Boxing was big in the 1980s and TV had just 3 channels. manager terry lawless and the cartel ( boxing promoters micky duff, mike barrat and co) had made some world champions out of their stable jim watt, Maurice hope, Charlie magri, john h stracy, it looked like this team was so successful that they would land even more world champions. Frank bruno was a big heavyweight that signed with lawless - the maker of champions- and bruno looked the part. The media went crazy! This team made champions and now they had a heavyweight!!! His entire career was televised and a generation grew up watching him develop. with 3 TV channels when bruno was on TV he had one third of the TV audience! I don’t think a career had ever been so mainstream from day one before frank bruno. The brits loved cooper but he had to pay his dues before he became "our enry". Bruno was kind of launched as "our frank". when ever he lost he won more fans. he was a national mascot. and he got there in the end!
Frank was a 6' 3" huge black bloke who played up being friendly. Self deprecation is a trait we Brits love, and Bruno was full of the one liners, with his straight guy 'arry Carpenter. A typical post fight interview would go: Carpenter: "What are you going to do next Frank?" Bruno: "I am going on 'oliday, to top up mi tan, you not what I mean 'arry? HAHAHAHAHAHA!" It might sound cheesy now, but that sort of thing worked well in the 80s.
Not much to explain to the OP that hasn't already been said about Big Frank. Good posts fella's, telling him exactly why he was loved. I hope the TS now understands the answer to his question.
Bruno's personality coupled with the times and the fact that boxing was a massive terestrial tv sport.
Bruno went mainstream from day one during terrestrial TV’s hey day. it is unimaginable today to work out how he got so big nationally unless you lived through those times in the early 1980s. TV was a very important tool used by the establishment to take some of the focus away from what was a depressing time in the UK. There would have been efforts to ensure that Race riots, industrial action and mass unemployment needed to be overshadowed pretty badly by some pretty vigorous flag waving. TV wanted to project that the early 1980s was a very patriotic time. There was a Royal wedding, the Falkland islands war to push and to keep the momentum going to bring the country together there was a need to find sporting heroes as well. with England failing to win another world cup in 1982 the nation decided to pin its hope on a world heavyweight boxing champion. along came frank Bruno. It was just the right time and it was important that he was a black man and a regular nice guy too. He wasn’t radical or political but the country was pretty short of black national heroes who could cross the divisions. there was Daley Thompson of course but after football the biggest thing in professional sports is the heavyweight boxing title. The kind of exposure young bruno got was as if he already was the world champion. like I say, it is hard to imagine now, but frank was a very important national figure at a time when an entire nation of 60 million people had very limited variety on their TV. They almost did something simular with amir kahn - a positive "british-muslim-asian" role model but although amir is internationaly more recognised he wasnt anywhere near as big as frank bruno was in the UK in the 1980s. However, if you Imagine if amir was a heavyweight and there was only 3 TV chanels and you have some idea of how big and important frank bruno became to a nation.
:goodexcept bruno beat beter fighters than big cat ever did and also had the following of an entire nation.
Thanks, guys. I think the thing that most helps me understand it is the free TV thing and people seeing his career progress bout to bout. I realized he was an affable giant type, so to speak, but not that an entire national audience saw him from the start. That never entered into my thinking -- because from an ocean away all we knew was that he fell short in the fights that counted most, and it looked from here like that was what people liked about him. Having gotten hooked on Leonard and Hearns and (to a lesser degree, as far as the early parts of his career not being televised) Duran as they worked their way into superstardom, I can understand the investment an audience gets in seeing a fighter grow. Heck, even the James Scott -- who had a fascinating storyline knocking off No. 1 contenders at Rahway Prison -- in a different way got a lot of people hooked. Also, thanks for shedding a little light on: "Ya know wha I mean, 'Arry." Knew a Brit back in the day who said that at odd times and laughed and explained it was a Frank Bruno thing, and I had no idea what he was talking about. So a toast from me to "Your Frank" and his followers.
:thumbsupI'm glad you now appreciate why Bruno was loved by British people. He had his flaws as a fighter but he was a good, big strong heavyweight who always came to fight (excluding Tyson 2). He was a handful for anyone and only fell short at the top. When he won the WBC belt everyone was so made up for him, and although he was regarded as just a titlist, finally getting his hands on that belt meant so much to the big man. His years of perseverance, hard work and determination had paid off for him and he could finally be called a world champion. Everyone in the country was in on the plot and loved him for the fact he never gave up.
I've never been one to believe that a fighter had to be P4P or an ATG to have fans. Many of my faves were, to use my term, pedestrian at best. Some I liked because they were great technicians, others for just the opposite reason, because they were rough-hewn warriors. Many had more "faults" than Bruno -- I'm a big Mike Weaver guy, and that will never change. I just didn't have the perspective to understand the love for Bruno. I see where you're coming from. Good for Frank, good for England to have a classy guy to root for who did, indeed, take it as far as he could on his ability.