Editing Joe Bugner (section)

===1960s===
Throughout his brief amateur career, Bugner competed sixteen times, winning thirteen matches. On the recommendation of his then-trainer and buddy, Andy Smith, he became a professional in 1967 (at the very young age of 17). Smith was unhappy with the choice of Bugner's opponents and believed that he could better control the quality of his opponents if Bugner turned professional.<ref>[http://ringsidereport.com/rsr/news.php?readmore=1586] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011213100/http://ringsidereport.com/rsr/news.php?readmore=1586|date=11 October 2007}}</ref> He had a losing debut against Paul Brown on 20 December 1967 at the [[London Hilton]], where he suffered a TKO in the third round. Showing gritty determination after his debut, the teenage Bugner went on to win a remarkable 18 consecutive fights in under two years during 1968 and 1969 (including 13 stoppage victories) before narrowly losing to the older and vastly more experienced Dick Hall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000924 |title=Joe Bugner : Boxer |publisher=Boxrec.com |access-date=25 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021117154205/http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=000924 |archive-date=17 November 2002 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> He bounced back and rounded off the 1960s with three further stoppage victories.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}