Frank Bruno vs Evander Holyfield

Holmes was a cagey survivor, he had skills, he was very clever.
Foreman was just better than Bruno - in the sense that he could take his lumps and keep coming, stay relaxed, keep doing his thing. He had no fear and was confident and comfortable in himself.

This is an incredible overrating of Frank Bruno.
Sure, he might Holyfield a few tough rounds, but Holyfield's going to be all over him .... and he's going to stop Bruno, as sure as night follows day.

Bruno consistently fell to pieces against top-flight opposition. He was simply a front-runner who would panic and melt mentally when things started to turn the other way. His survival skills were atrocious. His inner confidence was fragile.
Mentally he wasn't cut out for fighting the top guys all the way to the finish line.

A fast fighter like prime Holyfield, a fighter of that QUALITY and mental fortitude, a 'counter-swarming', sharp-punching, combination puncher, a GREAT fighter ..... Bruno's going to get his ass kicked.

Yeah, he might give Holyfield a tough go for a few rounds - like Alex Stewart did the first time. But there's no way he's going 12 rounds with a Holyfield at his best.

 

I think Bruno would have some success early with the jab, Holyfield was not as adept as Tyson at slipping the jab. Holyfield while a decent puncher was not the concussive 1 punch KO artist like Lewis, Tyson and Smith so don't think he would have blown Bruno out quickly.

Holyfield would beat Bruno to the punch and his combinations would see Bruno take a lot of punishment. I see Holyfield stopping Bruno around the 7-9th rounds.

 

I highly doubt this would "As a hard a fight as Evander ever came through?"

Bruno doesn't have the tools or substance to give Evander a beating or go the distance in a losing effort. Evander had his occssional flubs but he was too smart for an opponent this limited to dish out any kind of beating. Bruno is hardly a Riddick Bowe, once Evander figures out his jab (which won't take long) and starts bashing him with short left hooks and combinations, this one is as good as done. Bruno takes the beating and likely folds whenever Evander starts putting an offense together.

 

Holyfield by KO!

 

Honestly, I don't see how could Bruno do that...

:think

 

Holyfield, either by wide UD or late stoppage.

 

Wrong.

The Stewart fight was stopped on a cut.

Holyfield should win this but Bruno will have his moments.

I am leaning more towards a decision win, Holy had few Ko's against top ten big guys with a jab on the upper level, a fat Buster is the only one unless my memory betrays me.

As usual he would brawl and Bruno was pretty rough and dirty on the inside.

Again , Holyfield by UD, I don't think he has the firepower to stop Bruno.

 

And yet Bowe was no more impressive against common opponents that Frank fought.

Bowe has the better resume than Frank because he beat evander and had a more proven temperment but factor in Bowes lousy conditioning and the fact that he never fought a Prime Lewis, a Prime Tyson or even got past anything like a prime witherspoon and I don't think Prime for prime there is such the difference between Frank and Bowe as some might think. Riddick has a thin resume compared to all time greats. Bowe barely got past Tubbs. Holyfeild barely got past old Dokes (in a great fight) yet Bruno eased past Coetzee who beat Dokes when he was world level so surely Frank deserves more of a chance here?

Frank won't win....but nobody beat him easily.

Evander is a great fighter. No question. But most of it is based on Evander showing heart in fights that need not have been so tough. It was no reign of dominance. He made Bowe look great even though Riddick had all the advantages.. but how many current, prime great fighters did Bowe fight his own size? Did Bowe beat any? Not much more than Frank did.

When I look at the men who gave Holyfeild a tough time I don't see any of them (Dokes, Moorer, Stewart, Ruiz) bothering Bruno so I believe Frank could give Evander a tough time too.

 

Tyson beat him easily I think...Twice

 

Not the first time. Second time it was Brunos last ever fight. Tyson was a great fighter when he fought Frank.

Against Tyson Frank put up more resistance both times than Spinks, Tubbs, Holmes, Seldon, Williams, Thomas, Bonecrusher, Golota...

Maybe even Evander would not get past the Tyson Bruno fought first time...

 

Holyfield stopped Stewart. Stewart did okay for 5 rounds. The last 3 rounds of that fight were awful one-sided. You think Bruno doesn't bleed too ?

 

I totally disagree with Bruno being able to go 12 rounds with a prime Holyfield.
Bruno never went the distance in a losing effort.
He failed every time.
An out-of-shape Witherspoon stopped him in 11. Lewis stopped him in 7. Tyson in 5 and 3. Even Bonecrusher Smith knocked him out in 10.

And he never beat anyone who was much good either. He only ever once won a 12-rounder, against the plodding McCall, and he had to hang on for dear life in the final round.

