What is ESB's opinion on this fight? It started very nice with Bruno being strong in the beginning and McCall becoming strong later on.
Bruno was not in his best form technically or physically, he had too much muscle non functional muscle mass. He was not in bad physical shape, he just was not balanced...... Bruno was in his best condition ever against Lennox Lewis. He had the perfect balance physically, and was technically on point.
I watched that fight live in a crowded Glasgow city centre pub back in the day, & you would have thought Bruno was as scottish as a big haggis the way EVERYONE was cheering him on! Place was bedlam when Frank got the nod:nut My memories of the actual fight are sketchy at best due to the circumstances, but I remember thinking Bruno started OK, but it seemed he in the second half of the fight all he did was hold hold hold, & then got the nod cos he was big Frank! It was allowed though at the time, cos he was big Frank. Everyone wanted a happy ending for the panto hero! I agree with Kool, the best Frank Bruno was the one who lost to Lennox Lewis. Man did everything right that night, it all came together for him until Lennox turned the fight aroun with one punch, and the rest as they say is history.
From the point of view it was a fight everyone was seemingly watching, it was interesting, but really it was pretty boring looking back. Bruno ruined his legacy that night as a lovable loser, and I think with hindsight, he lost fans because of that. Not least those who wasted money when he fought Tyson again, and put in such a poor performance. I was a huge Bruno fan in the 80s, and went to many of his fights, but post TysonI it was not the same, and I think me and my friends got our jollies out of watching him blow leads in the 90s. I know I was screaming at the TV in last round against McCall, for Oliver to finish him off, it was just The Atomic Bull was that inept...
I actually watched this fight in its entirety for the first time since 1995 just a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't all that good to be honest, not as good as it seemed on the night anyway. As people have said he started off quite well building up the points and then pretty much held on for the second half of the fight, a lot of those rounds were that **** you couldn't pick who to give them too, I guess there was always that threat that McCall would land a haymaker. Pretty average fight really.
Was no surprise when he went straight for the Tyson payday afterwards, and no surprise he got his ass handed to him by Tyson either.
Kools right the Bruno that turned up for Lennox was sharp, fast and focused, out jabbing Lewis, whilst MCCall fight was a great result the Bruno who turned up for Lennox would have done an even better number ! But hey how many British boxers have held a recognised version of the heavyweight title ? Not many !! Bruno was a good boxer, confidence issues but always in shape
Lol, I was ringside and forgot about that, Benn was also shouting at honeyghan and called him a traitor/tosser for being in McCalls corner