The Most Overrated British Fighter?

On the money with Bruno buddy, he fought like a one dimensional robot, in the typical DNA of the Lawless stable, Batten, Stracey, Flint, etc, walk forward jab, then right cross, for me he was one of the only fighters who seemed unable to absorb any type of instructions, he fought the same in his first fight, as in his last, no head movement, no body punching, when trapped against the ropes just slowly take headshots, then slide to the canvas, no awareness, no taking a count to reevaluate, very poor fighter in that sense, brave and courageous to a fault, but a shrewd and forward thinking boxer, oh no !!
stay safe matey.

 

Dead right Mike. Snowy was a criminal. When Freddie quit against Baksi, with his front teeth in his gumshield, Broadrib murdered him in the press and said he was finished with him but didn't release him from his contract.
Freddie did so much for other people but where were they when it came on top for him ? One our sport's very saddest stories.
Great to have dear old McVey back.

 

Henry Cooper summed him up. "He can't even go down naturally", after the Lennox Lewis fight.
Great point about Lawless Fighters. The exception being Jim Watt. He was already a fully formed Champion. Probably the only ex Lawless Fighter who has a good word to say about him.
I remember going through my Uncle Joe's scrapbooks in the late 70's, about 12 years old, and saying Ted Broadrib was the Terry Lawless of his day. Mouths of babes eh ? Tough old game ours is. The love is always for the lads who put the gloves on.
Take care Mike.

 

Thanks bud.

 

I almost said Bruno when I posted for casuals it's likely to be a high profile HW. No question he was overhyped and his profile is disproportionate to his achievements.

What stopped me mentioning as specifically underrated, even amongst casuals, is I think now he's remembered as rubbish. My non-hardcore boxing mates think he was a joke and I remember him being talked about as such on the 90s sports, quiz show They Think it's all over. Similar sort of thing with Tim Henman in tennis. Both were arguably top 10 in the world (Frank admittedly bottom half of the top 10) at their respective peaks. So, never the best, but not rubbish either.
Bruno was up or at worst fighting on even terms with Witherspoon for 8 rounds and Lewis for 6 rounds. He was flawed and limited, but you dont do that if you're really just a hyped joke (btw, not saying you have inferred he is).

 

I remember at the time feeling the general public were being sold down the river with the hype around Frank. Don't get me wrong I like the guy and I think in some ways he was good for the sport in terms of getting it talked about and maybe introducing new fans. But I just remember that enviable cycle of him crushing someone who was clearly past their best and then failing against any genuine contender over and over again.

I did get more respect for him when he did well against Lennox for the first part of the fight, I remember thinking Lewis would bomb him out like Ruddock in 1 or 2 rounds. No one can doubt his bravery and I wish he had not fought Tyson again, he was just fodder for Tyson's comeback like Bruce Seldon and I think Frank was better than that.We would have had his brave stand against Tyson first time as a nice memory rather than the brutal beat down second time.

I think he was viewed as a solid genuine contender up to his first fight with Tyson and then maybe started crossing into a bit of a joke to casual fans after that, if he had retired post Tyson I I think he would be viewed better overall. I don't view him as a joke, anyone with his guts deserves respect. I always found post fight chats with Harry Carpenter a bit patronising tbh.

I find it hard to rate his win over Oliver McCall, a good win but not sure how together Oli was mentally at the time. Again this was a golden moment to retire for Frank, go out on top. I think the second Tyson loss really affected him mentally.

I could never work out if Bruno was actually incapable of getting better technique or was simply poorly trained. Even when he seemed to be a bit more focused against Lennox and McCall he was always very stiff. He always seemed a bit too body builder physique when he needed a bit of flexibility.

I hope he is over his post career issues and enjoying his retirement now, he gave a lot and deserves to be proud of what he achieved overall.

 

Good post and agree with almost all of it.

I think Bruno would be more highly ranked if he retired after McCall, rather than after Tyson 1. Winning a strap vs McCall and boxing on at least even terms with LL for 6 rounds are arguably his career highlights.

I actually think Bruno had decent conventional technique at distance, albeit basic and stiff, as you allude to. He was difficult to out box at range. He was 9-0 up after 9 rounds vs Bonecrusher Smith as a 23 year old. At worst 4-4 with Witherspoon and 3-3 with LL after 8 and 6 rounds respectively. Basic, stiff, but effective.

Long arms, heavily muscled and stiff, meant he had terrible technique from mid range in, which is why Tyson was the only opponent in his entire career to dominant, or even get the better of him, right from the start.

Poor stamina and no survival instincts when hurt, were Bruno's biggest short comings imo, rather than poor conventional technical boxing skills.

 

Lawless was very protective of his fighters and Mickey Duff often had a hard job persuading him to take matches for them.Broadribb,who boxed as Young Snow Ball was a hard man and uncaring as far as Mills welfare was concerned,some of the fights he put him in were criminal.

 

Bit like the England international football team then.

 

Hatton was far more skilled than Bruno, his legacy was ruined by losing to two of the best fighters of his generation.

 

Fraud Haye

 

is that Fraudly Haye and David Harrison?

 

unbelievably Broadrib was Mills actual father in law! After being matched like that Mills still had him round his house for Christmas dinner.

funny set up that mind. Ted married his daughter off to his boxer Mills…and on their hunny moon she brought her ex husband along to babysit her son. None other than Ted Broadrib managed heavyweight Don Mcorkindale. Seems like Ted liked to keep his boxers close.

The trouble with Frank was over exposure. The cartel paid so much into him (they paid for his eye operation) that they needed a return on their money..so he got him A list exposure from day one. Frank suffered from being pretty much the first British fighter whose entire career was televised nationally from day one. High scrutiny. And it kind of backfired.

Whilst They couldn’t afford for him to lose, It was also impossible for him to develop without getting good fights. It didn’t help that some of the imported opponents treated the Bruno assignment as a kind of retirement send off. They knew what they were getting into. The other problem was, the management had a kid who was going on Tv who despite having no international amateur experience, only world class pro guys could live with. And he wasn’t ready to fight them. So the public would get irritated with a lot of miss matches.

 

Good shout.

 

I never know where to rate David Haye. I met him in a book shop once buying copies of boxing news after he beat Enzo Maccarinelli. I said how good he was and he was totally charming bloke.

I will give him credit for unifying the Crusierweight belt and beating Jean-Marc Mormeck who was past his best but as we saw in the fight still dangerous. This alone probably puts him in top 3 in that weight class although it doesn't have much depth.

As for heavyweight he probably rates around or a bit lower than the "lost generation" of 80s belt holders who weren't called Larry Holmes you think? Although Greg Page, Dokes etc had more natural talent and were genuine heavyweights. Head to head I struggle to give him more than an even chance against mid tier heavyweights from the past. I would also say Holyfield, Qwai would be exciting fights that I don't see him winning at CW.

I would be surprised if he was that highly rated overall on here? However I give him props for being an exciting fighter and probably overachieving a bit. No disrespect to him, I wish him well.