RETIRED veteran Joe Bugner yesterday paid tribute to British heavyweight discovery Scott Welch by revealing he packs a bigger punch than Frank Bruno.
"Only two men have hit me harder, Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier," said Bugner after the sixth round stoppage in Berlin on Saturday night which signalled the end of his career.
"The kid did the job. As soon as he knew he had hurt me he did not hang around to see if I had recovered."
But 46 year old Bugner, nursing a suspected broken rib and his battered pride, added a cautionary note.
One of the best defensive exponents of his generation, he warned of the flaw in Welch's make up which exposes the 27 year old British and Commonwealth champion as being far from the finished article.
He has good speed and punching power, but he has to tighten up defensively. He can be very wild and he leaves himself wide open, said the former British and European title holder.
Australia based Bugner then landed a parting swipe at the British Boxing Board of Control for refusing him a licence.
His farewell challenge for Welch's WBO inter continental crown was consequently reduced to an undercard opener fought out in front of just a handful of spectators at the 9,000 seater Deutschlandhalle.
"They just treated me like another kid getting onto the show," he said. "The hall was nearly empty. If it had been in England it would have geed me up a bit."
In fact, a flabby Bugner's shoddy showing appeared to vindicate the board's decision. He was a sluggish shadow of the man who took Muhammad Al the distance twice.
