No...but Frank had qualities.He had detractors aplenty but IMO He made the best of what he had and represented many of the positive aspects of the sport.A man who achieved plenty despite a fragile mentality. Best jab ever.? No..good jab..Yes. Frank was very 'rigid' and no matter what they tried he always looked 'tight' in the ring
Was Bruno too "rigid" from all the muscle he built from weightlifting? Either too much muscle, or he did not stretch & work to retain adequate flexibility & agility as he got larger? I recall for a Tyson fight he was listed at 6' 3" 247 lbs.: & that was a sculpted, low body fat 247. Would he have been better at a lean 227 or 232, which still would have been muscular?
Bruno was a robot, he needed to be 'programmed'. The beauty of such a robot was the dedication to training, the problem was you could only programme him with so much information, there came a point where instincts took over...
Bruno had a great jab and could really box with anyone. He might not have been as fluid or as bouncy but that's not to say he could not get the job done because of the way he looked. Bruno was so popular that he was a big fight for anyone. Not many good fighters wanted to beat him enough to stay in the fight once they felt his power and the crowd got on top of them. He bypassed a lot of competative experience this way but he did beat good fighters with real ease like Ribalta, ledoux, Williams, coetzer, Tillis and Ferguson. He made McCall look stupid until he got tired too. Where Frank fell short was against a great fighter like a Tyson or a Lewis. The Witherspoon fight and Smith fights were not really a prime Bruno but he took all of them to the brink. They really had to fight for their lives to stay with him. Anxiaty and stamina would drain him past 6 competitive rounds more than punches ever did.
Big Frank certainly had quite a powerful jab. It's pushing it to say that it's the most powerful out of all the heavyweights,though. That accolade goes to Sonny Liston.
I think Bruno gets underrated sometimes. Except for the Tyson fights, in his other losses he was winning until caught. Of course, you have to cross the finish line to win, but he was very rarely really outclassed, despite his shortcomings as a fighter. His jab and right hand were powerful weapons for sure. One thing that rarely gets mentioned though is what a dirty ****er he could be in the ring.
