60s have been English? Bruno, Eubanks, Khan,Benn, plus a row of Pakistani boxers. Come to think of it, how many footballers who represented England have been English? The Brits live too much in their past glories.

[bantermelon]

@taildragger53 Pakistani boxers? Khan is the only Pakistani who has been semi successful at boxing and there are plenty of good British boxers.

[ogdroadsong]

@taildragger53 funny as a Canadian you forgot the best British boxer of recent times - Lennox Lewis!

[robertred48]

For fucks sake, lets stop all the shit at each other.They where both good british fighters.We all have our own views.HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

[robertred48]

You dont know nothing,you was still a spunk bubble in your old mans ball bag.

So bollocks to you too.Cooper the greatest Bugner a Pussy

[steve12168]

I assume you mean the Great Henry Cooper that got knocked fucking senseless by Johansson,Patterson,Folley and Joe Bygraves to name but a few.

[malcjow]

@robertred48 BUGNER vs COOPER - COOPER WAS A BAD LOOOOOOOSER.

[ericssson]

@robertred48 I think !! you're a Pussy

[robertred48]

Henry Cooper was the greatest.There is no way Bugner won that fight.If Henry did not cut so easy he would have been world champion fact!!!!!!

[steve12168]

bollocks

[tazzarman]

Both these guys lost everything they had,henry cooper lost all is money in banking and had to sell is longsdale belts,joe lost is millions in the wine industry,both great fighters,i watched the fight that night and i thought joe just pipped it.

[steve12168]

Cooper lost his money when Lloyds of London caught a cold. He was a Lloyds "name"

[onebom06]

Both of them, absolute legends, If it was my decision I would of gave it to Cooper, but like next man said, ref made his decision, end of, great fight!

[bumbasquatkissmyteet]

joe said it perfectly, the referee put his hand up , he made the decision

[nhnho]

joe is a genuine bloke cooper is a twat

[GILLYRUTH]

Joe looks like cousin Eddy out of national lampoons vacation.

[fleetmaze2]

henry cooper was very good would maybe had even gone further but it was his eyes prone to cuts that was the problem, joe bugner had the build could take a punch he proved that against frazier and went distance with ali, i always thought he never had the killer instinct. and i still think cooper won that fight but i think joe got it coz henry was at end of career, and lets give it to a younger man maybe.

[daisydooker]

biggest tragedy in british boxing history

[sammyt1111]

lets face it, cooper will be remembered as a British boxing icon, whereas Joe Bugner has joined a reality show. It just shows you that Henry has the dignity whereas Joe will buy a cheap bit of fame. and will also bung the referee a little bit to change the result.

[steve12168]

Joe's skint , get of his back

[Brady2k10]

whos watchin Joe in im a celebrity? i like the guy, i was laughing when he said to sabrina about her cooking he said "it's bloody shit mate" or something like that and when he told that fat bitch kim woodburn to sit down and shut up.

[cypionate011]

Yer your right,he's the best one in it,and that Kim Woodburn is not all there.

[MrClamSmaka]

yea brady im watching it, i also pissed myself laughing at the sabrina comment lol aussies have a great wit about them, i like also like the guy.

[LiquidIndian911]

I'm a huge Ali fan but saying Cooper "got lucky" decking Ali with that left hook is bullsh*t. You watch that fight - he hurt Ali at least 3 times. Ali always had trouble with left hooks.

[evol121]

yeah he did. but he wasnt at his prime then and took cooper way to lightly. he was talking to the crowd and even flirting with with liz talyor.

[TommyGun7111]

That's right Ali always had problems with left hooks infact 3/4 of his knock downs are from left hooks the thing is Ali always got back up.

Bottom of the line is Ali TKOD Cooper and defiantly was ahead on points. He has beaten cooper 2 times. I give cooper credit for nailing Ali, obviously Ali didn't have his guard up and he was backing up, so a clean blow would knockdown Ali, yea.

