RIP Brent. Genius musician. Gone too soon.
Purple Aki. Brown bread.
Maybe not the thread for this, but his infamy was something that stretched as far into the school playgrounds of W Wales where I grew up. That is a fascinating thing to think about how the story spread that far with that much fidelity in the pre-internet age.
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I remember the name, and the terror associated with him, from high school on the Wirral back in the day. At first it seemed like a bit of fun, feel yer muscles and so on, but once you got to know even a fraction of the story around him, he was a bad bad guy.
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I won’t be shedding any tears.
Modern day Bogeyman that Terrified all Kids…
Nothing suspicious surrounding his death it was reported
Thought he died years ago
No… He passed today
I remember his fight with Bruno. Put up a decent fight probably 10 years past his best. Don’t know what he was like as a bloke or anything, but he seems an old school, proud sort of fella. RIP.
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I remember him being the top British heavyweight, but he never seemed to get the public love and adoration that Henry Cooper or (later) Frank Bruno received. I do remember that Bugner said that the hardest he was ever hit was by my mother’s old neighbour! (Earnie Shavers)
It feels like that generation of Boxers have mostly gone now. I suppose the nature of the sport doesn’t lend itself to longevity.
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He had a very credible career but one of those guys most famous for the fighters he lost to than any of his wins. The Bruno one is probably what most of us remember, which I recall a bit of nastiness over questions of what it meant to be a real Brit. However, earlier in his career he went the distance 3 separate times with Ali (twice) and Frazier, although only one in a title fight. His other claim to fame is one of the few people, I think the only person to have fought (and lost) to the Frazier father and son (Marvis).
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RIP Jo Bugner. I was one of the great British boxers of that era. I remember his fight against Muhammad Ali.
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My ex’s Uncle went the distance with him , incredibly. (Look at the state he’s in in Round 7 ! )
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Yeah… I remember my Grandad was never a fan of his due to him beating a favourite of his, Henry Cooper. From what I remember, I think it was a case that the UK crowds never much took to him, but at the time, the UK were struggling to get anyone to challenge the American heavyweights of that era. Guess he was hyped in the hope the UK, in the form of Bugner, could at least make a challenge.
He was obviously a brave guy and a tough opponent, (not sure anyone ever knocked him out), to get into the ring with some of the best fighters on the planet at that time.
He made his mark in a sport he obviously loved, which in its own way, is a testament to what a good athlete he was…
“At his peak, he fought Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in back-to-back fights in 1973, and faced Ali again for his WBA and WBC world championships in 1975. He lost all three bouts on points, being the only man both fought but neither knocked out .”
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RIP Giorgio
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I remember getting his autograph.
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It sounds like he may have taken his own life. It’s very sad, I always liked him.
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