Frank Bruno vs Wladimir Klitschko (OFFICAL POLL)

[Special K]

No I apologise its that other pretentious rude idiot. Please accept my apologies.
So you seem reasonable and not out to score cheap points, do you honestly think Bruno beat legitimate contenders? I found it amazing he kept getting the shots even in these alphabet days.

He got the shots because he was a tabloid celebrity and could sell tickets, not because he was deserving of them.

When Bruno came along there was no British HW hope, unless you include Joe Bugner who was ten years past prime, and disliked anyway. He never faced a dangerous unbeaten contender - his major stoppages were against guys who had already been exposed, past best, or didn't have the weight of punch. Carl Williams (KO'd by Tommy Morrison in his previous fight) Bugner (fat and past it), Pierre Coetzer (tough man, but a cruiserweight) Gerrie Coetzee, another guy who was well past it, and apparently didn't even train for the fight.

Wlad would be coming at Bruno with a superior jab (heavier, faster, longer reach), this would elimate Bruno's main weapon: his jab. The big overhand right is probably equally dangerous on both fighters, but Wlad has a variety of punches; has stopped guys with hooks, uppercuts, and he moves better than the static, lumbering easy to hit target, Bruno. Wlad has made ten defences of titles, Bruno never managed one succesful defence. Says it all. I don't rate Bruno any higher than Wlad's last two opponents: Rahman and Thompson. And probably he is no more adept than Ray Austin. Take away the media buffoonery, and TV half wit, and you have an average fighter in Bruno who was protected by Duff throughout his stop start career.

[mickey malone]

With regard to the above post, I'm not so sure about Mickey Duff protecting him.. He may have had a small input during his last 4 or 5 fights, but Frank was only going in with formidable opponents by then.. He was wrapped in cotton wool a bit under Terry Lawless who guided most of his career.. I don't recall any breaks in his career either.. To the best of my knowledge, he remained active throughout & only retired the once..

[.Mik.]

No I apologise its that other pretentious rude idiot. Please accept my apologies.
So you seem reasonable and not out to score cheap points, do you honestly think Bruno beat legitimate contenders? I found it amazing he kept getting the shots even in these alphabet days.

Cant say that he did deserve them, he had a decent enough record but lost all but one of his big fights, but he was the big British favourite and that often gets you shots that you dont deserve. Still, he won a title in the end, so cant say that he didnt deserve it. Heavyweight Champion of the World is still a pretty exclusive club, cant argue with that.

[Roger Mellie]

I reckon Tunney would pick bruno on this one.

[Special K]

With regard to the above post, I'm not so sure about Mickey Duff protecting him.. He may have had a small input during his last 4 or 5 fights, but Frank was only going in with formidable opponents by then.. He was wrapped in cotton wool a bit under Terry Lawless who guided most of his career.. I don't recall any breaks in his career either.. To the best of my knowledge, he remained active throughout & only retired the once..

He retired to panto for nearly three years after Tyson#1. And only came back when Tyson was jailed for ****. Previously, he didn't fight for almost a year after Witherspoon; and after beating Jesse Ferguson, post Lewis, he was posted missing for another year. So hardly the most active fighter.


Also, regards Terry Lawless protecting him. I'm 41, and still recall the night Jumbo Cummings had Bruno doing his robot dance, and Lawless had the bell rung 60 seconds early - that's taking protectioin a bit too far! Incidentally, this is the same Terry Lawless that Bruno callously sacked.

[GJC]

Cant say that he did deserve them, he had a decent enough record but lost all but one of his big fights, but he was the big British favourite and that often gets you shots that you dont deserve. Still, he won a title in the end, so cant say that he didnt deserve it. Heavyweight Champion of the World is still a pretty exclusive club, cant argue with that.

Hear hear no one was more delighted than me that he got his title, he deserved it for effort if nothing else. But to class him as one of the hardest hitting heavyweights in history is ludicrous, based on what? Beating the mighty Scott Le Doux or maybe an overweight Fergusan? Sure he knocked them out that was what they were there for!
Do blame Lawless quite a bit as he was always far too cautious with his fighters. Fighters don't develop if they are constantly fed "opponents", fine give them the mexican road sweepers for 10 fights then a couple of "names" who are shot but at some point they do have to be challenged.

[GJC]

He retired to panto for nearly three years after Tyson#1. And only came back when Tyson was jailed for ****. Previously, he didn't fight for almost a year after Witherspoon; and after beating Jesse Ferguson, post Lewis, he was posted missing for another year. So hardly the most active fighter.


Also, regards Terry Lawless protecting him. I'm 41, and still recall the night Jumbo Cummings had Bruno doing his robot dance, and Lawless had the bell rung 60 seconds early - that's taking protectioin a bit too far! Incidentally, this is the same Terry Lawless that Bruno callously sacked.

Yes I remember the Jumbo fight too. Do you remember the night when he slaughtered mighty Scott Le Doux or when Coetzee fell over the Harrods bag?

[The_Visitation]

LOL at the morons that voted for that bum Bruno.

Wlad would be in deep **** if Bruno landed a decent punch. The question is whether he could finish Frank first. Not one to go the distance.

BTW folks, I saw Bruno a few months back. Amazing to compare him with, say, the somewhat portly Lennox Lewis; he looks like he could step back into the ring tomorrow and give the likes of Arreola and Haye a run for their money despite pushing 50 now.

[paul750]

I understand people saying Bruno didn't do much to earn title shots and that Klitschko is much superior. That may well be the case, but this is a fantasy match-up between the two boxers, not an investigation into their careers. It is by no means unrealistic to say Bruno would have a shot at knocking Wladimir out early on. I don't think Klitschko's jab is that much better than Bruno's anyway. If Bruno could roll with Lewis for a few rounds he could certainly do it with Wladimir.

I understand it may be slightly embarrassing for some people to imagine Bruno beating Klitschko, but it's not out of the question by any stretch of the imagination. And I tell you what, for all of the talk about Samuel Peter being a decent heavyweight, I actually think Bruno was better. I honestly do. Peter was nothing more than hype from day one.

[Davros?]

Wlad has made ten defences of titles, Bruno never managed one succesful defence.

Yeah but Bruno was defending against Mike Tyson not a Ray Austin or Chris Byrd lol