Best Aussie Heavyweights of All time

[coneye]

If he's allowed in Joe Bugner number 1 by a mile , . If he's not allowed in theres a good argument Thunder , Meeham and any other islanders and /or kiwis should'nt be in ,, does,nt leave much does it

[Cap]

Well, Bugner became a naturalized Australian citizen in 1986, so he's like Bob Fitzsimmons in the sense that both England and Australia can claim him as one of their own. Just like Canada can claim Lennox Lewis. Bugner revived his career after emigrating to OZ and did pretty well against what was available, before retiring again. So, despite being remembered by most as being British (Hungarian), he would have to be included when listing the Best Aussie Heavyweights of All Time.

[Ambling Alp II]

Again, Peter Jackson has to be right up there.

[Cap]

Yeah. Peter Jackson, based on his impact on boxing's golden age alone, has to be listed in the top ten.

[Brute]

Years ago we used to claim Bob Fitsimmons as one of ours

Ruby Bob Fitzsimmons learned to fight in Sydney. The English claimed him but he left England as a child and never returned. He grew up in New Zealand. He only weighed 75kgs but beat Jim Corbett who had beaten John L Sullivan.

[bollocks]

Years ago we used to claim Bob Fitsimmons as one of ours

Ruby Bob Fitzsimmons learned to fight in Sydney. The English claimed him but he left England as a child and never returned. He grew up in New Zealand. He only weighed 75kgs but beat Jim Corbett who had beaten John L Sullivan.

And like all good Kiwi things, we claimed him as ours. But that doesn't make it so

[Cap]

Yeah. Back in the day boxers fought for the Australasian heavyweight title, the championship of Australia and New Zealand. Too bad no one bothered to film some of those early bruisers, aside from Bill Lang the Melbourne lad. Seems like horse racing and football were way more popular, though big fights did get coverage in the newspapers.

[Brute]

Years ago we used to claim Bob Fitsimmons as one of ours

Fitzsimmons started his professional boxing career in Australia. He left England as a child and never returned there to fight.
He grew up in New Zealand.

[margaret thatcher]

think of all the great international fighters we'd have to count as american just because they based their careers there

[Joson]

Well, Bugner became a naturalized Australian citizen in 1986, so he's like Bob Fitzsimmons in the sense that both England and Australia can claim him as one of their own. Just like Canada can claim Lennox Lewis. Bugner revived his career after emigrating to OZ and did pretty well against what was available, before retiring again. So, despite being remembered by most as being British (Hungarian), he would have to be included when listing the Best Aussie Heavyweights of All Time.

Bugner's 1986-87 comeback was a very pleasant surprise for his fans. That's because the fighters he beat, James Tillis, David Bey, and Greg Page, were still ranked in the worldwide top-20.

I don't know who was financing Joe's comeback at the time. But after those three victories, he was rated anywhere from 11th to 15th worldwide. Had Bugner's handlers given him a couple more easy tune-ups, he would have had a top-ten rating again. Easily.

I guess Bugner just didn't have much promotional money behind him at that stage of his career.

[Fray Bentos]

Bugner was rated in the WBC top ten in 1987, there was loose talk at the time of bringing Mike Tyson to Australia to face him.

[Joson]

Bugner was rated in the WBC top ten in 1987, there was loose talk at the time of bringing Mike Tyson to Australia to face him.

I didn't realize that the WBC rated Bugner in 1987. But I do recall Ring Magazine rating Joe at 13th worldwide that year. I also remember the talk about making Joe vs Tyson, or Joe vs Spinks.

Other names floated as Bugner opponents in 1987 were Mike Weaver and Trevor Berbick. For some reason the Weaver bout fell through. Berbick was quoted in the papers as saying he didn't want to fight Bugner because "that guy can really take a punch."

At age 37, Bugner was much slower and bulkier than he had been ten years earlier, while in his prime. But he could still fight, no doubt. Based on Joe's wins over Page, Tillis, and Bey, I gave him an good chance of beating Weaver and Berbick, both of whom were aging and starting to lose their edge.

[Jaguar]

Bugner was rated in the WBC top ten in 1987, there was loose talk at the time of bringing Mike Tyson to Australia to face him.

I didn't realize that the WBC rated Bugner in 1987. But I do recall Ring Magazine rating Joe at 13th worldwide that year. I also remember the talk about making Joe vs Tyson, or Joe vs Spinks.

