A Boxing Memory: Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno

A Boxing Memory: Lennox Lewis vs Frank Bruno

On a freezing cold October morning in Wales, the pre-fight words dropped the temperatures even further. Words like ‘You’re not a true Brit, and Uncle Tom’ filled the air, and lawyers got involved and made some money, probably a lot of it. Make no mistake, this was no friendly all-British world heavyweight title fight. Lennox Lewis and Frank Bruno have since moved on, they have found mutual respect and some kind of friendship. Trust me, that wasn’t always the case. Hate, resentment, jealousy, this went well beyond the pale.

But back in 1993 things were very different. Lennox Lewis had won the WBC heavyweight championship of the world, or more accurately picked it up out of a dustbin courtesy of Ruddick Bowe finding enough excuses in his own mind not to rekindle their own old amateur rivalry. Lewis was still struggling for acceptance, and despite Bruno having failed twice to win what Lewis now had, he had acceptance from the ever so critical and fickle masses, but Lewis didn’t. Boxing is a funny old sport. Perception can carry more weight than reality.

Lewis was born in London, moved to Canada in his early years, represented Canada in the Olympics and won a gold medal, and came back to England with a lucrative professional contract. But laboured displays on prime-time terrestrial TV added to the perceived cynical nature of his move back to his original birthplace. Boxing is a business, often a dirty business, Lewis saw a gap in the market. He just did what anyone else would have done in the same situation.

The ITV paymasters offered apologies for one of his fights, Lewis was drifting and failing to convince. But big wins over Gary Mason and Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock got him some semblance of what he was looking for.

Bruno had the love of the British public. Two failed attempts on the world stage courtesy of Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson hadn’t dimmed the love affair with his adoring British public. In both fights, and in his other loss to James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith, Bruno had started well, had moments before suffering heartbreaking defeats. He was heroic in his reversals, but Bruno couldn’t win the big one. But he still had something Lewis didn’t have. In many ways, Lewis needed Bruno out of the way.

There was rain in the air. And plenty of it. Bruno had shopping bags over his boxing boots as he entered the cold and damp Cardiff Arms Park stadium. The ring canvas was covered during the evening in an attempt to keep the canvas dry, and the first bell was brought forward to avoid the worst of the weather. An open-air fight in Wales in the early hours of October had the look of a decision made under the influence of some substance that affected clear and reasonable thinking. It wasn’t of course, but it seemed a strange call for many reasons. Team Bruno wanted it in the capital and indoors for commercial reasons. Another little difference of opinion in a fight of many.

It was the sixth time the world heavyweight title fight would be on the line in Great Britain, the first time in Wales and the very first time two British-born fighters had met for the biggest prize in the sport.

Lewis was unbeaten in twenty-three fights when he faced Bruno in Cardiff and was expected to win with minimal discomfort. Bob Arum was in town to announce the very next day that his fighter Tommy Morrison would fight Lewis next. Morrison blew that opportunity big time. Another story, for another day.

Bruno’s third attempt at winning the world heavyweight title was expected to end exactly the same way his previous two did. Maybe even more conclusively. And with it, the final bell would chime in his career. The betting odds heavily favoured Lewis, but a Sky Sports poll on the night showed public opinion favoured Bruno. And strongly. Over 25,000 fans braved the elements. Most had come to cheer on Bruno to a famous victory.

With ‘True Brit’ emblazoned on his shorts Bruno was trying to send a message to Lewis. His punches would soon send a bigger one. An hour or so after midnight Lewis and Bruno delivered a much better and closer fight than many expected.

Bruno was always a much better fighter than he was given credit for. But too many easy wins on the way up hadn’t taught him the basic survival instincts to win on the biggest stage of all. Cruelly and wrongly labelled a fighter with a glass jaw, in truth, he was just a fighter who didn’t know how to grab and hold and buy a little time while his head cleared. The perfect example of that was his fight with Lewis. The basic flaw in his makeup would let him down again when victory seemed so close.

Legend has it Lewis was asleep in his dressing 20 minutes before his ring walk. In the early rounds, Lewis fought as though he was still coming around from a deep trance. Lewis was lethargic and Bruno took advantage boxing nicely behind his underrated jab and landing heavy thudding shots and the former Olympic Champion looked in real danger of losing his unbeaten record and his world heavyweight title. Lewis was hurt by a big booming right hand in the 3rd round, and the legs dipped. He tried to disguise that he was hurt. Lewis was fooling nobody. A supposed comfortable fight on paper was now anything but.

For five rounds Bruno was boxing better than he had ever done before. It wasn’t only rain that was in the air on the freezing cold and damp Autumn morning. Lewis blamed his slow start on the weather. A false narrative, Bruno was just better in those early stages. He had never been better.

Lewis finally woke up in the 6th round, but Bruno stayed with him and heading into that fateful 7th round, Bruno was up 59-55 on one card, level on the other two. It looked like the headlines of third time lucky were about to be written. But luck rarely wins on nights like this. At the time Bruno always had the look of a fighter who would fail when it mattered the most. Lewis, you sense knew how to win and sooner or later the same demise would await Bruno.

That demise came in the 7th. The same old script was written once again. Bruno went on the attack, thinking he had Lewis on the retreat, sensing the end, but he was only partially right. Bruno came out to Land, Hope and Glory. He only had hope and would leave with no glory. Lewis caught the advancing challenger with a sweeping left hook and he didn’t let Bruno recover. It was savage, brutal and Lewis showed his spiteful nasty side as he unleashed a relentless salvo of punches without reply. After a false ending, the referee Mickey Vann saved a helpless stationary Bruno who was being subjected to a Lewis avalanche against the ropes, a couple of sickening thudding right uppercuts that landed clean on the intended target rocked Bruno’s head back violently. ‘Big Frank’ took more than he needed to. Bruno was always too brave for his own good.

The very same fundamentals had let Bruno down again. His inner circle cited a lack of concentration that allowed Lewis to detonate that stunning left hook that changed the trajectory of the fight. But it was also that inability to smother and grab hold of Lewis to buy some precious seconds to enable his head to clear the cobwebs. There were loud calls for Bruno to retire, but his story is very much one of perseverance. He left Duff and joined forces with Frank Warren who manoeuvred his man to a shot at Oliver McCall for a fourth try at a world title. On a famous night at Wembley Stadium in 1995 Bruno finally got the job done. He hung on for dear life in the final few rounds, finally, Bruno had learned those crucial survival instincts.

Lewis after surviving a real scare against Bruno, one he clearly wasn’t expecting went on to become the best British heavyweight we have ever seen. It took time, but Lewis eventually got his acceptance.