Why was Frank Bruno more popular than Lennox Lewis among British boxing fans?

I am not British but i assume its because Bruno learned boxing in Brtian and grew up there

Lewis started boxing in Canada after relocating from UK to Canada as a 12 year old. Lewis was British by birth but he was a product of the Canadian boxing system, and he won a gold medal for Canada on the Olympics

 

We do love an underdog.

 

That's about the size of it. When they fought Bruno came in as the "True Brit" .

 

A few reasons.

1) Timing. Although Bruno eventually won his world title in 1995, he was really an eighties cultural star or symbol in the UK, and it was in the eighties that he first made his name and was cleverly marketed to the masses. During the 1980s boxing (including world title level) was still a sport of terrestrial TV in Britain, a lot more accessible to the wider population and where the biggest names really were 'household' ones.

Lewis was more a product of the nineties, and by the time he was fighting at world title level the transition to the Sky Sports / PPV era had already begun. A lot fewer people could afford to see world championship boxing in the UK in the early to mid nineties than had done a few years previously, and in any case with Sky throwing so much money at the newly-formed Premier League, boxing slid down the pecking order and British fighters, even the best ones, just didn't get the same kind of exposure as the eighties crop. I'd say the only true household names British boxing has produced since the dawn of Sky Sports have been Hamed (and even then, he made a decent name for himself in his very early career on terrestrial TV, basically the very last guy to do so) and Hatton.

2) The perception that Lewis wasn't really British. Obviously Lewis' Olympic gold was won for Canada, and compared to Bruno's classic London accent and quintessentially 'British' demeanour of humbleness and homespun humour, Lewis' comparatively aloof, serious attitude and thick Canadian accent was never likely to win the affections of the public in the same way. There was also a lot of cynicism regarding Lewis' decision to embrace his Britishness and launch his career over here after winning gold for Canada, with some questioning his motives and arguing that he was exploiting the greater economic prospects of boxing in the UK over Canada, where the sport has a comparatively smaller following, rather than doing it out of any sense of patriotism. Bruno himself exploited this cynicism with his 'True Brit' gambits (and he had the message on his shorts during the fight itself) in the press tour for his fight against Lewis in 1993.

3) British Fondness of the Underdog or Lovable Loser. @George Crowcroft has touched on this already, but there is some truth in the stereotype that us Brits prefer the likeable nearly-man over the cold, ruthless winner. Although it's not the sole, or even primary, factor in Bruno being more popular than Lewis, I think it is still a factor all the same. Similarly, Colin Montgomerie has always commanded more affection and fans over here than Nick Faldo. Jimmy White (I'm talking snooker here, for any American dudes!), a nearly-man par excellence, was likewise always a lot more popular than his biggest rivals Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, both of whom were serial winners.

 

Excellent post. I believe it was the Tyson/Bruno HBO broadcast on YouTube where one of the U.K.'s top boxing commentators said in his interview "we prefer a good loser to a bad winner." Or something to that effect. Bruno's great personality seems to mean more to people then his actual accomplishments. He's a wonderful mental health advocate these days, not the best champion as far as the boxing record shows, but a champion in life, truly.

 

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lol

 

Along with the other points, it is simply that Bruno was just much more likable and a cooler guy. Combined with his struggle, people easily empathized. Meanwhile, Lewis was (and is) deluded and holds bitterness towards others, and thought he was much smarter than he actually was - pretensions you didn't get with Frank.

 

Eddie the Eagle was a national hero back then in England too. Something about jolly, valiant losers caught the imagination in Britain in those days.

 

He was my first boxing hero, too. He was still a big public figure when I was a young kid and one of my first proper boxing memories (I was 7 at the time) is him finally winning a world title against McCall in 1995. The Tyson rematch six months later broke my heart! Finally got to meet him in 2008.

 

Bruno was the definition of a working class hero.

He was from a poor back ground, had lost in his run to the title, had lost in his first title fight, but he kept pursuing his dream.

His ko power made him an instant attraction to boxing fans, but as to why he was so loved, I think a lot of it had to do with the mindset of brits at the time.

In 92 John Major won the election for the Conservative party, but Labour's influence was growing, the working class heroes were really growing in popularity and in the mid 90s we saw Bruno finally claim championship gold and we saw Labour finally end a 20 year choke hold by Conservatives.

 

Agreed , Bruno was ( still is ) liked more than Lewis, we seemed to associate with his flaws, his struggles, he was in touch with the common man, Lewis always came across as a little aloof, I personally dont think he was, more he had a profound confidence in his skills, which when you evaluate his career, he had a point.

On Bruno the fighter, what intrigued me the most were : 1/ he had no rhythm to speak off. 2/ he did not seem capable of learning, by that I mean, he was the same fighter when he turned pro, as when he packed up !

 

Bruno/Lawless got on the BBC early. A big punching Heavyweight, who looked so different to anyone we (the UK fan) had seen in years, everything clicked.


Bruno and Harry Carpenter (the main face of BBC boxing at the time) clicked, with what looked like a genuine like for each other and thus they became a corny but lovable double act. Seemingly every fight would end up with Bruno and 'arry coming out with the same joke, but the rating showed it worked ('arry would ask what next for Frank? The Bomber would respond that he was going on holiday to top up his tan! Followed by Frank's booming laugh).


Also when Bruno lost in the 80s, it looked unlucky or brave to the fans, which hit the British psyche, and on top of that, he would come back strong, with some of his best wins at the time.


Lewis was almost too good, plus his early career was on the rival ITV, which would have slightly less good ratings. And although articulate, Lewis seemed a bit more reserved and conservative as a person than Frank. Add that to the initial fake cockney thing, Lewis was forever destined to be respected rather than loved by the casual fancy.