Other names floated as Bugner opponents in 1987 were Mike Weaver and Trevor Berbick. For some reason the Weaver bout fell through. Berbick was quoted in the papers as saying he didn't want to fight Bugner because "that guy can really take a punch."

At age 37, Bugner was much slower and bulkier than he had been ten years earlier, while in his prime. But he could still fight, no doubt. Based on Joe's wins over Page, Tillis, and Bey, I gave him an good chance of beating Weaver and Berbick, both of whom were aging and starting to lose their edge.

Bugner's first incarnation as Aussie Joe was promoted by Bill Mordey, I'm not sure who was backing him in the 1990s though, maybe Modey still. I dunno.

I think the plan was for Bugner to fight Weaver after Bey but that fell through and they got Page in instead instead. The Bugner v Tyson thing was meant to take place at the America's Cup in '87, but I don't think it was ever going to happen - which is a good job really because Aussie Joe v a 21-year-old Tyson wouldn't have been pretty.

[buster007]

not many heavyweights around atm is there?

[DG]

Jeff Fenech.

Rolf “Hammer” Harris.

[1563942]

How is Gallen on this list

[margaret thatcher]

speaking of aussie heavies, any of you seen teremoana jr? qualified for the olympics and blasting through opponents

this is him recently vs one of the top american am heavies

[fox]

speaking of aussie heavies, any of you seen teremoana jr? qualified for the olympics and blasting through opponents

this is him recently vs one of the top american am heavies

Yeah seen a bit of him here in Qld. Had a couple of pros. Apparently Justice beat him a few years ago in the vests. Goes good. Not sure if he can medal at Olympics. Depends on the draw.

[toppity]

Counting Les Darcy as a heavyweight seems a bit strange. While technicaly he may have fought at heavyweight... it just seems misleeding.

Les was 5'6, fought at 126lb, over the coarse of 6 years gaining weight to 160 lb. makes me wonder how grim heayweights were at the time... although it was mid world war 1 when he was fighting at heavy, so maybe thats why it was so thin.

Great fighter, sure
Great heavyweight... not to me.

I think Les has to be considered. The world wasn't full of 200lb'ers back then. Les won the Australian Heavyweight title at least a couple of times, when boxing was a mainstream sport. Yes, he was better known as an World middleweight Champ, but when comparing him to some on the list he is a legitimate HW contender. I'd be surprised if many here haven't seen big Bob fight Colin Wilson at least once. Solid fighters, but by no means world level. Bob couldn't even motivate himself during some fights. The sparing in the corner between rounds with Ang was sometimes more entertaining. Please don't get me wrong, I always tried to watch Bob fight, it was like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, "you never knew what you were going to get", but comparing him to Les is a stretch imo.

[margaret thatcher]

i get what youre saying, but darcey's case would be more convincing to me if he was actually beating good big fighters. then i could buy more easily that this 5'6 160 pounder should rank among the top hws. but darcey's opponents for his hw fights weighed 162, 162, 169, 176, and on the day of their fights too. totally different realm from modern fights

160 vs 162 the day of a fight is a welterwweight fight now. hard for me to give a guy HW credit for winning that when we have 6'5 240 pound types in the heavyweight mix. it's just a totally different fight for someone darcey's size

if tim tszyu had the hw title attached to his fights vs horn, spark, brubacker, and ryan would it make him a serious contender for the list? i think not, even though p4p ya he would be well up there

[Beltane]

Peter Jackson (3 July 1861 – 13 July 1901) an Australian heavyweight boxer who had a significant international career, must come under consideration.

His record was 57 wins, 5 losses, 15 draws and 28 no contests.

On 21 May 1891, in Benicia, California Jackson fought the future world champion James Corbett. The match with Corbett went 61 rounds before it was declared no contest, as both boxers were too exhausted to continue.

[Cap]

Yes and Corbett lost the title to Australia's Bob Fitzsimmons.

[Cap]

There is an argument for Harry Laing "The Maori" being the greatest Australasian champ of all time. He went 32-1 and was finally KO'd by a train that tore off both his legs. There is every reason to think he could have gone on to beat Corbett after "Pompadour Jim" beat a worn-out fat John L Sullivan. If Corbett had fought Laing instead of middleweight Charlie Mitchell and light heavyweight Tom Sharkey, he likely would have lost.

[damage]

Yes and Corbett lost the title to Australia's Bob Fitzsimmons.

Fitzsimmons was from New Zealand (via England).

[Brute]

Ruby Bob never fought professionally in England or New Zealand.