AJ vs Frank Bruno

Yes.

 

He most certainly could, particularly post-Ruiz Jr. AJ doesn't seem to have Bruno's ability to bounce back from defeat. The initial loss seemed to take something out of him.

Perhaps it's like a shot that you don't see coming knocks you out. Frank may have known he was biting off more than he could chew in his defeats so did his best on the nights he lost with a view to trying again against someone else down the road.

Anthony seems to have thought he had a right to greatness and wasn't prepared for a loss that would have hugely bruised his psyche. The rematch against Ruiz was not good. The Uzyk performance may not be as bad as it looked, it depends how Olexandr's heavyweight career pans out, but AJ looked reluctant on the night again.

Sticking my neck out. I say AJ pre-Ruiz had better pedigree and was sharper and likely wins. Frank beats the more gun-shy version. I wouldn't bet the house on either. A case of AJ being more talented, Bruno more resilient over the course of a career.

 

I might favor Joshua but only slightly. Bruno would be a very live threat

 

I always seem to pick against Bruno in these threads but I honestly have nothing against him. I doubt frank was at the same level as the version of Klitschko that AJ beat and I see a similar outcome.

 

I see a late rounds knockout for Bruno.

 

Fine post.AJ looked ready to go against Usyk I think he is gunshy now.

 

You would have to make Joshua favorite to be honest.

For all his failings, he was consistently putting down top ten contenders, wile Bruno seemed to run into trouble against that grade of fighter.

 

Those top 10 contenders wouldn’t of been top 50 contenders in Bruno’s day.

 

Get real guys.

 

Yes, they would have been.

 

I agree with the sentiment, minus the exaggaration. Bruno fought better fighters.

Of course, he also lost when he fought those better fighters but Frank did as much for me in defeat as AJ often did in victory. It's just my opinion that heavyweights have been getting steadily poorer - older, fatter, less active - since the early 2000s. AJ benefitted from being around at the division's lowest point. Had Frank fought Wlad when he (Wlad) was 41, having had one winning fight in nearly three years, he wins for my money.

Put AJ in with some of Frank's conquerors and I don't envisage a massively different outcome. Lennox in 1993, when faced with AJ, wins by KO; Tyson in 89 goes through him with ease; 'Spoon in 86 would have been too crafty for a young AJ. He probably beats Bonecrusher but so does Frank if he fights him a bit further down the line. Bruno was 22 when he lost that fight; AJ was an amateur at that age.

Given what Ruiz did to Joshua's psyche, I don't find it hard to envisage that the Tyson of 96 would go through a 34 year old Joshua with the same ease he did to Bruno, if not easier. Even that version of Tyson would have terrified a man who was gunshy against a 280lb plus tub of lard.

I know some might think I am being a bit over-charitable towards Frank in this debate. They will argue that he was overly-muscled, rigid, robotic, lacking in natural fighting instincts and had a record built on men past their prime or who weren't that good.....

... No real need for a punchline here, is there?

 

I see Bruno rabbit punching Joshua into unconsciousness

 

If that doesn't work, he could show him the film of the Ruiz rematch.