As witnessed by the excellent video, Josef Kovacs(The Butcher of Budapest) was a formidable wrestler who I had the good fortune to see live on a couple of occasions. I remember him pitted against Tibor Szakacs in a contest termed "the battle of the Magayrs" and despite appearing infinitely superior, managed to get himself disqualified. Of course in the mid 1960's Tibor was at the peak of his popularity and regularly appearing on television, so sadly I suppose the result was no surprise. The video confirms what I remember about Josef Kovacs- a very tough guy indeed.
remember what hungary was like when they left, the need to share memories, to have conversation, maybe sing old songs, there can be strange need to be with our own kind. when worked in Cairo a lot of us ex pats stayed at president hotel as it just made life easy. just speaking English English made a lot off difference. the original hotel I stayed in was semi ramis and because of server lack of English nationals used have strange mental health problems, not helped by a group of saudis sacrificing a goat in a lift
Hungarian Uprising of 1956 which we watched live on TV would have brought Josef, tibor, Zoltan and Peter together
Just because they were all Hungarians is no reason they should particularly be friends, but I don't see any reason relations should be bad. Although in the visitor class as opposed to the domociled likes of the Szakkacs, Boscik he was certainly here enough to form a relationship with anyone he wanted.
The British visits seemed to be as follows, though as listings are incomplete these dates are approximate:
16/10/58 - 21/11/58
18/2/59 – 21/3/59
25/4/59 – 13/5/59
13/12/60 – 17/12/60 (for independent promoters)
13/3/61 - 30/3/61 (for independent promoters)
6/11/61 - 28/2/62
2/4/62 – 13/4/62
(The Wrestler magazine August 1962 said he then went to Greece)
14/1/63- 2/3/63
4/4/63 – 29/6/63
(The Wrestler magazine November 1963 said he then went to South Africa)
Poor Q I couldn't really see at the end for what he had been disqualified. Overall bad behaviour? Always good value though. I never realised he was American or is my French slipping? I always thought he was Spanish.
Never got to see Kovacs live.One of my big regrets.Truly impressive heel and so strong.Also Quasimodo had amazing physique for those times.Love those iconic French arenas.
The Butcher used the 'throw away' aeroplane spin on t.v. one Saturday. I would think John's ITV wrestling would have his hapless opponents' name. Unlike the French match, his oppo' went spinning off and crashed into the corner post.
There is now another Kovacs match from France on You Tube versus Quasimodo
As witnessed by the excellent video, Josef Kovacs(The Butcher of Budapest) was a formidable wrestler who I had the good fortune to see live on a couple of occasions. I remember him pitted against Tibor Szakacs in a contest termed "the battle of the Magayrs" and despite appearing infinitely superior, managed to get himself disqualified. Of course in the mid 1960's Tibor was at the peak of his popularity and regularly appearing on television, so sadly I suppose the result was no surprise. The video confirms what I remember about Josef Kovacs- a very tough guy indeed.
remember what hungary was like when they left, the need to share memories, to have conversation, maybe sing old songs, there can be strange need to be with our own kind. when worked in Cairo a lot of us ex pats stayed at president hotel as it just made life easy. just speaking English English made a lot off difference. the original hotel I stayed in was semi ramis and because of server lack of English nationals used have strange mental health problems, not helped by a group of saudis sacrificing a goat in a lift
Hungarian Uprising of 1956 which we watched live on TV would have brought Josef, tibor, Zoltan and Peter together
Just because they were all Hungarians is no reason they should particularly be friends, but I don't see any reason relations should be bad. Although in the visitor class as opposed to the domociled likes of the Szakkacs, Boscik he was certainly here enough to form a relationship with anyone he wanted.
The British visits seemed to be as follows, though as listings are incomplete these dates are approximate:
16/10/58 - 21/11/58
18/2/59 – 21/3/59
25/4/59 – 13/5/59
13/12/60 – 17/12/60 (for independent promoters)
13/3/61 - 30/3/61 (for independent promoters)
6/11/61 - 28/2/62
2/4/62 – 13/4/62
(The Wrestler magazine August 1962 said he then went to Greece)
14/1/63- 2/3/63
4/4/63 – 29/6/63
(The Wrestler magazine November 1963 said he then went to South Africa)
16/12/63 – - 26/7/64
27/09/64 - 16/4/65
29/4/65 - 10/7/65
4/10/65 – 28/10/65
24/2/67 - 1/4/67
28/11/67 - 30/11/67
5/1/68 - 23/3/68
did he have family to enjoy retirement with, did Josef have a good relationship with Tibor and other Hungarian wrestlers
what happened to Mr Kovacs when he retired
Yes he was Spanish, James.
Poor Q I couldn't really see at the end for what he had been disqualified. Overall bad behaviour? Always good value though. I never realised he was American or is my French slipping? I always thought he was Spanish.
Never got to see Kovacs live.One of my big regrets.Truly impressive heel and so strong.Also Quasimodo had amazing physique for those times.Love those iconic French arenas.
Great video."The Butcher" certainly impressed.Quasimodo got DQ'd,Not an unusual occurance
The Butcher used the 'throw away' aeroplane spin on t.v. one Saturday. I would think John's ITV wrestling would have his hapless opponents' name. Unlike the French match, his oppo' went spinning off and crashed into the corner post.
You're right there Ron; I thought he was going into outer space. And what a treat to see Quasimodo.
Wow! That’s a gem. The Butcher of Budapest in his prime!
Impressive Air plane spin finish. (Opening match)
Not technical enough to provide a link. If you search Segundacaida.blogspot this vid was downloaded 27 October 2020
any chance of link please