October 1, 1993 Frank Bruno almost beats Lennox Lewis

He was not near beating Lennox. I was there with a load of Bruno fans, no one at anytime thought Bruno was going to do it, the feeling was sooner or later he would get caught. Bruno fans were very loyal, but us Brits are also by nature 'glass half empty' people...

 

I don't think a fighter with noted stamina issues being slightly ahead at the halfway stage is "almost winning", particularly when the opponent was never in serious trouble.

Bruno did well, and probably looked the sharpest he ever had. He shook Lewis a couple of times, and controlled the early going with his jab. Lewis was getting back into the fight though. It was a competitive and interesting fight that was bubbling prior to the abrupt stoppage, rather than Lewis having to pull something out of the bag. Bruno was well scouted on the right-hand, but he was probably going to walk onto the left-hook at some point when he opened up and/or started to fade.

 

Lewis said he took time to warm up to the job as it was such a cold night.
Bruno was never going to beat Lennox.

 

I definitely wouldn't say Bruno almost beat him, but he did make things uncomfortable for lenni for a bit. But Frank, barring a Mccall type shot, was never going to defeat him. Lewis a few steps above poor frank.

 

Lewis was bone dry when the fight started. Once he took 3 or 4 rounds to warm up, it was all over 3 or 4 rounds later.

If Lewis was properly warmed up and ready to go, he gets rid of Frank early with that straight right coming over the top of the low left hand of Bruno's. And he would have had Bruno backing up from the first round on & that is hardly a good position for Bruno to be in===he is one of those fighters that is only effective going forward. Backing up with his hands low is the worst trait to have against this opponent.

 

Excellent description.