Why Didn't Frank Bruno fight for the British title ?

[fatcookie]

Just wondering....

[Galvanised Clout]

Think he was leaving the door open for stablemate Horace Notice while Bruno went for European?

I always wanted to see Noel Quarless v Bruno, if they'd have met around 83 when Quarless was coming off wins against Eklund & Gardner, I think Quarless would have beaten him.

[JLP]

It would have meant fighting either Horace Notice or Gary Mason, both guys managed, like Frank, by Terry Lawless. I think Terry used the logic that there was no point burning Horace or Gary when Frank had enough about him to make a load of dough and get world title shots without holding the Lonsdale belt.

[Syntax Error]

It's a great question, especially when you consider how popular Big Frank is in UK.

There is no feasible reason why Bruno couldn't have fought for the British title & although he eventually achieved his dream of becoming a world champion (trinket holder is more accurate), I just wonder if he ever regrets not fighting for the British title & claiming the Lonsdale Belt?

[JLP]

It's a great question, especially when you consider how popular Big Frank is in UK.

There is no feasible reason why Bruno couldn't have fought for the British title & although he eventually achieved his dream of becoming a world champion (trinket holder is more accurate), I just wonder if he ever regrets not fighting for the British title & claiming the Lonsdale Belt?

I'm sure he does, he'd have had no problems winning it or earning the belt outright. I think it was the right bigger picture move from Lawless' point of view, though.

[Galvanised Clout]

If Bruno had fought for the British we may never have seen Hughroy Currie v Funso Banjo perhaps the most thrilling 15 rounds in British heavyweight history?






(Anyone who is old enough to have seen this 'fight' will know how incredibly sarcastic I am being)

[misterpunch]

i must find that banjo/curry fight as i'm getting little sleep these days

[fatcookie]

Yep I think he should have fought for it. It's crazy he didn't.

[Galvanised Clout]

I would see Bruno KOing Quarless, probably quite early. I think Bruno was better in every respect.

No doubt that Bruno was a better fighter overall but I think at that stage in their respective careers Quarless would have been a nightmare for him. Quarless was in the best form of his career and his confidence (always fragile with Noel) was sky high and if he'd caught Bruno with the sort of shots he flattened Eklund/Gardner with it would have been interesting. Remember how Bruno was caught and stunned by Winston Allen, if Allen could catch him like that I'm sure Quarless a faster, bigger and harder hitting fighter could have done likewise?

Shame it never happened but Barrett & Duff stitched up Quarless, they bought out half his contract from Nat Basso then chucked him in with tough American Mark Lee twice in a month (if he'd beaten Lee they were gonna chuck him in with Trevor Berbick) true to form Quarless gave Lee a decent fight in their first meeting, but p*ssed of with his contractual situation and resenting the fact he was chucked in with Lee again so soon after their first encounter he 'lost' the return in the first round.

[Galvanised Clout]

If Bruno had fought for the British we may never have seen Hughroy Currie v Funso Banjo perhaps the most thrilling 15 rounds in British heavyweight history?

(Anyone who is old enough to have seen this 'fight' will know how incredibly sarcastic I am being)

They fought twice - the first time for the Southern Area title, I think. I didn't see their first one but I remember their British title fight though - a real boring, mauling mess.

I also seem to remember that there was bad blood between the two sets of fans and lots of trouble in the crowd (Jamaicans v Nigerians). More action outside the ring than inside that night!

I forgot about the first meeting, never knew about the crowd trouble either.

Do you remember Currie V Proud Kilimanjaro on one of those 3 hours Saturday afternoon shows that W*rren used to put on ITV, another thriller?

If I recall correctly Kilimanjaro did sod all for 9.5 rounds then exploded in the last and nearly stopped Currie?

[MightyWarrior]

It was often asked at the time why he didn't go for the Brit title, but to be honest, I think his bosses Duff and Lawless just saw the Brit title as a minor diversion: not worth the bother at all.
It was all about going for the world title for Big Frank, right from day one. They started matching him with a steady stream of American bums, building up his confidence and ranking, ever so carefully, backed by the BBC and The Sun, hyping him up for all he was worth.

They only bothered going for the Euro title when he was shockingly upset by Smith ( unknown at the time, and seen as just another lazy American heavy, that Frank could take out in fine style ) and that was only because they knew Eklund had a bad chin - thanks to Noel Quarless.

It worked in the end, as he never looked better than when he blasted out Gerrie Coetzee - but Witherspoon proved too much. He was a natural fighter, while Frank was very much a carefuly constructed fighter, programmed to destroy whatever was in front of him as fast as possible...but take him into the middle rounds, and those muscle bound arms began to drop...I think Frank was a massive over achiever, he took what he had and went all the way - obviously helped by the fact he was going to keep getting title shots until he eventually won the f**** thing. :)

[Galvanised Clout]

Yes, I've got a vague memory of that one - I seem to remember Kilimanjaro was a huge guy. I am sorry to say I heard he died of AIDS a few years ago.

