Boxing
Sad tale on Muhammed Ali’s former opponent this Valentine Day
It is 50 years today since the memorable boxing bout of the legendary Muhammed Ali and Joe Burgner in Las Vegas, United State.
It was on a Valentine Day in 1973. Muhammed Ali died seven years ago. Burgner is alive, but in pitiable condition.
Now 72, he lives in a care facility in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. According to reports, he suffers from dementia and doesn’t remember his boxing career or anything at all.
A reporter of The Sun in the UK, Colin Hart reported that he visited Burgner a few days ago and tried callinghim in Australia, where he’s lived for 36 years, to reminisce with him about that 12-round non-title clash that grabbed the attention of the world.
“Though I haven’t spoken to him for some time I was surprised to discover his telephone had been disconnected.
Looking forward to my usual banter with him, I was horrified and saddened when I contacted his eldest son Joe Jr, 53, and learned why – his father is living in a Brisbane care home suffering from severe dementia”.
Dementia is generally characterised by memory loss and inability to have cognate thinking.
“Joe Jr said: “I’m afraid there’s no point in giving you Dad’s mobile number because I’m afraid he remembers nothing about his boxing career.”
The reporter declared: “I found it heart-breaking when I visited him just before Christmas because he didn’t seem to know who I was.
“Physically he’s in great shape and looks years younger than his age. He will be 73 next month yet believes he’s only 38.
“He happens to be in his own little world. While we were chatting he told me his wife Marlene was out shopping and would be back soon – Marlene passed away more than a year ago.”
The Hungarian-born Bugner dominated British boxing in the 70s like Frank Bruno and Lennox Bruno did in the 80s and 90s.
At 6ft 4in with blond curly hair, he looked like a modern day Adonis. He was twice British heavyweight champion and three times European champ and was much better than he was given credit for.
Unfortunately he was never that popular with the fans, who never forgave the 21-year-old for getting a highly controversial points decision over national treasure Henry Cooper – which I thought was justified – that ended his career.
But his greatest achievements were twice going the distance with Ali and once with Joe Frazier – not many of our heavyweights would have been good enough to have done that.
And I have no doubt that if he had been fighting outside the Ali era – the Golden Age of heavyweights – he would have won one of the world championship belts given his speed, stamina and exceptional defensive skills.
But when he did fight Ali for the title in in Kuala Lumpur he hardly covered himself in glory. It was in the open air and though it started at 9.30 in the morning it was extremely hot and humid.
Bugner didn’t try to win and was simply hell-bent on surviving the 15 rounds. In my SunSport report I scathingly called him a “Harmless Hercules.” I must say he accepted that he deserved the criticism and he never let it affect our friendship.
After chasing Joe for 45 minutes Ali was confined to bed suffering from heat exhaustion while we watched Joe swimming in his hotel pool sipping champagne after every lap.
Disgusted with him, promoter Mickey Duff said “I suppose Joe at the end of the day, money is the name of the game.”
Bugner replied “Yes – and being able to count it.”
The boxing community will be as upset as I was to learn of Joe’s memory loss.
But Joe Jr added “Please let everyone know Dad isn’t unhappy. He is in luxury accommodation and the staff at the home are taking excellent care of him.
“I thought of bringing him back to England but his carers advised against it – they said he is used to a certain routine and it wouldn’t be fair to uproot him at this stage of his life.”
Oleksandr Usyk will put his WBC heavyweight title belt on the line against Dutch kickboxer Rico Verhoeven on May 23 at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza, Ring Magazine announced on Friday.
The Ukrainian three-times undisputed champion holds the IBF, WBA and WBC titles after vacating the WBO belt.
The 39-year-old has not boxed since beating Britain’s Daniel Dubois at London’s Wembley Stadium last July.
“I respect his (Verhoeven’s) journey – he’s truly the ‘King of Kickboxing’. But this is boxing – a different game, with its own rules and its own kings,” said Usyk, who has a 24-0 record.
“I’m ready and looking forward to meeting him in the ring. It’s going to be a unique experience for both of us, and I know the fans are excited too. A big night is coming.”
The ‘Glory in Giza’ fight will be streamed live on DAZN.
“I spent 12 years as the undisputed heavyweight kickboxing champion and accomplished everything I set out to accomplish,” Verhoeven, 36, told The Ring.
“But staying at the top for that long didn’t take away from the hunger; it strengthened it. Usyk is the undisputed champion in boxing. That’s the kind of challenge that motivated me. Undisputed versus undisputed.”
Verhoeven has sparred in the past with former champion Tyson Fury and had one professional bout in 2014, which he won by a knockout.
-Reuters
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Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face off in a professional rematch at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix, the fighters and promoters announced on Monday.
The fight marks Mayweather’s return from retirement and will be the first professional boxing match held at the Sphere.
Mayweather, who holds a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 encounter dubbed the “Fight of the Century.”
That bout generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a $72 million live gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result,” Mayweather said in a statement.
Pacquiao, whose record stands at 62-8-3 with 39 knockouts, expressed confidence he would hand Mayweather his first professional loss.
“I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him,” the Filipino fighter said.
The rematch will stream to Netflix’s more than 325 million subscribers worldwide, continuing the platform’s push into live boxing.
The streaming platform has recently broadcast several high-profile fights, including Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson, which the company said drew 108 million live global viewers
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Former multi-weight world boxing champion Floyd Mayweather will come out of retirement this year for his first official fight in nearly a decade, his new promotion CSI Sports/Fight Sports said on Friday, though his opponent has yet to be decided.
Before his official return, Mayweather is set for an exhibition bout with fellow boxing great Mike Tyson, with the date and venue still to be announced.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing – from my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards – no one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event – than my events,” Mayweather, 48, said in a statement on his new promotion’s website.
It will mark the American’s fourth comeback from retirement, following previous exits in 2007, 2015 and 2017 — the last after beating Conor McGregor to extend his record to 50-0. He has, however, fought several exhibitions since.
Across a three-decade career, Mayweather defeated many of his era’s top fighters and headlined the three highest‑grossing bouts in history, against Manny Pacquiao, McGregor and Canelo Alvarez.
-Reuters
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