[leicestergux]

@LiquidIndian911 GOOD MAN!!!! at lassssst someone talking sence on youtube!!! :-) good fella

[escortmk112]

Then you must be a minority.

[kirkwanglers32]

I Thought Sir H Wone The Fight Hennrey will love you man.You Cut Easy but you have a Liorns Hart Man.

God Bles you H.

[Jorsalfar]

Bugner has psycho eyes.:P Great boxer tho.

[lane99]

Why do they say (and they say it in Part 2 of this video, also) that Bugner's win prevented Cooper from "retiring undefeated"? He had lots of losses prior to this one.

By chance, do they just mean Bugner prevented him from winning his FINAL fight?

[proff180]

Probably, I think that they turned Joe into a figure of hate and he never deserved it at all, I mean was it his fault if the judges got it wrong if they did??...nah....course not, but that's the public for you, Joe Bugner most of the time was probably the most gracious boxer there ever was, he wouldn't cheat on purpose, if he lost he excepted it and made no excuses, Henry himself sometimes got lucky, like when he knocked Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali on the floor that was just a one off chance.

[escortmk112]

Henry sometimes got lucky, what a load of rubbish.

[knausspiano]

I'd like to some some sort of recognition for Joe from the Palace. Others may disagree.

[steve12168]

fair comment

[mjtncul]

If Cooper really thinks he won the fight, then his grudge should be against Harry Gibbs, not Bugner. I've never met either but I know people who have met both, and both are gents.

[flintdole1982]

Does anyone know anything about coopers identical twin george

[suckmypokecock]

No, is he lefthanded aswell

[chunkyscotty]

Yeah, coopers twin also boxed as a heavyweight and went 16-14-1. He fought some top heavyweights like Brian London and Dick Richardson, he cut easy though so lost to most of them

[stanssoapbox]

Boxing aside, i didn't realize what a sensitive guy Big Bugner is. At the end he even thanked Henry when he laughed at his joke. You could see the relief on his face when he realised that at long last Henry seemed to warm to him.

And joe was right when he said he did not hold up his hand, somebody else did. Almost all Boxers hold up their hand to influence the judges but Joe did not. Yet people call him arrogant.

[cosmeticcarrepair]

You're quick to notice how Joe thanks Henry for laughing at his joke, that little thank you says everthing about how Joe has been feeling all these years since that fight, it said, ah so you don't hate me anymore for getting that decision.

[kjetin99]

@stanssoapbox I met him once in London-75.He had a great sence of humour ,great one-liners ! I had the feeling he was a very sensitive man! I liked him.

[malcjow]

cooper bad looser.

[Brushoil]

Met Joe in the Hunter Valley at a cafe, and what a guy. A gentleman and funny as. Ended up having a few drinks together and a laugh. I respect him and respect Henry also, both great fighters. You could nearly call Sir Henry, "Gentleman Jim".

[JONNOG88]

I recently saw Sir Henry Cooper, alongside Joe Calzaghe. Do a speech at the Plymouth Pavilion. And he was a truely fascinating ,funny and elequent man. A real legend.The audience where captivated by his stories about Ali and how he subsequently formed a friendship with him.

I know Cooper never won a World title and some say he was overated. But he fought at a time when the competition was fierce against legends like Ali, Johansen.

[dunnefan]

Khan v Hatton anyone?

[archeeizm]

bugner was pretty good at blocking punches with his face.

[HitMeQuick]

Smashing fella Henry Cooper, a Great Brit.

[jackHNv]

Bugner was never forgiven for the fact that the ref awarded him the fight v Cooper.

I, and most others though Cooper won the fight, but it's not Joe's fault that the ref was crap.

As far as who's best, Cooper was an old man when he fought Bugner, and he still beat him in everybody but the ref's opinion.

[FlaviusConstantius]

Not in my opinion. Bugner beat Cooper clearly. He was never forgiven because he beat England's national treasure, who never stopped moaning about it.

As for who was better, Bugner was a grade above Cooper. Cooper was sparked by virtually every top quality opponent he faced.