My best memories of Hughroy Currie are two knock outs - one a win (against Glenn McCrory) and the other a loss (when Horace Notice stopped Currie to take his British title).

Yes sad news about Kilimanjaro, think he fought Notice as well didn't he?

My God the memories, I'd forgotten about Currie flattening McCrory think that was what decided McCrory's move to Cruiser.

Do you recall Notice v Paul Lister, no disrespect but Lister must have been the worst British heavyweight title challenger ever. Notice would have been formidable at the 200lbs Cruiser limit (it was still 190lbs in his day) he was the only person to legitimately beat Anaclet Wamba who was an excellent WBC Cruiser champion.

[Galvanised Clout]

I remember Noel Quarless beating both Eklund and Gardner. They were both pretty devastating stoppages and ITV quickly seized on Quarless as a someone to build up as a rival to Frank Bruno, who was being championed by the BBC in the early 80s. Looking back it seems a bit odd but at the time maybe Quarless fitted the bill - big, young and hard-hitting.

Maybe Quarless would have had a puncher's chance against Bruno but, to be honest, I wouldn't have fancied him. Yes, Bruno was vulnerable to big punchers but normally only when tiring, late on in fights - and he was only ever stopped by class fighters, well above Quarless' standard.

What's more Bruno was a better all-round boxer and Quarless didn't have good whiskers. He got stopped quite a few times, including a 1 round blow-out against the journeyman, Theo Josephs. I also always got the impression that Quarless would look for a way out if he didn't fancy the job and I don't think he would fancy facing up to Bruno, who at his peak would batter anybody who wasn't really top drawer.

You're probably right but it would have been interesting to see. Don't think Noel was a fragile as all the stoppage losses indicate, as you say he 'would look for a way out if he didn't fancy the job'* and it's always a chance that the confidence he'd gained in the Eklund/Gardner wins would have evaporated once he was in the ring with Bruno.

Go to 5.24 of this clip, how the hell did Gardner stay upright I don't know:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emgWXHIqhyo

*Never saw it as I don't think it was televised but Quarless fought the aforementioned Banjo, in the third he turned away, grabbed his head and ran to his corner shouting "I've broke me jaw, I've broke me jaw" (he hadn't, but he did box with his mouth partly open emitting a weird high pitched grunt, think he caught one mid grunt that's all)

[Galvanised Clout]

i must find that banjo/curry fight as i'm getting little sleep these days

[funso banjo baby]

If Bruno had fought for the British we may never have seen Hughroy Currie v Funso Banjo perhaps the most thrilling 15 rounds in British heavyweight history?






(Anyone who is old enough to have seen this 'fight' will know how incredibly sarcastic I am being)

ouch

[Galvanised Clout]

Sorry


(Is this Mr Banjo himself?)

[reggaereggae]

Who were the British champs around Bruno's time?

[Galvanised Clout]

Have you not been reading this thread then?

[funso banjo baby]

the british title was coming off its most dull era in the seventies.

ironically the fights that should have happened were Bruno v bugner around the time bruno was beating former bugner opps (winston allen/eddie nielson)

and before that i remember neville meade (the shortlived brit champ) was desperate to defend against the young bruno.

the problem was a combination of the british champs such as meade and pearce being both unsellable but also a bit too seasoned

the euro crown was also in stagnation under lucien rodriguez. all very missable fights.

but without the involvement of russia in those days Bruno didnt really need titles in order to propel him into world title fights. remember he was just one fight away from Holmes before bonecrusher iced him.

[Galvanised Clout]

Didn't Neville bust his achilles tendon as well which put him out of action for a year?

Still one of my all time favourite KO's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jktICgUbmmI

[reggaereggae]

Have you not been reading this thread then?

I skimmed it - But I wanted a list with dates. Quarless was obviously one.

[Galvanised Clout]

Have you not been reading this thread then?

I skimmed it - But I wanted a list with dates. Quarless was obviously one.

Quarless never fought for British title.

Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Br ... _champions

[misterpunch]

i'm still wondering why joe awome packed it in after less than a dozen fights. he looked pretty good when he kept things under control. very popular around our area, north east surrey, was joe.

[funso banjo baby]

horace notice and the tragic rudi pika were the ones who might have also done bigger things.

[Galvanised Clout]

Bit fragile Joe, think the loss to Neil Malpass persuaded him that his future was limited.

Lot of vulnerable punchers about in those days, Awome, Malpass, Ron McClean, Andy Palmer, Stan McDermott, Noel Quarless, Ricky James, Larry McDonald.