Frank Bruno Beats Layne,Lastarza,Mathews,C*ckell

Not in the Ettridge, Zaitz league I'm afraid. The only thing I have in common with those guys is I played in Ronnie Scott's ( though it was back in the 60's ) with Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger.

 

He had just beaten the best in the world or a man who was certainly among the very best and he didn't do it with close iffy decisions. Does that mean there weren't other men McCall could have lost to? No. But beating the best makes his claim valid.

Yes but perception doesn't change the reality. Lewis was a two time olympic medalist. An undefeated pro. Had made short work of several contenders including Ruddock who many thought was a potential next champion.. Few people felt that Michael Moorer was the genuine best with his narrow win over an unhealthy Holyfield. I know I didn't.

Then why the conflicting reports? I didn't see the Layne-Charles fight and I don't know if its available. Some people say he won and others didn't, leading me to believe that it was hardly decisive. But yes I'll give him credit for fighting on even terms with a great like Charles. Now give Bruno Credit for beating McCall who had just sparked Lewis.

He beat McCall, Coetzer, Coetzee and a handful of others who were decent. It was hardly an elite resume, but one that was established in an era where heavyweights were big men with amateur careers and not teatering on the boundaries of lightheavyweight and heavyweight. Furthermore it was also the WAY that he beat them. Bruno utterly destroyed a good number of the guys he fought.

His resume was good. But his defeats to lesser men ( sometimes emphatically ) leads me to believe that he was more vulnerable than a man who was mulled by Mike Tyson among others.

That's selection bias. Its easy to dump all over someone while ignoring their qualities. What was Tommy Jackson?

Fair enough.

But the problem is he never fought guys like Spoon, Lewis, Tyson and Bonecrusher. Could he have survived these guys and regrouped enough to win a world title?

I'd call his better wins marginal given the indecisive nature of them and while his win column may be a bit better it doesn't account for his vulnerabilites. You can't just look at one side of the coin.. And none of these arguments even begin to look at styles or physical attributes which ultimately may play a bigger part.

 

He was known as a good right hand puncher, very strong aggressive hwt. Just looking at a record and not being around watching his televised bouts it's impossible to ascertain his power. It's very possible he had a good right hand but it not show up as KO wins against tough opposition.

 

Are you talking about Layne?

Layne was primarily a left-hook guy and was notorious weak for his size.

 

No...he wasn't. His looping right hand was his money punch.

It's on film and everything....

 

Here's a highlight reel of Layne vs Satterfield. Entertaining fight. Both men throwing wild ass looping shots and each taking their turn going to the canvas. Layne won this fight by stoppage in the 8th I believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98dk-tzqU78

 

Lewis' claim wasn't even valid or universally accepted. All that happened was Lewis lost his somewhat already flimsy claim at being the best. Nobody recognized McCall as the man, nor Bruno after beating McCall. Bowe ultimately defaulted to the guy people were saying "might very well be the best in the world." And Tyson was already out of prison in 95.

The reports were conflicting on who won, not that it was a close fight. Charle's camp seemed to be the only ones crying robbery in the articles.

But McCall had not just sparked Lewis. A year had passed, he no longer had Steward in his corner, and was coming off a poor performance against Holmes that I recall many feeling Holmes won.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to give someone equal credit for outpointing Charles and outpointing McCall. Even if McCall was a year removed from a great upset.

And I would put these on the level with Layne's wins over Turkey Thompson and guys like that.

Well yeah..Bruno was certainly no Tommy Morrison. He did destroy the men he was supposed to destroy. But against opponents that were not just paid to go in there and give him a name on his resume, he just didn't seem to throw punches with the same confidence. Like the article I posted regarding the Spoon fight..where did the powerful right hand go?

I don't think there is any question Bruno can crush the third tier and certainly loses to the top tier...but its the second tier where he is so unproven. Wins over Spoon and Bonecrusher could have established him in that area.

No it isn't, that's who Bruno lost to at all levels of his career.

The first Jackson fight was a guy being pushed in the ring with another leading contender after a bout with illness, massive weight loss, and two brutal knockout losses.

The second Jackson fight was a spent force giving a good effort against a top guy in the last months of a brutal career. Near shutting him out on the cards before old scars opened up.

But let's compare management here. When Bruno was knocked out by Bonecrusher.he took 4 months off. And over the course of two years was rebuilt with 6 soft touches in his hometown and a showcase against a faded old contender before taking another risk against Spoon. Why on earth are you so puzzled by their two different career paths?

When Layne was set back, he was seemingly punished by his management. After brutally losing to Marciano, he was thrown in with Charles juts two months later with no type of tune up. 52 seems to be the only time they attempted to rebuild him and he did respond with his best performance in the win over Charles.

Well Layne did comeback from getting concussed by Marciano and mauled by Ezzard Charles in a 3 month span to become a leading contender again. So yes...why not.

If Layne had Bruno's management and considerate match making, who knows how far he would have gone. Never would have been a great but certainly would have had a longer more quality career.

 

can someone tell me if mcvey is responding to all my posts again, let him know i'm so sorry I'm missing all his informative well thought posts that aren't just angry knee jerk reactions.

 

Someone told me mcvey is actually arguing Rex Layne would beat Bruno. I have to agree. Good to see us on the same page.