A Boxing Memory: Frank Bruno

A Boxing Memory: Frank Bruno

If ever a fighter’s story is one of perseverance, it is Frank Bruno’s.

Bruno was written off many times in his career. Three times he failed in his attempt to be crowned the heavyweight champion of the world. So many times, he looked as though he was finished with nowhere left to go when chance after chance came and went without reward. But Bruno never gave up on his dreams.

The professional aspirations of Bruno very nearly ended before they had begun. When he was 19, Bruno had to travel to Bogota in Colombia on his own, to have corrective eye surgery to correct a rare form of short-sightedness. A year after winning the ABA title against Rudi Pika, his career already looked over.

The lonely trip in 1981, attracted drug traffickers and threats to his life. They wanted him to transport cocaine back to the UK. Bruno refused and managed to talk his way out of peril. He left Bogota with his life intact and his career saved.

British heavyweights had the horizontal label firmly attached to them in the 1980s. A near century of failure to lay claim to the world heavyweight title, since the days of Bob Fitzsimmons, had rendered British challengers to an almost joke-like status. Very few British heavyweights offered any hope of reversing the trend. Bruno was deemed the best chance for success in nearly 100 years. Bruno had the look and the size to end all the misery of those years of abject failure. ‘Big Frank’ gave us what we hadn’t had before. Real hope.

It all started so well. The opponents were the usual merry-go-round of the ordinary. And worse. But Bruno dispatched them with relative ease. Only Floyd ‘Jumbo’ Cummings threatened to ruin the script. One big right hand at the end of the opening round froze Bruno on the spot. The bell saved the British hopeful, and Bruno recovered well enough to stop the American in the 7th round of their 1983 fight. But the warning signs were already there.

But then one Sunday night at the Wembley Arena, the Bruno story looked over. Terry Lawless had guided Bruno to twenty-one wins, and the American James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith was brought over in 1984 and was billed as the first real test for Bruno. That much was true.

The Lawless camp had already suffered a devastating setback when the middleweight prospect Mark Kaylor was stopped by another American Buster Drayton earlier in the evening. And their night got worse. Much worse.

Bruno was seemingly on his way to a comfortable points win until he decided he needed more. Bruno was caught, and Smith unleashed a salvo of punches to put his opponent on the floor and the unbeaten record of Bruno was now assigned to history.

Talk of retirement was already in the air, only whispers, but the world title ambitions already looked remote for Bruno. Exposed, the big puncher, who couldn’t take one in return. The critique was harsh. Bruno did have a chin, in truth, it was his lack of natural survival instincts that let him down, the ability to grab and hold when hurt. Too many easy fights hadn’t prepared him for life at the top level.

Bruno regrouped, and rebuilt, the tabloids even ran print of the tap dancing master Roy Castle helping Bruno with his footwork. More victories followed, a European title win over Anders Eklund and a one-round blowout over the former world champion Gerrie Coetzee got Bruno an opportunity at Tim Witherspoon for the WBA heavyweight title.

There was mass hysteria, an unprecedented build-up to the big showdown at Wembley Stadium in 1987. There were songs written about the British challenger and a Bruno win was perceived as a mere formality. Hopes were raised further when Witherspoon showed up out of shape.

But Witherspoon had the experience Bruno lacked, and after a good start, British hopes started to fade as the rounds progressed. Bruno was brave, but as his stamina started to wane, Witherspoon looked like the likely winner. A brave Bruno was stopped in 11 rounds, and Witherspoon broke the hearts of a nation. The loser handled his defeat better than some of his supporters. Alcohol-fuelled fans went full riot mode.

“We got back to the dressing room, we were all in there, Muhammad Ali was in there congratulating me I was talking to Muhammad. Then we heard this big bang on the main doors, the fans were trying to knock down the doors to get us, there had to be about 1,000 people out there. Ali said open the doors, and the security did and he just said to them just go away the fight is over and they just went. Ali kind of stepped to the front and probably saved our lives.” Witherspoon told me a few years ago. A bad night in many ways for British boxing.

A pattern developed, Bruno built his record up some more, before further heartbreak at world level. One big moment against Mike Tyson in 1989 was in truth all he had. A brave but battered challenger was rescued by the referee after five largely one-sided rounds. A heroic loser once again. And when Lennox Lewis beat Bruno in 1993 all remaining hope looked to have gone for good.

But Bruno wouldn’t give in, Frank Warren came calling and offered him one last chance. Warren maneuvered Bruno to a shot at Oliver McCall for the WBC heavyweight title in 1995.

Over 20,000 fans packed Wembley Stadium once more to witness one final try for Bruno. At 33, and in his 44th fight, there would be no further chances if Bruno failed for a fourth time.

The fight with McCall wasn’t a good fight by any stretch of the imagination. But it was a night of high emotion. Bruno made his customary good start, but this time, the expected didn’t happen. Bruno faded, but he grabbed, he held, he did everything he needed to survive. When the final bell chimed, there was only one winner. At the fourth time of asking, Bruno had finally done it.

But his reign would be short-lived. A rematch with Tyson ended quicker. Bruno crossed himself too many times on his way to the ring. Even before a punch was thrown in anger, the result was inevitable. Despite stories of another comeback or two, Bruno wisely never fought again.

But retirement was hard for Bruno. His marriage fell apart, Bruno’s trainer George Francis committed suicide, and Bruno himself had well-documented problems with his own mental health. But as ever, Bruno is fighting back.

There were many nights it all went badly wrong, but on that one glorious night against McCall, Bruno finally achieved his dream. Bruno had his critics, unfairly so at times.

Bruno said, “I’m a better fighter than I have ever been given credit for,” he was right.