Bruno's incredibly overrated here.
He wasn't much good at all.

 

Whist never an all time great Bruno was a special talent. Too good for Good fighters to want to fight him (without a title on the line) and too good to gain too much from regular journey men. Only great fighters beat him at his best and even then only[CODE][/CODE] in life and death fights.

There was no real shame in the WItherspoon and bonecrusher losses either. Lack of seasoning was as responsible as anything else. Both also had to come from behind to win.

Gerrie Coetzee was #1 WBA contender when Bruno iced him. Nobody did that to Coetzee a man who matched Thomas and beat Dokes.

Bruno stopped a decent Truth Williams who twice decked Tommy Morrison also split decisioned Witherspoon for USBA title around that time.

Bruno did a better job on Tillis than Tyson. Nobody beat tough guys like Ribalta, Rodriguez and Jameson, Ferguson and Marin as easily or as early as Frank. Men that went the distance with Dokes, Witherpoon,mercer, and Holmes. When everyone was beating up on the same guys Bruno often did a better job and the opponents often said so.

I am not over rating Bruno in saying he was worthy of giving Holyfeild a real handfull because he brought as much to the table as any fighter or tough guy who gave Evander a lot of trouble.

How might have Evander got on with a younger and faster Lewis and Tyson? How about Tim Witherspoon and danger man Bones Smith? Everyone hurt Holyfeild, that's what made him so exciting and why IMO Bruno, Witherspoon and even bonecrusher would give Holyfeild a lot of troubles.

 

-Their few common opponents weren't very good, similar results are to be expected. For instance, Tyson, Lewis, Spoon, and Smith all came overcame bad starts to stop a tiring Bruno.

-Oh Please...Bowe got past prime Holyfield. This so called prime Spoon was in questionable condition and looking gassed early. How Bruno found away to lose to him was quite shocking.

-Bowe was far more complete fighter with more proven durability and guile, without question. In addition to Holyfield, Bowe has more middling wins, Hide, Gonzales, Donald, Tubbs, Golota..etc. Bruno never beat guys of even that level.

-Flimsy logic.

3 years had passed since Coetzee/Dokes. In that time Coetzee transformed from a trim 215 active top fighter to a soft 233 lbs gate keeper. He was KOed by Page after a 14 month lay off and despite winning on the cards he was hospitalized by Tillis in an aborted comeback. He was done and played sacrificial lamb to Bruno in a non effort for his final fight.

Dokes despite his problems stayed in shape and did not free fall quite as quickly as his 1983 conqueror. He showed up in shape and ready for a war against Evander. Context is everything.

 

No, he was deliberately matched with awfully easy opponents for most of his career. Mickey Duff admitted this, he said even some of the awful opponents he had to really persuade Terry Lawless (Bruno's manager) to take, because they had little confidence in Bruno. They used a matchmaker called Johnny Bos to find has-beens and bums to imports from America.
The only good opponents I can remember pulling out of a Bruno date was Berbick (in '87).

His special talent was strength and physique. Lawless himself said Bruno was a slow learner, later when George Francis came in they concentrated on dirty tactics. Bruno was a manufactured fighter.

Bruno fought hard, he gave decent account of himself. Witherspoon was visibly out of shape, and slugged with Bruno, it was gruelling but 'spoon was relaxed and it was quite clear after 6 or 7 rounds that Bruno was the one who wouldn't last 15 rounds.

Coetzee was fat and looking for a payday and retirement. There was a political situation that meant Coetzee was going to be frozen out anyway. No doubt Bruno could hit. It's possibly Bruno's best win.

That would be among Bruno's top 3 wins. But Williams was no longer decent. Williams had already started losing to journeymen.
The Witherspoon-Williams fight was over 2 years earlier, and both had looked horrible, sluggish, and sporting boobs anyway.

hey, Bruno was probably better Tommy Morrison, I can concede that.

Bruno fought just about every one of those guys when they were out of shape and under-trained, usually because they were brought in at rather short notice. Bruno was always in tip-top shape and prepared, kept in the gym, had very good team looking out for him.

I have no doubts that Bruno was a NIGHTMARE for out-of-shape second-tier guys on short notice.

Against top-flight opponents he made a strong effort but was always stopped. He consistently lost to the better fighters (namely Witherspoon, Tyson, Lewis), even when they were slightly off form or worse.

They might "give him trouble".
Bruno might "give him trouble", but he's not going to beat him, and he's not going to last 12 rounds. Ultimately Holyfield will beat him from pillar to post and the fight will be stopped with Bruno getting battered on the ropes, his hands by his sides, with a confused look on his face.
I'm not usually so sure of results, and endings, but this one seems very obvious to me.