The Bugner Identity
In Search of British Boxing’s Anti-Hero
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Pitch Publishing Ltd
Published:21st Sep '26
Should be back in stock very soon
Joe Bugner was the only boxer to take both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier the distance, and he did it twice to Ali. Bugner faced the very best in a golden era of heavyweights and was British and European champion. He should have been one of the country’s most admired sportsmen. Yet he was cursed by his controversial points win over national hero Henry Cooper, and felt he was eventually hounded out of the country he had entered as a six-year-old refugee from Hungary. By the time he became the oldest man to win a version of the world heavyweight crown at 48, he was fighting from the other side of the world as ‘Aussie Joe’, his achievement met with indifference or even ridicule. Yet the reaction to his death in September 2025 revealed a respect and affection in Britain that would have surprised him. The Bugner Identity is the first major book on this most contentious of British champions. It explores his extraordinary life, his fractured bond with his adopted homeland, and whether history has judged Joe Bugner unfairly.
"It is a rare thing indeed to come across a sports biography written by an author so immersed in their subject that it takes the reader on a journey deep into what it means to be human, using his subject’s own personal struggles as template. This is the uncommon feat achieved by David Tossell with his recently published biography of iconic British heavyweight champion, Joe Bugner."
-- John Wight * Morning Star *"A fantastic tribute!"
-- Paul Ross * talkSPORT *"Author Tossell was too young when Bugner beat Cooper to have been tainted by it, but is old enough to appreciate his peak years, level-headed enough to separate the man from the athlete, and empathetic enough to seek an understanding of both. That much comes across well in this book, which is a worthy read for anyone who liked Bugner - and an even worthier one for anyone who didn't."
-- Oliver Fennell * Boxing NeISBN: 9781836804758
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
352 pages