Editing Joe Bugner (section)

====Prime years====
Bugner began 1973 by retaining his European belt with a victory over the capable Dutchman [[Rudie Lubbers]]. The 23-year-old Bugner then lost twelve-round decisions to [[Muhammad Ali]] and [[Joe Frazier]]. Despite being clearly defeated, Bugner fought well and won the respect of the boxing media and the public alike. After their bout, Ali declared that Bugner was capable of being world champion.<ref>{{cite magazine | date=26 February 1973 | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087092/index.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025165756/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087092/index.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 October 2012 | title=Ali In A World Of His Own | magazine=Sports Illustrated | access-date=24 November 2009 }}</ref> Ali's trainer [[Angelo Dundee]] later echoed that sentiment.<ref>{{cite magazine | date=1 March 1976 | url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1090798/index.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025165712/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1090798/index.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=25 October 2012 | title=The Next Stop Is Costa Rica | magazine=Sports Illustrated | access-date=24 November 2009 }}</ref> 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 [[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 eight bouts in a row, his most notable victories being over ex-WBA world heavyweight champion [[Jimmy Ellis (boxer)|Jimmy Ellis]], and [[Mac Foster]]. 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 held in [[Kuala Lumpur]], with Ali winning a relatively one-sided fifteen-round decision. Bugner performed fairly well but maintained a strictly defensive posture throughout most of the fight, perhaps due to the blistering tropical heat, and as a result, he was widely scorned by the media and public. In an interview during an April 2008 reunion with Henry Cooper, Bugner defended his tactics in the Ali fight as having been necessary due to the extreme temperature and humidity of the outside venue.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}