A Boxing Memory: Tyson vs. Bruno

A Boxing Memory: Tyson vs. Bruno

In their first meeting, Frank Bruno had a moment. In truth, it wasn’t much more than that. But if he could have followed up that moment with something that a more naturally gifted and instinctive fighter than Bruno would surely have done, then boxing history would have had a completely different narrative. Tyson was undoubtedly rocked by the thundering underrated punches of Bruno. The seemingly indestructible heavyweight champion of the world had a brief wobble. A fleeting second where the seismic upset looked like a real possibility. But Tyson quickly recovered his senses.

A nation starved of success on the world heavyweight stage would again go hungry.

British heavyweights had the horizontal label firmly attached to them. One hundred years of failure in world heavyweight title fights does that. It had become a search born out of desperation. Bruno was the latest hope. Their best-ever hope to end their misery. A nation prayed for a British-born heavyweight champion of the world.

But he had failed before. Bruno couldn’t even beat an out-of-shape, Tim Witherspoon. So how could he possibly beat a fighter as terrifying as ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson? Bruno, a fighter perceived to have a chin of the utmost delicacy and a gas tank that empties quickly and doesn’t replenish until he is being rescued by those in authority. Bruno had been found wanting twice previously. Witherspoon and James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith both stopped him. Tyson was expected to do the same, but far more definitely. And much quicker with the utmost violence. Make no mistake, Bruno was viewed as a no-hoper. Nobody outside of his camp believed he had any chance of the sensational upset.

But Tyson had been unravelling before our very eyes. The fight had been long delayed. It was once set for Wembley Stadium in 1988, with three dates scheduled that all came and went without reward. It finally ended up in Las Vegas the following February. The turmoil in Tyson’s life offered Bruno hope. Every possible straw was being clutched. Tyson was in freefall, and you could see why there was a glimmer of hope for Bruno. The youngest-ever heavyweight champion was living the life, partying in great abundance, and his weight ballooned to 255 lbs. Kevin Rooney departed the Tyson inner circle. Jay Bright was hired to be Tyson’s new trainer. There were management issues also. Don King was doing what he did best. Donald Trump was in his ear advising the so-called baddest man on the planet. Tyson had a lawsuit to settle with a woman who accused him of grabbing her buttocks in a nightclub. His marriage to the actress Robin Givens had ended the way most people thought it would. No benefit of hindsight was needed there. Tyson had an early hours streetfight with former opponent Mitch Green that ended with a broken hand that further delayed the Bruno fight. There was a car crash in there somewhere as well. Tyson drove his BMW into a tree and was knocked unconscious. Just eight months after his one-round annihilation of Michael Spinks, Tyson, despite being only 22, was already on an irreversible decline. Too many demons. A fight even Tyson couldn’t win. If he ever wanted to that is.

It was the worst version of Mike Tyson we had ever seen. Wild and reckless, the timing all over the place. Eight months out of the ring and all the battles he was fighting outside of the ring had undoubtedly taken something away from Tyson. In later years, the downward spiral would continue. He has since admitted he was in no shape, physically or mentally, to fight. Tyson referenced in his autobiography that he was tired of fighting and admitted Bruno should have ‘kicked his ass.’ Tyson claimed he barely trained for the fight. They had previously shared rounds in the Catskill Mountains when Tyson was only sixteen. Now the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson remembered those sparring sessions and believed he had nothing to fear. Complacency was a real danger to Tyson. Arrogance the downfall of many a champion. But on his worst night to that point, it was still a bridge too far for ‘Big Frank.’

2,000 British fans made the pilgrimage, and they came with hope and a voice. At the opening bell, they more than made themselves heard, the familiar ‘Bruno’ chant in full bloom. But Bruno was down in the opening seconds as Tyson rushed him to end it early. A prediction many made. As Bruno touched down in that opening round, the predictions of many looked to be coming true. But the British hopeful proved many things in that Las Vegas ring. Bruno wasn’t badly hurt, and he got up to stagger Tyson and threatened to change the course of heavyweight history.

“Bruno’s face is already marked up, but he’s fighting back, and he’s hurt Tyson with a good left. He knows he can hurt him now. Get in there, Frank!” The famous words Harry Carpenter uttered when Bruno landed that powerful left hook. The golden rule of impartiality briefly, but understandably forgotten.

But as quickly as the moment came, it went. Bruno had a few seconds to detonate the finishing punch. And when it didn’t arrive, his chances of victory had all but gone. The 16-month month hiatus from the ring while he waited for Tyson hardly helped Bruno. With no fight since he beat an ancient and out-of-shape Joe Bugner in October 1987, Bruno certainly would have found some semblance of ring rust. Did that inactivity cost Bruno a famous victory?

Bruno lasted until the 5th round. There was plenty of holding, and other minor infringements, which cost him a point, not that there was any danger the fight would be decided by three men and their magic pens. But in defeat, Bruno destroyed a myth or two about his skillset, not least the strength of his chin. Bruno soaked up plenty, as he did against Witherspoon in 1986, and he proved a lot of his doubters wrong with the strength of his resistance. Britain celebrated the heroic stand of Bruno. He came home a bigger folk hero than when he left. Bruno had time away contemplating retirement and more. He returned and failed again before on a gloriously emotional night at Wembley Stadium he managed to get the job done. A world champion at the fourth time of asking. The big man persevered and got his reward. Finally. Bruno would face Tyson again in his final fight. It only lasted three rounds and came without the drama of their first meeting. Bruno retired thereafter.

Tyson quoted the X-Men post-fight when questioning the primitive skills of his opponents. But even in victory, the signs were plainly evident that a fall of epic proportions was coming his way. In thirty-five previous contests, nobody had hurt Tyson in the manner that the supposed no-hoper had. A trip to Tokyo in 1990 ended in defeat. Trust me, it had been coming. James ‘Buster’ Douglas finished what Frank Bruno had started. With more than a little helping hand from Tyson himself.