Jim Braddock vs Frank Bruno

Maybe but its not as sure a bet as Braddock losing to Spinks. Spinks was at least levels ahead of Braddock in terms of both skill and accomplishments.

 

Because I have eyes and have seen both Bruno and Baer fight. There's simply no comparison in skill level. I can see what I can see.

And the truth is that Baer lost to far worse guys than Bruno did. Remind me again of Les Kennedy's outstanding attributes? Baer's record consists of a giant mattress of undersized and physically weaker opponents punctuated with losses to higher level opponents. McCall himself would have had little difficulty in equalling or bettering Baer's record against the same opponents.

 

Two observations.

Firstly if you could accurately judge the outcome of a fight, from how good the fighters look on film, you wouldn't be working for a living.

Secondly, of course Baer lost to worse fighters, because he was being thrown in against the elites practically from the opening gate.

Bruno for contrast never fought anybody with a pulse unless a title was on the line.

Bruno was seen as a loveable loser while he was active.

The idea that he was some head to head monster, is a ridiculous piece of revisionism.

 

Frank Bruno was not historically elite but people get on kicks around here about certain fighters like they were the reincarnation of Thor or something ...

 

You could say the same thing about Jim Braddock. His entire mythos is build upon the idea that he lost a ton of his fights and yet was somehow able as an underdog to defeat Baer. What people forget about that fight was that Baer turned in the non performance of a lifetime. Its not like Braddock looked that great or was EVER considered a head to head monster.

Braddock turned pro weighing in the 160s. Bruno turned pro the same age Braddock did but weighed 217 pounds. He was taller, had a 9 inch reach advantage and at his biggest he was a chiseled 49 pounds heavier than the biggest Braddock ever was. The two largest guys Braddock fought were Baer (210) and Farr (207). Most people consider the Baer fight a fluke and the Farr fight a gift decision.

My point is that I dont see anyone pretending Bruno was a "head to head monster" they are simply saying that his better skills combined with his size make him a favorite to beat a guy who lost a significant portion of his fights to fighters who would have been otherwise used to pad Bruno's record. Say what you will about Bruno's competition (they werent as bad as you paint them) but the guy only lost to five fighters, all of whom were champions and everyone with the exception of Tyson had to come from behind to stop him. If he can outpoint Lewis and Witherspoon he can outpoint Braddock and Braddock does not have the size and pop those guys had to be able to turn a losing effort like that around with a knockout against a guy who outweighed him by 50 pounds and was able to outjab Lennox Lewis.

 

It is a hard fight to call, because both fighters had their ups and downs in their careers. If I had to make a choice I would go with the guy who actually won the Lineal Heavyweight Championship and then knocked Joe Louis down while losing the title.

 

see this post

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/jim-braddock-vs-frank-bruno.736988/page-2#post-23404787

 

It had not escaped my notice, and I will give my thoughts on it.

 

Id pick Bivol over Baer and he's never even fought at heavyweight

 

I think Bruno is just too big, I would pick Braddock from the Baer fight to beat Carnera, but I just think Bruno could impose himself better, use the jab to back Braddock up and fire off combinations when he’s against the ropes.

 

The Cinderella Thread.

 

We need @Seamus to come in here with a bon mot involving one or more 1930s manual labor jobs.

Anyway, although it was a mean spirited thread, klompton2's analysis of Braddock is relevant here:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/the-actual-skill-level-of-jim-braddock.591580/

EDIT: Even though Bruno obliterates Braddock, @HistoryZero26's enthusiasm is infectious enough that I'm voting for Braddock in the poll anyway.