Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Boxer who fled Hungary as a child and later became English schools discus champion.
On the island
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:08Joe, you were born in Hungary, weren't you? How old were you when you left?
I was six years old.
Presenter asks
0:14It was rather a dangerous trip getting out, wasn't it?
Well, it was as far as my mother was concerned because if she was caught at the time, she would have been imprisoned, and I believe the sentence was something like ten years, for endangering the children's lives should there be any children involved in the escape.
Presenter asks
0:43Do you remember it all very vividly?
I can remember certain incidents, you know, for instance where I had to carry the machine gun. Once we crossed the border, and the Yugoslavian soldiers took us from the border to the railway station where we got onto a train and went to a certain place. I had to carry his machine gun and of course being a six-year-old kid, you know, I thought what a fantastic great thing, you know, carrying a machine gun.
Presenter asks
1:10Whereabouts did you settle?
Well, at first we went to London, from there we moved to Wiltshire. And then we were stationed to Bedford, where we made our home for eleven years and of course now moved into Cambridgeshire.
Presenter asks
1:27You began doing rather well at sports. You became the English school's discus champion. When did you start boxing?
I started boxing at the age of about twelve. That's when I was first introduced. But then being too big for other boys of my age group. And I didn't really concentrate on boxing until I was about sixteen.
Presenter asks
4:55Now, after coming unstuck in your first professional fight, you plugged away. It was a matter of getting experience, really, first of all, wasn't it?
Yes, it was I think in every profession as far as entertainment is concerned, you know, it practice, practice is the most important thing in everything.
“I had to carry his machine gun and of course being a six-year-old kid, you know, I thought what a fantastic great thing, you know, carrying a machine gun.”
“I knew it was up on the last round.”
“He knows me as well as I know him that I went there to destroy him. But unfortunately I wasn't gonna let the British flag drop to the ground because of a katai, so I thought I might as well keep it at three quarter mast.”
“Being educated in Britain, I find that I'm British all the way through and I must say this, I'm very, very proud of it because Britain has done a lot for me, and for my family.”
“Britain has done a lot for me, and for my family. And I think British and I'm very, very proud of it because ... I think British and I'm very, very proud of it because Britain has done a lot for me, and for my family.”