Bruno v Tyson documentary

One of my favourite games of the 80s....Pedro ramirez the number 8 ranked guy was a mean mutha....incredible game ..fight from ranked 30th in the world to champion.......one huge bug in this game.....a couple of the top 5 contender if you attacked them they'd massacre you.....but if u did nothing and just moved out of the way somehow the other guy would punch himself out

 

Bruno was destined to become Champion in 1984 but he lost to Bonecrusher. He was destined to become champion in 1986 to coincide with England’s twenty year anniversary of winning the World Cup in 1966 at Wembley but he lost to Witherspoon. Which is why culturally this was a bigger National event than Bruno later being served up to challenge a better known champion later on in 1989.

Frank came back not just because Tyson was out of the way. He came back because Lennox Lewis was going to beat him to becoming Britain’s first World champion. If anything, after this, Bruno came back because Frank Warren had a relationship with Don King and could virtually guarantee making Bruno into a champion for Tyson to beat. So that particular time you could say he came back knowing he was destined to meet Tyson again.

of course the whole U.K. was screaming for Frank to finish Tyson at that moment he hurt him. But the comparison with the Witherspoon fight was the whole nation was screaming for Bruno to beat Witherspoon for the whole of the Summer of 1986. The twenty year anniversary of the World Cup winning year. It did not matter that Tim Witherspoon himself had virtually no profile. He had a belt. The U.K. wanted Frank to be a champion in 1986. He had a more realistic chance which made it a bigger deal.

That’s the difference. It was immediately forgotten or unknown by the next generation of U.K. fans.

They made a computer game about Mcguigan After he became champion. They made a computer game about Bruno nine years before he became a heavyweight champion. totally Unprecedented.

As big as Mcguigan was in Britain in 1985...and Barry was a huge deal, Mcguigan was only equal to Frank in England once he became a world champion. He was second fiddle to Frank in England up until he beat Pedroza and again second fiddle to Frank as soon as he lost his title. Whereas the mania for Bruno was maintained all the way through.

younger fans seem to think it all started with the Tyson fights. Yet Frank was the biggest presence and A-list in England since 1984.

 

People “hoped” Bruno could win. They didn’t think he could win. Just as many hoped he wouldn’t get killed. It was just patriotism because Bruno was already a huge national icon.

The generation who grew up remembering that mere “ hope” against Tyson mistakenly believe Bruno’s world championship potential started here. But it really did not.

That is what was misleading about the Sky documentary.

when Bruno fought Witherspoon it was more than a just a “hope” he might do it. Bruno actually was a slight favourite to win it!

And that’s why it was a bigger deal.

when Bruno fought Tyson, Franks last fight was a win over a comeback Joe Bugner and Quick Tillis who were not considered elite at that time. So he was no urgent or immediate threat to the championship.

like Thomas, Tubbs and Holmes Frank was largely selected Against Tyson based more on previous reputations than recent fights. On this bases he was served up. Frank was no outstanding logical challenger in 1989.

Where as On the run to meeting Witherspoon four years earlier Frank was a European champion who had beaten a recent title holder.

 

Not correct Marky...hoped is different to thought....i have stacks of my uncles american and british magazines from the time......practically no one thought Frank would win.Tyson was coming off the Spinks win and people thought at 22 he was nowhere near his peak.....there was a ko magazine article discussing if all of tysons turmoil might give bruno a chance....and dismissed it. Your comments are hindsight...the Bruno fight was the first title one where people noticed tyson was clearly sub par..althoug it was viewed as a off night rather than the start of a slow terminal decline that we now know 30 years later it was....

 

Tyson was ringside for the Tillis fight not the Bugner fight. The Tillis fight was a comeback fight, Franks first fight back since the Witherspoon loss. So of course Frank was still huge in the UK off the back of the Witherspoon fight, the books, records and computer games that had already came before this.

Tyson, the new champion, was in London to try and source some historic boxing film and was invited to do a TV programme about boxing history with Harry carpenter and then watch Franks comeback fight.

Tyson was going to be kept busy. The idea was if Frank could keep winning they might slot him in a defence in London, again based on replicating the financial success of the 50,000 Wembley stadium bout with Witherspoon. It had nothing to do with Frank being a genuine threat to the title.

Tyson was kept busier than the actual contenders at this time unifying the title. So there was scope to feed Tyson name fighters who had not done much lately like Larry Holmes, Thomas and Tubbs. Bruno was one of them.

The Bugner fight was huge. But strictly only in the UK and Australia.

I can’t imagine American fans knew Bruno vs Bugner was even taking place.