Who do you think is bigger, Joshua or Bruno?

[margaret thatcher]

Usyk wouldnt have been much smaller now than a prime Bruno...and the version who beat McCall would have been way too slow

good point

6'3 vs 6'3

bruno not heavier than 230 for most of his career

[My Name Is Earl]

Bruno was big enough that any football club mid-80s with a large black man in the team, 90% chance of the geezer being nicknamed 'Bruno' by the fans.

we thought it was a complement, too.

Was it not a compliment?

Leicester for Emile Heskey started it off. The comparison with Bruno was obvious.
Frank was a national treasure and the chant for him was sincere, so i don't understand
it being anything but a sort of homage to similar sized black athletes.

[Counter-puncher]

Bruno was big enough that any football club mid-80s with a large black man in the team, 90% chance of the geezer being nicknamed 'Bruno' by the fans.

we thought it was a complement, too.

Was it not a compliment?
Leicester for Emile Heskey started it off.

nope. Floyd Streete, Wolves, 1986-87.

Was it not a compliment?
I'm not sure. i think there is a reductive element to it (all big black men getting the same nickname...) that's a bit dubious, at least.

but in terms of Wolves fans in particular? we were chanting 'Bruno' at Floyd Streete, in the same game as a thousand fans behind the goal monkey-chanted Darren Beckford as he was taking a penalty in front of us. So personally if I was Floyd Streete, i don't think I'd take it as an affectionate tribute in comparing him to a well-loved national figure, no, I think i'd think that football fans lump all black men under the same category 'good if he plays for us, *****r if not'

[golden_labrador]

100%

[coghaugen11]

Bruno was big enough that any football club mid-80s with a large black man in the team, 90% chance of the geezer being nicknamed 'Bruno' by the fans.

we thought it was a complement, too.

Was it not a compliment?

Leicester for Emile Heskey started it off. The comparison with Bruno was obvious.
Frank was a national treasure and the chant for him was sincere, so i don't understand
it being anything but a sort of homage to similar sized black athletes.

Leicester for Emile Heskey? You joking?

I remember Garry Thompson at Coventry and Watford in the early 80s being called Bruno.

[Old bones Ian]

Bigger? Penis? Clash of the Titans there man! Throw in Linford 'Lunchbox' Christie and you've got a belter of fatal three way

Think you are the only person who really understood this light hearted poll

Coz my minds in the gutter bruv

Dion Dublin apparently could beat them all, Alex Ferguson called it "Magnificent"

[IRONFIST]

Bruno was/is a bigger name, if that's what you mean 'arry, most of his fights were on terrestrial tv, he did memorable commercials "pass the sauce, 'arry", panto, was a tv presenter at one point. guest appearances on Cannon and Ball, Lenny Henry etc etc.

[Monzon83]

Growing up Frank Bruno was a national icon. The most commercially popular sportsman in Britain in the late 80's. Staple on Wogan, Noel's House Party and all those early evening entertainment shows in the days pre-Sky when there were only 4 channels. I don't think AJ touches him in that respect.

Size wise physically i'd say Bruno is the more gifted genetically. I don't know if Frank was on the gear AJ has had access to or he would probably have looked like Ronnie Coleman.

But AJ has been by far the more successful and better boxer. Don't think anybody would deny that.

[polecateddy]

Growing up Frank Bruno was a national icon. The most commercially popular sportsman in Britain in the late 80's. Staple on Wogan, Noel's House Party and all those early evening entertainment shows in the days pre-Sky when there were only 4 channels. I don't think AJ touches him in that respect.

Size wise physically i'd say Bruno is the more gifted genetically. I don't know if Frank was on the gear AJ has had access to or he would probably have looked like Ronnie Coleman.

But AJ has been by far the more successful and better boxer. Don't think anybody would deny that.

I think that’s right. I’m sure Bruno’s handlers were giving him some special supplements, but I think growth hormone and proper understanding of dosages of testosterone were only properly understood after Bruno retired. Whatever Joshua does or has done you can bet it was a lot more scientific.

[My Name Is Earl]

Bruno was big enough that any football club mid-80s with a large black man in the team, 90% chance of the geezer being nicknamed 'Bruno' by the fans.

we thought it was a complement, too.

Was it not a compliment?
Leicester for Emile Heskey started it off.

nope. Floyd Streete, Wolves, 1986-87.

Was it not a compliment?
I'm not sure. i think there is a reductive element to it (all big black men getting the same nickname...) that's a bit dubious, at least.

but in terms of Wolves fans in particular? we were chanting 'Bruno' at Floyd Streete, in the same game as a thousand fans behind the goal monkey-chanted Darren Beckford as he was taking a penalty in front of us. So personally if I was Floyd Streete, i don't think I'd take it as an affectionate tribute in comparing him to a well-loved national figure, no, I think i'd think that football fans lump all black men under the same category 'good if he plays for us, *****r if not'

"Good if he plays for us" analogy applies to all players. C**t t**t replacing your term.

Would a chant of "Usain Usain" be wrong for Traore?

[My Name Is Earl]

Bruno was big enough that any football club mid-80s with a large black man in the team, 90% chance of the geezer being nicknamed 'Bruno' by the fans.

we thought it was a complement, too.

Was it not a compliment?

Leicester for Emile Heskey started it off. The comparison with Bruno was obvious.
Frank was a national treasure and the chant for him was sincere, so i don't understand
it being anything but a sort of homage to similar sized black athletes.

Leicester for Emile Heskey? You joking?

I remember Garry Thompson at Coventry and Watford in the early 80s being called Bruno.

Fair do's. I wonder when he looks back if he finds it offensive?

[mickey1975]

A lot of skinny tall white men get called Rodders!

[Counter-puncher]

"Good if he plays for us" analogy applies to all players.

yeah, just that most players won't have quite the same feeling of being lumped into a category because of the colour of their skin so there's a different dynamic in play

personally I would imagine it would be difficult to be a black player in the 80s, when monkey-chanting was somewhere between 'far from uncommon' and 'fairly common', to be given that generic 'nickname that all football fans give to a big black player' without feeling a bit stereotyped. ah, big black lad, call him Bruno then eh? i mean it's a step further than a lad with the surname White being called 'chalky' isn't it.

it's weird, that monkey-chanting incident at Port Vale, I hadn't thought about it for years and when it came back to my mind a few months back it really came home (not that the contradiction wasn't apparent to me at the time even aged 11 or whatever), just imagine what Floyd Streete and Shane Westley must have thought as they stood listening to their own fans monkey-chant the opposition player. It was hideous, looking back.

[Counter-puncher]

Would a chant of "Usain Usain" be wrong for Traore?

I haven't said anything is 'wrong', just that, in the light of black players in the 80s having to stand on the pitch listening to monkey-chants, their being given nicknames on the basis of a very superficial resemblance to the one famous black man in the UK at the time- Floyd Streete looked absolutely nothing like Frank Bruno (it was like nicknaming Harry Maguire 'Terry' cos, well he's a tall white centre half, actually that would be a much more accurate nickname but that's by the by)- I imagine it would be difficult for them to feel a warm fuzzy feeling about the nickname.

Perhaps they were thrilled or flattered by the comparison, but I was there and I doubt it. I saw their faces when they heard the monkey chants (and also how they performed for the rest of that game). I don't imagine they could have thought a great deal of anything positive about 'their' fans after that. Maybe they just laughed the monkey-chanting off as a bit of harmless banter, though, like being compared to Frank Bruno as nobody has any other frame of reference for a large black man, and well, they do all look pretty similar.