frank Buno vs todays heavies

[Quixall]

Or maybe holy & Tyson were past it quixall
Lewis in how he destructed rid dock was class.
Lewis was more powerfull & slow later on but his athleticism was incredible!! Many say ali's best boxing was as Cassius clay & naz as a super bantam & early on had terrific waist movement less powerfull but much harder to hit.

Vitali is past it now, but was easily the most credible easily
Wlad has just been slowly building his legacy & now is the fresher & better but No way near as good as vitali on his nihht

Tyson certainly was past it, completely past in in fact, but i don't think the same can be said for Holyfield. I wouldn't put Ruddock on the same level as Holyfield as good a win as it was. Ruddock had earned a reputation for giving Tyson a good fight, but still got bowled by him. When he fought Lewis, his stock was high and he was perhaps slightly over-rated. Certain fighters peak early and Tyson is a prime example of that, as was Naseem Hamed. Yes. Lewis was somewhat slower, but as you say he had more power and his general ringcraft was way beyond his naivety in the Bruno fight. Put it this way, if you put Lewis in his prime against Bruno in his prime, Bruno would have been fortunate to see the second half of the fight.

[hurlock]

Maybe Bruno would of been less clumsy against a more stagnant Lewis. Just like mercer would of had less success against the rangy Lewis.

[Quixall]

Maybe Bruno would of been less clumsy against a more stagnant Lewis. Just like mercer would of had less success against the rangy Lewis.

Hurlock, i just don't buy your theory that somehow Bruno and Lewis were on a par regardless of when they did meet in the ring or could have met in the ring. Lennox was the superior boxer by a long way.

[polecateddy]

You have to remember that the Lewis who fought Bruno hadn't physically and mentally matured as a heavyweight. If i remember correctly, Bruno was his first defence after being awarded the belt after Bowe threw it in a garbage can ? If you look at Lewis in that fight and then the Lewis who fought Holyfield twice, Tyson etc, it's a completely different fighter. Lennox didn't mature as a heavyweight until his early 30's and was still on a learning curve when he fought Bruno, who at that stage was far more experienced that Lennox, even though he hadn't won a belt at that stage.

I would totally agree. Lewis didn't reach his full potential until after enlisting Stewart after the McCall fight. Still he had too much class for Bruno. It was obvious he was the far more athletic, versatile fighter even then.

[SamWise72]

Or maybe holy & Tyson were past it quixall
Lewis in how he destructed rid dock was class.
Lewis was more powerfull & slow later on but his athleticism was incredible!! Many say ali's best boxing was as Cassius clay & naz as a super bantam & early on had terrific waist movement less powerfull but much harder to hit.

Vitali is past it now, but was easily the most credible easily
Wlad has just been slowly building his legacy & now is the fresher & better but No way near as good as vitali on his nihht

Vitali does everything quite well, and is big, but he doesn't stand out at anything. This is why I tend to feel that there are those who would beat him, and beat him almost every time. Wlad does a number of things better than Vitali, but Vitali has the chin, and had the defense instincts a bit earlier in his career. Wlad, against the people who would beat him, might be more exciting.

[polecateddy]

Or maybe holy & Tyson were past it quixall
Lewis in how he destructed rid dock was class.
Lewis was more powerfull & slow later on but his athleticism was incredible!! Many say ali's best boxing was as Cassius clay & naz as a super bantam & early on had terrific waist movement less powerfull but much harder to hit.

Vitali is past it now, but was easily the most credible easily
Wlad has just been slowly building his legacy & now is the fresher & better but No way near as good as vitali on his nihht

Vitali does everything quite well, and is big, but he doesn't stand out at anything. This is why I tend to feel that there are those who would beat him, and beat him almost every time. Wlad does a number of things better than Vitali, but Vitali has the chin, and had the defense instincts a bit earlier in his career. Wlad, against the people who would beat him, might be more exciting.

People thing Vitali isn't that great, unless you are trying to fight him and realise how well he fights tall, and just how deceptively awkward that old kick-boxing style stance of his is.

