Frank Bruno's career post Tyson 1

I have heard that the mods think I actually AM Frank Bruno. But, that would simply not make any sense at all. I am not Frank Bruno. Anyway, I am happy with what Frank did and think it was more than satisfactory and some might say fantastic. I would say fantastic, being the fan that I am of him.

 

Tim Witherspoon's knockout of Frank Bruno in 1986 was far more brutal than Mike Tyson's stoppage years later in 1989 I think motivation must have had something to do with it for the Lennox Lewis fight in 1993 he really wanted to win that one and acquitted himself very well using his jab to great effect he just wasn't able to sustain the output and then when Lewis caught him with that left hook and totally changed the fight. To be honest I wasn't that impressed with Bruno in the Oliver McCall fight but to give him credit he was able to use effective long range jabs and crossess but did to much holding and put his weight on McCall on the ropes for my liking. Overall I liked Bruno but didn't like that he used to oftenfoul with rabbit punches which made he look like he lost his composure under pressure during big fights.

 

Bruno, after his first loss to Tyson, was considered retired by many observers, despite there having been no official announcement. As a national celebrity, he had plenty of job offers coming in and was contracted to appear in pantomime performances for some time, which he seemed quite content to see out, before making up his mind about a return to the ring (or, at least, before announcing his intentions to the public).

During 1990, a year and a half after losing to Tyson, Frank still seemed to be only flirting with the idea of a return. Meanwhile, Lawless wanted Frank to quit and had gone on record as such, without Frank’s knowledge (though, this story seemed to flip-flop as, subsequently, Lawless said he’d back Bruno, whatever he decided to do).

In early ’91, it was discovered that Bruno had retinal damage and the press more or less declared that his career was over. But not much later, it was reported that Frank would have eye surgery. I cannot recall exactly when this was, but it would have been around the months from April to June '91. The doctors declared the operation a success and Bruno indicated his intention to comeback the day after.

It is probably worth noting that, by this time, Frank had split from Lawless and was being managed by his then wife Laura. Francis remained his trainer.

Eventually (by September of ’91, I think it was), Bruno was cleared to box, by the BBBoC (The eye issue would reemerge as a factor, following the McCall fight, though not be fully realized until after Tyson II). So, the extended gap in Bruno's ledger could be boiled down to a combination of him deciding to take a hiatus and then, later on, dealing with a health issue.


My take is that Bruno's eye issue underpinned a leanly prioritized mission for his comeback. Beyond this point, the end game was simple…. …Get Frank a title shot, built on a minimal basis.

The plan was successful. In his last 10 professional bouts, post-Tyson-1, he had two title shots; won one of these and got a second crack at Tyson for another multi-million pound payday.

 

That's excellent post.

 

Now you have to prove your NOT Bruno!!
Tell us something that Bruno wouldn't know... That'll shut the doubters up

 

Has anyone read his autobiographies? Both are good reads.

 

Challenge...accepted. I have a fungal toenail on my middle foot. Somewhere. I had that foot removed, so that I only have two now. That nail could be anywhere. Probably eaten by a crow out of a medical waste facility. But there's just no way Frank Bruno would know that. heh heh heh

 

He was protected and moved on to pantomime for a couple of years which made him a lot of money.

 

Tim knocked Frank out in 1986.

 

Thanks for the correction. I'll edit the post. I may have got confused didn't he also lose to James Bonecrusher Smith what year was that?

 

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