[jackHNv]

Bugner wasn't a grade above Cooper, Bugner was in his early 20s, Cooper was closer to 40 than 30and had bad knees and a dodgy hand - and the fight was still really close regardless of who you thought won it. If a young Henry had fought an old Bugner it would have been a massacre, even comedy turn Frank Bruno beat him for Christ's sake, so obviously Cooper was the better fighter.

Bugner's sole aim whenever he fought top-class was just to survive, not to win, Henry at least tried to win.

[FlaviusConstantius]

Bugner was a neophyte against a vastly more experienced opponent. He was old and fat when he faced Bruno, who would KO any version of Cooper.

A massacre, eh? When did Cooper ever massacre an elite opponent? Whenever Cooper stepped up in class he was the one getting massacred. He also got beaten by various second raters.

Bugner avoided no one (unlike Cooper), fared better against top notch opposition, pushing Lyle and Frazier to the wire and giving Ali tougher fights than Cooper did.

[jackHNv]

Bugner was 37 when he fought Bruno, the same age as Cooper was when he fought Bugner, so if he was old and past his best at 37, so was Cooper.

Bruno was slow, upright, had no defence, and couldn't take a punch, he would have been tailor-made for Henry at his best, and would have been knocked out by Cooper, who even his biggest critics admit was a really hard puncher.

[FlaviusConstantius]

By the time Bugner was 37, he'd had several spells of inactivity. Cooper hadn't.

The guys who stopped Bruno were Tyson and huge sluggers like Lewis, Smith and Witherspoon. All incomparable to Cooper.

And let's face it, Cooper's chin was hardly granite either. Patterson sparked him. Johansson sparked him. Folley sparked him. Even Joe Bygraves sparked him. So Bruno several sizes bigger than Cooper, slightly better chin, likely hit harder, and with comparable skills has to be favored.

[jackHNv]

Cooper had had many more fights than Bugner at 37, and was worn out by his own admission, Bugners relative inactivity could be seen as an advantage.

Cooper didn't have a great chin, but he was nowhere near as slow as Bruno, or as upright, and did know how to defend when he got tagged, which Bruno never learned.

Cooper was a big hitter, and if he'd landed one on Bruno's chin (which he would have) it would have been game over, every time Bruno was hit hard he was knocked out..

[FlaviusConstantius]

Actually, Bugner was in his 73rd pro fight against Bruno, much more than Cooper's career total of 56. I don't see how several years of inactivity at an advanced age could be of benefit to him.

Cooper was no Willie Pep either, also upright and there to be hit. Bruno was a big hitter too, and his KO losses were against hard-hitting super-heavies, not smallish cruisers. Cooper was out cold against the typical 200lb heavies of his era. Only Smith had Bruno down for the 10 count.

[jackHNv]

Interesting argument though!

[jackHNv]

Cooper fought at a time when there were many good British heavyweights, whereas after Bugner won the title all he had to beat was Richard Dunne and a bunch of other no-hopers, his only tough fights were against Americans, and when he fought a good one he just fought to not get hurt, not to win.

Frank Bruno was a circus turn, an over-rated, robotic joke, who built a career on knocking over pub bouncers who stood still so he could hit them, every time he fought a decent fighter he was outclassed

[FlaviusConstantius]

Who, Brian London, Dick Richardson etc? Not quite murderers' row are they? Bugner did actually win the British/Euro titles from Cooper.

Bugner would never have pushed Frazier or Lyle so close had he only been fighting to survive. Even the first Ali fight was closer than the cards suggest. He also avoided no one, whereas Cooper admitted to steering clear of certain fighters.

I don't rate Bruno that highly either, just see him as a bigger version of Cooper - limited but overrated.

[malcjow]

best comment i`ve heard so for.

[steve12168]

Absolutely spot on Flavius

[Ichiro578]

cooper was gonna retire undefeated is he kidding? he lost 14 times even if he means in the uk he still lost a few times there.

