Frank Bruno vs Evander Holyfield

He even knocked out George Butzbach.
With a body punch.

 

I honestly feel Bruno should be given ATG status

people give it to Vitali for exactly the same reasons.

Both fought **** poor opposition,
both lost to the best fighters they fought (just that Bruno has more losses as he fought more of them)
both were winning against Lewis until the fight was stopped
both won the WBC title
both have an impressive KO % (which probably ties in with the **** poor opposition)

Vitali gets granted ATG but Bruno doesnt?

It has to be the colour of Brunos skin. It just has to be.

 

Bruno was schooling Carl Williams in a battle of jabs until knocking him flat with a right hand in the tenth round. Frank was not falling apart there. Without that punch Bruno would have got a wider decision over truth Williams than almost anyone got against him. Carl could box.

Williams gave Tommy Morrison a life and death brawl knocking him down twice just months before and lost by SD to Tim Witherspoon not much earlier.

 

:good point taken.

 

But Tyson did KTFO Williams better than anyone ever did.

 

In all fairness that fat drug addicted Tony Tubbs that fought Tyson would have likely beat Bruno.

At 244, a bit heavier than he was against Tyson, he took the same Spoon that trashed Bruno to a very close MD.

 

Tubbs despite his shape and weight, was surprisingly good. Some people felt he beat Bowe years after Tyson demolished him.

And the Klits also used him as a sparring partner

He was the James Toney of the 80's

 

Exactly, absolute no basis for comparision between Tubbs of the Tyson fight and the Coetzee that was fed to Bruno. Tubbs made it out of the first and was boxing well, he wasn't carried by Tyson. Just absurd.

 

Tubbs was always fat, even when he was slim. I think thats just his genetics.

I gave Tubbs the first round, he looked very slick in there against Tyson, but as Sugar Ray commentated "i dont think its a good idea exchanging punch for punch with Tyson",

a few well timed uppercuts later Tubbs is doing the chicken dance.

For those who say James Toney could have beat Tyson because he had good defence, good chin, blah blah, need to watch this fight.

Tyson would have demolished Toney within a couple of rounds, well that version of Tyson anyway.

Buster Mathis is another similar example of a fat pudgy fighter who was quite skillful, Bowe came nowhere near to stopping him and although Tyson looked very rusty, the finish was excellent.

 

Tyson knocks out Bruno and most people better than anyone did.. Jameson and Tillis went quicker against Frank though...

 

The Tubbs that fought Tyson gets crushed by Bruno just as easy. Tubbs is the most overrated and luckiest of the 1980s lost fat boy generation to ever own a belt. Tubbs was a clever spoiler with no real motivation. He used his fast hands to steal rounds and hustle at his own pace. Neutralising spoiler with no punch.

Tony was able to hang with lazy ass Page and lazy ass Witherspoon because they were happy to work as hard as they were made to. Both were proberbly on drugs. Tyson, Bruno, Thomas, Holmes, Ruddock even old Foreman would force Tony to fight. How many of those did he fight? Tyson, and look what happened.

Page and Witherspoon once woken up could really fight when pushed. Tony did not push them. What else did he do? Oh yes, go the distance with Bowe in his step up fight. Another lazy ass if ever there was one.

Tubbs worked out that with most fighters if you don't push too hard you don't get pushed back much. That was his legacy. That or the $50,000 cash bonus he refused to come in shape for.

Bruno vs Tubbs Tyson fought? Bruno inside 3 rounds.

 

Yeah but James 'Quick' Tillis was no longer quick.

It is true, Tyson knocked out guys quicker and better than Foreman, Holyfield and Lewis, Holmes and Bowe did (in a lot of cases, not all though)

 

Frankly I don't know why you're clinging for dear life onto Coetzee's win over James Tillis as a means for proving that he was still a legit contender or better than Tubbs or Thomas. Pinklon Thomas lambasted a prime Tillis years earlier, while men like an aged Bugner, Marvis Frazier and a 6 fight Tyrell Biggs also beat Tillis around the same time that Coetzee did. The fact that Tillis took a very green Tyson the distance doesn't say much. Everett Big foot Martin took a lot of elite guys the distance. It didn't make beating him proof that his conqueror was still a contender. Tubbs had beaten Greg Page who beat Coetzee, took Witherspoon 15 rounds in a narrow decision loss and defeated three journeyman within a shorter period of time, than Coetzee got his win over Tillis.. And yes, I still think that some of those journeyman were on par with him by THAT point in Tillis's career. coetzee's poor conditioning, inactivity, physical disabilities and resolution to retire pretty much black listed him as a threat to anyone important in the division. I'll give Frank Credit that he beat him with no problems, but thats about it..

 

This claim would have stronger legs if Bruno hadn't been KTFO by Smith and Witherspoon.

 

Some interesting points, i do feel Bruno needed to fight a few of the old Tyson victims etc, if at least to get some experience, confidence etc.

Fights with the likes of berbick, biggs, tubbs and even a Tucker bout would have been interesting.

I dont think Bruno was 'rushed' but i think he needed to face some experience fighters who he could beat but would have to work a bit harder for it. Bruno looked good against lower tier opponents and then froze against upper tier, he needed to be matched with some in betweens