McCall at Wembley to finally become World Champion against a very dangerous opponent who previously blitzed Lewis. A great night for British Boxthing fans
Its got to be McCall hasn't it? His first fight that he went 12 rounds in i believe and boy did it show When McCall actually decided to give it a go late on , Frank showed a whole lotta heart to hang in there
He looked awful against McCall, granted he got the job done but no way was it a career best 'boxing' performance. McCall didn't throw a punch until the second half of the fight, maybe that was the game plan to let Bruno gas and take him out late but McCall (who is a legendary oddball) did not look normal throughout the first 6 rounds. Either way it was not good to watch, the highlight of the fight was whether Bruno could hold on for the last two rounds (he was getting battered) and Nigel Benn screaming his head of ringside. Bugner for me is probably his best 'boxing' performance.
Probably Gerrie Coetzee in 86, caught him cold and knocked him out KO1. Coetzee was an ex champion having knocked out Mike Dokes in 83 and destroyed Leon Spinks KO1 in 79. He was coming off a controversial KO loss to Mike Page in 84 but no way should Bruno have blown him away. Bruno never quite lived up to the hype of that stoppage again.
Smith was brought over as an opponent. He had a bit of an unbeaten run going, but wasn't really regarded as a hot prospect after turning pro late and getting bombed out by James Broad on his pro debut. It was a surprise in the sense that Bruno was the name fighter and favoured to win, but the Cummings scare was fresh in people's minds and Bruno hadn't beaten any contenders at that point. Smith was a huge heavyweight for the era and noted as a puncher, so while still an upset it was still logical in hindsight. I don't recall it being any kind of eliminator, either formally or otherwise. Holmes had been due to fight Coetzee in a unification fight, but that fell through. He had just took on the newly created IBF belt, and the feeling at the time was that he was ticking off wins to get him past 49-0. He was considered an aging fighter even at that point, which is ironic when you consider he would still be fighting nearly two decades later. Holmes-Smith wasn't seen as a big or particularly interesting fight, and it was surprising how competitive it was. Smith went on a losing streak after that, including a wide decision loss to Witherspoon. He was a late replacement for Tubbs when he later fought Spoon for the title, and that was a big WTF upset at the time. I think Bonecrusher was what he was; a big hoss with heavy hands and a solid chin, but one-dimensional and could be outboxed, outworked and outfought. He never had a consistent run of top wins, but he was always dangerous.
Coetzee was my choice too. I went to it, was on the undercard of Sibson v Kaylor ( l think ! ). Coetzee was possibly just past his best, even so Frank destroyed him. On his day Bruno wasnt as bad as some make out. He probably lacked ring IQ ( especially when he got tagged ) that's all.
You make a fair assesment...he competed very well with smith and witherspoon...but he lost decisively in both...the better men won..smith was being outboxed but he was never hurt and was looking dangerous in that 9th round...Brunos problem was he always forced a fast hard pace...if he didnt get his own way...he"d end up gassing which meant he got defensively sloppy and that would be that....it all came down to...if only he could relax more on this biggest of nights. I think the Bugner win was his best followed by Williams,Coetzee and Ribalta..
I would watch the fight again, I think your memory is playing tricks. He was very competitive, and deserved a points lead over the first six rounds, but Lewis was in the fight and looked comfortable, while Bruno looked on edge as the fight continued.
I can't pick a loss as his best result as Frank, despite leading on the scorecards was knocked unconscious in all of those bouts, i'm going with McCall as it was the first occasion where Bruno not only beat someone half decent, but lasted the distance to do so.
I remember watching the fight in a pub the whole pub was going mental shouting hang on Frank hang on in the last few rounds as Bruno was totally gassed amazing patriosism.
In that case; Phil Brown was a decent journeyman with a very solid chin. Bruno looked more impressive outpointing him, and there was not a huge difference between Brown's and McCall's abilities, it was just McCall had better promotional connections...
The Tillis win was very good.His jab was excellent really bust quick up.fresh after taking a young Tyson the distance in tough fight. The Ko of Rablata was an impressive result .
KO1 Coetzee is my choice too. Yes, Coetzee was a bit past it and overweight but that was still a genuine contender in a very risky fight on paper. It was a big fight, a main event, a heavyweight elimination bout. Bruno fought a very dull 10 rounds with spoiler Phil Brown on the Sibson-Kaylor card.
