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14th HASTINGS
SPORTING DINNER
with
FRANK BRUNO MBE
FORMER
HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPION OF THE WORLD
Introducing
FRANK BRUNO MBE
Frank
Bruno became a professional boxer in 1980 quickly racking up a streak
of twenty-one consecutive wins by knockout. This streak caught the
attention of many international boxing magazines, such as Ring Magazine,
KO Magazine, Boxing Illustrated, The Ring En Espanol and many others.
In March 1984, however, future world Heavyweight champion, American
James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, then a boxing journeyman, halted that
streak when he defeated Bruno by knockout in the tenth and final
round of their bout, with Bruno leading on all three judges' cards.
This would not be the last time Bruno went on to lose a contest
he had been clearly winning and would have emerged victorious from
had he survived until the final bell.
Bruno
got back into title contention with wins over the likes of former
WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee (by knockout in round one), and, in
July 1986, he challenged Tim Witherspoon for the WBA world Heavyweight
championship. After once again leading on the cards for most of
the fight, he ran out of steam and was defeated by knockout, in
round eleven. A comment often made was that Bruno, a fine physical
specimen, had a bodybuilder's musculature rather than a boxer's,
and carrying the extra weight of so much muscle sapped his energy
and stamina over a long contest. The contrast between Bruno and
the seemingly lard-laden Witherspoon was particularly marked, but
the difference was that Witherspoon worked when he had to, and did
enough over the course of the fight, whereas Bruno lacked the nous
and the killer-instinct to press on when he had the initiative.
In
1989, Bruno, whose training partners included celebrities like Sting,
challenged Mike Tyson for the unified world Heavyweight title. After
being sent down in round one, Bruno finished that round by rocking
Tyson with a left hook. However, Tyson beat Bruno by knockout in
round five.
Frank
Bruno kept winning fights, helping him to retain his spot as one
of the world's leading Heavyweights. In 1993 he had a third world
title chance against young Lennox Lewis, who was making the second
defence of the belt (his first of three championship reigns). Lewis
beat Bruno by knockout in round seven, Bruno again failing to take
his title chance after leading the contest on points up until the
seventh round.
On
24 September 1994, Oliver McCall beat Lewis in London, and, after
defeating Larry Holmes, he came to England to defend the WBC title
against Bruno. On 2 September 1995, Bruno finally became WORLD CHAMPION
by outpointing McCall over twelve rounds. Bruno did not last long
as champion: his first defence was a rematch with Tyson. Tyson beat
Bruno by knockout in round three, in what turned out to be Bruno's
last bout as a professional.
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