frank bruno

[fg2227]

How good was he?

[heerko koois]

Boxing skills 7 out of 10
movement 5 out of 10
Chin 7.5 out of 10
punching power 9.5 out of 10

[Titan1]

How good was he?

And was whipping Bonecrusher Smith until the unfortunate stoppage.

[TBooze]

And was whipping Bonecrusher Smith until the unfortunate stoppage.

Nothing unfortunate about it, Bruno got licked... Kaylor lost as well, and Lawless must of been on the verge...;)

[heerko koois]

Nothing unfortunate about it, Bruno got licked... Kaylor lost as well, and Lawless must of been on the verge...;)

That was a sad night for Brittish boxing .....:|

[TBooze]

That was a sad night for Brittish boxing .....:|

Well I will give Bruno this, he lost his '0' to a man with possibly the best sounding nickname in boxing. Best to lose you '0' to a Bonecrusher rather than Atomic Bull... No offence Lennox, you were overall a far better fighter than Bomber.

[garymcfall]

Bruno was a decent fighter, no more, no less.

[yesihavearm]

Bruno at his peak would easily be a world champion in todays current heavyweight divisions

[mochabuzz]

Bruno at his peak would easily be a world champion in todays current heavyweight divisions

Yep... he'd be able to handles the likes of Wladimir, Peter, Toney and Oleg.... hell, even Greg Page or Gerrie Coetzee would be alphabet champs in todays HW division (and don't count Joe Hipp out)

[Sonny Carson]

He had a huge punch but his chin wasn't all that good. All the guy's who took him out had power though(Tyson, Lewis, Bonecrusher Smith, and yes Witherspoon who had underrated power).

[TBooze]

He had a huge punch but his chin wasn't all that good.

Two myths about Bruno...

Bruno's power was a clubbing type of power, he hit people on temple and got things done, until (with the exception of a shot Coetzee) he met a top 10 fighter, then his clubbing power did not work, because he his punches lacked the snap of say a Tyson who had dynamic power.

And Bruno had a Brilliant chin, look at them clean punches he took off Smith before he went down; Lewis as well could not floor him, and a Tyson 9 months off of Spinks only scored a silly knockdown in the first 10 seconds of the fight. When the Bomber got up he was not good enough, but he took his punishment on his feet.

Yes, Bruno had a brilliant chin, he just lacked the ability to survive when he was hit and learnt to hold too late on in his career....

[Primadonna Kool]

Bruno gave Lennox Lewis a boxing lesson easily out-jabbing Lewis and beating him at every aspect of the game...Bruno drove Lewis across the ring in the 7th round and was on the verge of a stoppage victory when Lewis with his head down and looking at the floor lashed out with a wild swinging left-hook that caught Bruno on the chin...Bruno never recoved and Lewis was the TKO winner..... tho i must say Lewis was a very very fortunate victor


He was no where near stopping Lennox Lewis, Lennox Lewis was starting to adapt and was clearly the stronger fighter when he opened up with combinations. Frank Bruno posed him afew problems technically at that stage of his career, but really never look good enough to Hurt him or come close to a stoppage. In that fight Lennox Lewis was far the greater athlete in terms of Movement. Lennox Lewis only really started to, pick up the pace and Frank Bruno could not handle it.

Lennox Lewis took Frank Bruno out, he was not fortunate.

[TBooze]

How did he get soooo many shots at a title?


You got very, very good money for fighting Bruno, unless you were promoted by the Dynamic Duo, eh Tim?

[Sonny's jab]

Frank Bruno was not particularly good, but he was very strong with some brute clubbing power. He developed a decent jab and could hit-and-hold quite well.

I thought he looked better than Lennox Lewis when they fought in almost every department. Lewis looked amateurish and untidy in that one (Lewis definitely improved in later years) but good through with a good punch that signalled the end. I think Bruno got a bit over-eager in that fight and perhaps could have outboxed Lewis over 12 if he had stayed a bit more cautious.

Lewis was the better fighter than night, not on a TECHNICAL level, but he just seemed to pull it out when he needed to, whereas Bruno let it suddenly slide away. That's often what seperates a champion from the also-rans.

[DamonD]

Also bear in mind that Bruno's corner told him to go out for a knockout in the 7th. His...was it left?...eye was almost swollen shut, and Bruno was already well-known as having dubious stamina.

I definitely don't think he could've gone 12 against Lewis. That fight had to end by KO, and Bruno went for it with all he had.

He never embarrassed himself in a fight, apart from the second Tyson bout (where he shouldn't have even been in the ring anyway). He went out on his shield against Lewis and Tyson I, and showed how good he could be against Bonecrusher and Witherspoon before they got to him late on.

[The Kurgan]

Lewis also won the 6th round and was starting to back up Bruno. It was time for Bruno to take a gamble and go after Bruno... Shame the house had the odds in its favour. A hard fight for me to watch, because they're my two favourite boxers.

Bruno was a very dangerous contender. One of the hardest punchers of his era and a very tough man to out-jab (a combination of an "82 reach, an excellent jab, a good defense and a threatening counter-right hand) which made him pretty much a problem for anybody.

I'd pick him to beat any of the current title holders, including Wlad. With better management and training, he could have caught an aged Holmes or even beaten Tyson or Lewis. After all, both Lewis and Tyson lost their next fights of substance by TKO/KO respectively. A more relaxed Bruno could have jabbed Tyson's face into pieces and a more skilled Bruno could have found a counter-right hand like that of McCall.

Anyway, forget what Bruno COULD have done. What he did was enough to prove that he was a contender who couldn't be underestimated and a boxer who guaranteed a stoppage finish.

[bigG]

big frank was an above average contender who would rule today....i beleived he was gonna ko tyson second time out, but unfortunately, he did freeze up...the only fight i felt truly let down by him..he was a genuine british champion and won the title in the ring....im with the other poster who claimed bruno had a good chin...i think he did....he had to muchy pride...my theory on this is that, due to criticism from early in his career, vs jumbo cummings, smith, witherspoon et al, he was often described as being chinny...bruno being a proud proud man went outof his way NOT to go down when under extreme pressure...if he had learnt to take a knee even, rather than trying to weather the storm, he could have possible turned round some of the fights he lost...he was a superbly conditioned athleste who lived to train, his one criticism for me was perhaps he wasnt a natural fighter like a tyson...a natural athlete for sure, but he lacked that innate killer instinct a true fighter has.....i think he would make pretty short work of todays champs...i dont think they are a particularly bad set of champs, i just believe frank was much better than generally perceived....his only losses come to world champs and two of those were the best, most dominant hws of the modern era.....not a bad record.....

[JohnBKelly]

Big strong guy with decent boxing skills and terrific power. Sadly he lacked the fundamental self belief required to be a dominant champ. When he got hurt he froze. A more confident individual would have survived against Smith, Witherspoon, Tyson and Lewis.

[Doppleganger]

Bruno gave Lennox Lewis a boxing lesson easily out-jabbing Lewis and beating him at every aspect of the game...Bruno drove Lewis across the ring in the 7th round and was on the verge of a stoppage victory when Lewis with his head down and looking at the floor lashed out with a wild swinging left-hook that caught Bruno on the chin...Bruno never recoved and Lewis was the TKO winner..... tho i must say Lewis was a very very fortunate victor

Hmmm. At no time did Lewis look like he was about to be stopped, though Frank did catch him with some good shots. TBH it looked like to me that those shots woke Lennox up rather than anything else. Lewis took Bruno too lightly and it showed.