I was as big a fan as Frank Bruno as you could get. But the reality was by the 1990s, the decade Bruno became champion, there isn’t an awful lot of prime Frank Bruno to go on.Lets look at his wins. Ribalta, Coetzer, Williams, Marin And McCall. It’s a very slender Resume. I think 1951 Joe Louis could match this form. I really do. During this time, Tyson and Lewis both beat Bruno when neither was really at their best. Actually within a year both Lennox and Tyson lost in serious upsets.
Usually I kid, but I do think Rocky would have a decent chance of beating Witherspoon and Smith. Especially Smith who lost to Marvis Frazier. Because of Frazier's style and Smith's style, you would think that Smith would have made quick work out of Marvis. I would love to see a recording of that fight because im puzzled as to how Smith lost that fight. Marciano may very well have stopped him or at the very least won a convincing decision.
Yes. He is not the club fighter Janitor is attempting to depict him as at all. The way Janitor portrays him, you'd think he'd never won a fight!
Bruno had decent skill and was big and strong and a hard hitter, he just seemed to lose against his more elite opponents. I thought this fight would be interesting because Bruno's size and punching power would be the x Factor here. Now, if Bruno were say 6'1 200 pounds with the same skill set, I wouldn't pick him over Rocky but his enormous size makes one wonder.
Yes that is all I'm saying. All those men I'd listed earlier in the thread, I don't pick to beat because they were better, as a matter of fact if they were the same size I don't think anybody would pick them including myself. It's just that size DOES matter, and unfortunately the sport has evolved. People can pick on Bruno all they like but if Marciano had to share an era with the likes of Lewis, and Tyson, and all the other behemoths, I dare say he wouldn't have faired nearly as well as Bruno as even if he could've beaten the men Bruno did in one-offs (which is a big if) the accumulative damage he would've taken due to the HUGE size discrepancy he would've faced in fighting these much bigger men would've taken their toll and worn The Rock out.
My point was,because Bruno failed to stop, Tyson Lewis Smith Witherspoon Janitor says he wasn't a top level puncher and that is just asinine. I saw most of Bruno's fights from ringside,he was not a great fighter,he was mechanical, and rather robotic,but he had a very good hard jab,and he hit like a truck! Given that at 6'3" and 240lbs he was 4 .5inches taller than Marciano , 55lbs heavier, and had over 12 inches of reach on him,the fact that p4p Rocky is the greater fighter ,may well not be enough to secure a victory.
Not really, it's more like thinking that size matters when it's coming with a heavy jab, colossal power and half-foot advantages in height and reach.
There are fighters with those attributes in every era. They are not in an of themselves enough to get you to the top, whoever the champion is.
He was not a club fighter by any means. He was a tremendous natural talent, with some important ingredients missing. His power probably was right up there with the hardest hitters, and yes he had some good fundamentals. His main weakness was that he was not a natural fighter. Where somebody like Marciano would know what to instinctively, Bruno would have to think about it. To make matters worse he was a bit of a one trick pony, and once you figured that trick out, he didn't really have anything else. Throw in his stamina issues, and lack of durability, and he was a very beatable fighter.
Sorry, I must've missed this. Who did Marciano fight who had a 'heavy jab, colossal power and half-foot advantages in height and reach' and 50/60lbs in weight over him? But they maybe enough to beat someone who's 50lbs smaller than you in a one off fight. Bruno had far more than just size, and we both know it. I pick Marciano BTW, but there's real issue with picking Bruno. This is a decent match-up.