[SamWise72]

You're disagreeing with something I didn't say. I said he doesn't do any one thing particularly well (except take a shot, judging by the Lewis fight he has a great chin), but that he does everything pretty well, and that's a formidable package, along with being tall. Ali had that flicking jab, handspeed, and mobility, but he didn't go forward well at all. Tyson came on like a train, but was flummoxed when he couldn't put you away. Vitali doesn't really have a weakness; it's just a bit of a boring way to be great. I have him in the lower half of the all time top ten, and that's pretty good.

[hurlock]

Maybe Bruno would of been less clumsy against a more stagnant Lewis. Just like mercer would of had less success against the rangy Lewis.

Hurlock, i just don't buy your theory that somehow Bruno and Lewis were on a par regardless of when they did meet in the ring or could have met in the ring. Lennox was the superior boxer by a long way.

I never once mentioned Bruno was on par!
I was saying Bruno had it there to make Lewis struggle in which I know haye wouldn't of made Lewis break a sweat.
Haye is massively over rated IMO & Bruno underrated

[Quixall]

Maybe Bruno would of been less clumsy against a more stagnant Lewis. Just like mercer would of had less success against the rangy Lewis.

Hurlock, i just don't buy your theory that somehow Bruno and Lewis were on a par regardless of when they did meet in the ring or could have met in the ring. Lennox was the superior boxer by a long way.

I never once mentioned Bruno was on par!
I was saying Bruno had it there to make Lewis struggle in which I know haye wouldn't of made Lewis break a sweat.
Haye is massively over rated IMO & Bruno underrated

No, but you insinuated it in your post about Mercer and Lewis.

I think that Haye and Bruno were both over-rated. Bruno lost nearly all his big fights and whilst he won a title, it was against a decent but not great Oliver McCall. Haye has only fought one good fighter at heavyweight in Klitschko and lost. Bruno gianed a lot in terms of opportunities because he was a brit. I doubt he woukd have gotten as many opportunities at the world title if he had been American or from another country, so in that sense both Lennox and Bruno gained.

[Syntax Error]

Bruno would of spanked haye!!! He managed to close down on a prime Tyson & I don't think haye is anywhere near that class!

Not really comparable.

Tyson was very reckless & aggressive versus Bruno in 1989.

Tyson took a gamble & went with the sole intention of destroying Bruno & got his knees buckled for his efforts.

David Haye is far more cautious & would have boxed Bruno & utilised his superior speed to win rounds & then closed in for the kill when Bruno's stamina eventually depleted, as it always did whenever he was in a tough fight.

Who has haye beat at heavy?? Notable,Ruiz great name & still tough but got cut up by a journeyman on the valuev undercard & looked pants.
Haye done great at cruiser the enzo win is overated IMO
He struggled v fragomini & the Dane digging deep to pull it out the fire.a semi retired nor mech took a wading then clipped haye over & almost out where haye showed true courage.

It's muggy to say Tyson was past it. People who make them comments say other muggy things like Tyson only won via intimidation !

Bruno gave Lewis one of his hardest fights. Frank was a front runner who would dominate then get exhausted late on.
Lewis would of ko'd haye within 2rds

You make some good points, to be fair.

Bruno against Lewis was such a strange fight, because Lewis should have won it easily, being that he was bigger, faster & stronger, but Lewis was still reckless & over reliant on his massive Right hand in 1993.

Had Lewis -v- Bruno happened in late 1994 or after, Lewis would have beaten him much more easily because he had a more cautious style & would not have tried to blast Bruno early.

[Scrap]

Trouble with Frank, was His confidence, He didnt have too much of it. It was Stress that tired Him. Saw a lot of Him in the Gym, there He was a different animal. Had lots of long talks with Him, Lovely Guy.

[banjo]

Bruno came out swinging against Lewis because Lennox wound him up prior to the fight, Frank mentions this in his book. As somebody said Lennox hadn't really matured by the time they fought, the Lewis from Golota to Tua was a different animal, full of confidence, superb timing and in great condition, Lewis really developed into a superb boxer under Emanuel Steward.