Frank Bruno's best wins

Wouldn't you have been TKool-Aid back then?

 

Imagine if Bruno had got past Smith or Witherspoon, and his management had been astute enough to milk the belt for as long as possible.

He could have been huge!

 

Bruno v Chuck Gardner for the world title then.

 

Somone could argue that he got two possibilities of winning a title in between a time-frame were he couldn´t (Tyson-Holyfield-Bowe-Lewis), right before Tyson or when Holyfield/Bowe eased and the 90s got mixed.

Thats two chances and he took one.
In other words: Starting a HW-career in 1982 wasn´t the safest time to begin with.

 

The WBO route wouldve made a lot of sense for Bruno since the beginning of that belt.

 

Bruno was no doubt protected at times. His early loss to Smith probably ensured his handlers were not going to take any unnecessary risks. He was a big enough draw that he could get opportunities without having to fight better opposition. Like prior to McCall he earned his shot at McCall by beating Rodolpo Marin and Mike Evans which were complete mismatches.

He likely could of had a better resume had they been less risk adverse, but he would of also probably picked up a few more losses too.

 

At Heavyweight the WBO belt counted for little at the time; there was no money in it for Bruno's team. The WBO should have done what the IBF did and just give it to the then generally recognised champ (Tyson I believe).

 

I'm saying he could've taken that belt and defended against soft touches in England for good money.

 

Uh, okay, I was being stationed in Chingatumadre, Spain during the Bugner fight and my parents were living in my home and taking care of it at the time. I literally wrote home to tell them about the fight that I'd watched on the television on Chingafun TV station that they weren't able to see. So, if it's nothing to write home about, then, why come I literarily did that specific thing exactly then? Answer me that, Unforg. Answer me that.

 

I suspect that would have been to hard a sell even for the management of a national treasure.


As jokingly mentioned, if he had got past Witherspoon, then maybe it could have worked with the WBA belt. But even that is a push as the WBA would be looking at potential Tyson money...

 

I agree. He never looked better, to me, than he did against Lennox Lewis. I still love that fight.

 

The win over Mike Jameson doesn't look too shabby now. Mike was known as a stayer and Bruno's 2 round KO was spectacular.
In truth though, Frank never beat an active, top line Heavyweight other than McCall.

 

Both Bugner and Coetzee were well past it. Bruno was a hype job who got ratted whenever he stepped up.

 

Can't believe some people would pick Lewis as being Bruno's best, a fight where he was comprehensively beaten & rescued by the referee.
Best knockout i would say Coetzee & best overall McCall, not a perfect performance but proved he could win over 12 in a tough fight.

 

In European terms Frank was a good fighter & certainly better than many of the fringe contenders, i would say his best win was McCall, followed by Bugner, Coetzee, Ribalta, Coetzer, Williams & Ferguson.
He beat a string of decent though not great fighters & is unfairly maligned due to falling short at the highest level but was certainly good enough to give many a fighter a run for his money & only lost to the best in the division & barring his last performance, was either winning or was certainly well into at the time of being stopped.