[1965Briton]

great vid, good to see these legends bury the hatchett

[ShoeiBoy]

Need this fight posted on Youtube.

Ive not seen it and I want to make up my own mind who won.

Cooper - legend in a great era for British boxing but very limited fighter hence never made it on the world stage. Refused Patterson? and Liston? :o|

Bugner - like guillppp said he did the hard yards and was a competitor with all the world's best in his day.

I don't know who really won this fight :o( but Bugner is the better fighter of the two for me.

Planetgardenland is right Bunce is a cock

[guillppp]

Bugner did 40 odd rounds with Ali and Frazier and also went the distance with hard hitter Ron Lyle. The media didn't like him so he never really got the credit. Let's be honest, who could have stayed and lived in a ring with Ali, Lyle and Frazier like he did.

[planetgardenland]

regardless....Bunce destroys every programme he is involved in. He is inarticulate, self opionated....as joe said  "the morons who wrote about boxing"

[yot5000]

but who was the only person other then Frazier to put Ali on the deck? Henrey Cooper!!! Henry was robbed agaist Ali AND was Robbed agaist that BUM Bugner

[steve12168]

twat

[brendel99]

If the decision was wrong it was the ref's fault, not Bugner's, the press shouldn't have done him over the way they did.

[dermot51]

true

[70Mack]

Cooper won it fairly handyily

[76543wet]

joe bugner..he was in 5 bud spencer and terrence hill movies..good to see him..

[kirkwanglers32]

Cooper good Fighter

[vuxfeon]

That interviewer was annoying as hell though. Why couldn't he just ask a question and let them talk. Sounded like he was trying to have an orgasm any time he asked them something. henry looked like he wanted to left hook him just to finish the sentence for him.

[BarryCFCOK]

About 10 years ago Sky showed the whole fight with Harry Gibbs in the studio with Glenn Mccrory both give the verdict to Bugner by one round. Still have the fight on VHS

[demon27dan]

Any chance of an upload??

[kirkwanglers32]

Ill Try for you

[steve12168]

Harry Carpenter fashioned a lot of public opinion over this one with his bias lopsided comments at the end

[bbxx44]

Great interview. They are two fighters who did well and still have all their marbles. 'Enry is still very popular here in the US.

[BooBooLane]

Our 'Enry must have lost:

British

British Empire +

European titles.

He beat Clay in 1963 but was robbed, was mugged by Dundee.. He is too much of a gentleman to say so.

[demon27dan]

He wasn't robbed or mugged by Angelo Dundee at all. It's an urban myth that Dundee exploited the slight tear in Clay's glove to get an extended break after round 5 (the round where Henry knocked Clay down) to give his man more time to recover. The live radio broadcast (the fight was only shown on TV in edited highlights the next evening) proves that the gap between round 5 and 6 was only 63 seconds - just 3 seconds more than normal. There wasn't a five minute gap like some have said.

[saltwaterebel]

had the bell not rung immediately after cooper hooked ali,, cooper would have knocked ali out. without the ripping of the glove between rounds,, cooper would have knocked ali out. however, if the exact same thing happened to the ali of 1973,, ali would have recovered. ali had garnered the ring savvy to run when hurt, where he lacked it in his early stages as champion.

[demon27dan]

Just because the bell rung doesn't mean Cooper was robbed or mugged, same for the tear in the glove. Neither had an effect on the result of the fight. If the bell had run early, or if the interval was extended to allow for a glove change, then maybe I'd say say Cooper was robbed, but neither of those happened. If the fight had continued for another minute after Ali got up, it would have been interesting to see how he would've dealt with a determined Cooper coming at him again

[kirkwanglers32]

I feel Our Enry, wone the fight by 2 points.

The ref needed a blind cane.

Cooper wone,at least by 2 points.

As they say the rest is History.

[Aurelian147]

I thought Bugner won.

[boxer14huseyin]

lol I saw this yesterday on bbc one at like 11:30

[saltwaterebel]

the interval was extended!! several minutes passed while a new glove was retrieved.