Two-time Ali challenger Bugner dies aged 75

Former heavyweight boxer Joe Bugner has died at the age of 75.

Bugner twice held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles and was a three-time European heavyweight champion.

He faced Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in back-to-back bouts in 1973, before facing Ali again - for the world title - in 1975.

"It is with great sadness that the former British, European and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, and world championship contender Joe Bugner has passed away at his care home in Brisbane, Australia," said the British Boxing Board of Control.

"The British Boxing Board of Control passes on its condolences to Joe's family."

Bugner was consistently ranked among the world's top 10 heavyweights throughout the 1970s and was known for technical ability, toughness, durability and willingness to take on the best.

During his 83-fight career, he also shared the ring with other notable heavyweights such as Earnie Shavers, Henry Cooper and Frank Bruno.

Bruno called it a "sad day for boxing", while Queensberry promoter Frank Warren also paid tribute to Bugner.

"He participated in the first fight I did on ITV - a great man who will be missed. I'm sending my regards to his family. May he rest in peace," said Warren.

Born Jozsef Kreul Bugner in Szoreg, Hungary, in 1950, he and his family fled the country after the 1956 Soviet invasion and eventually settled in the United Kingdom.

Bugner began boxing as a teenager and quickly rose through the amateur ranks, winning the ABA light heavyweight title at just 17.

As a professional, Bugner claimed a notable victory over Cooper at Wembley in 1971 to win both the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles.

His fights against Ali and Frazier further cemented his reputation for toughness.

In their first bout, Ali controlled the fight with superior speed and accuracy, but Bugner went the distance, earning praise for his resilience.

Later that year, he was outpointed by Joe Frazier in a gruelling match after another courageous performance. Bugner lost again on points to Ali in 1975.

Bugner retired a number of times throughout his career. After first hanging up the gloves in 1976, he made several comebacks.

He moved to Australia in the mid-1980s and continued to take on top-level competition, including a defeat by Bruno, who stopped him in the eighth round in 1987.

Bugner retired again but returned nearly eight years later to capture the Australian heavyweight title in 1995.

In 1998, at the age of 48, he won the World Boxing Federation's version of the heavyweight championship by defeating James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, before bowing out of boxing for good in 1999 after a win by disqualification against Levi Billups.

Outside of boxing, Bugner appeared in films including the 1994 action movie Street Fighter and worked as a boxing adviser for the Russell Crowe film Cinderella Man. He was also a contestant on ITV's 'I'm a Celebrity' in 2009.

Joe Bugner lost his pro debut in a hotel at the age of 17. Four years later, in 1971, he beat the icon Henry Cooper.

There's a very strong argument that in the 1970s Bugner was the fourth best heavyweight boxer for a whole decade - and when you consider the men in front of him were George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, that tells you everything.

He spent the decade chasing a fight with Foreman and couldn't get it. They sparred together and Bugner believed he could beat him. Instead, he had a brutal 12-round fight with Frazier at Earl's Court. He lost on a split decision and it was so tight. After the fight, Bugner said: "I was sick for two months. My kidney and liver were bruised and I was urinating blood for two weeks."

Five months earlier, Bugner had gone 12 rounds with Ali in Las Vegas in a fight that goes under the radar. He also made headlines outside the ring - famously needing to be pulled off Elvis Presley after an altercation.

Then in 1975 he fought Ali again, this time for the world heavyweight title over 15 rounds. He lost and was crucified by the British press for not trying hard enough - but the bottom line is both men were exhausted.

Forget his stint on I'm a Celeb or the cult-hero following he gained in Australia - the Bugner of the 1970s was good enough, and fought elite competition often enough, to warrant being called the second-best British heavyweight of all time, behind only Lennox Lewis.