Francesco Damiani versus Frank Bruno

[goose 5]

12 rounds.

[Evander]

Bruno stops him inside 9.

[scorpio83]

Bruno would batter Damiani behind his jabs and right hands to knock him out in 7 rounds.

[nobleart1978]

BRUNO by KO

[Cutman Scabbers]

Nice one. Both boxers have high KO win ratios, and lost all their bouts by knockout.

Both were of similar height and weight.

Another point in common -- both lost only to world champions:

Bruno lost to Mike Tyson (x2), Lennox Lewis, Tim Witherspoon, James Bonecrusher Smith.
Damiani lost to Ray Mercer (Damiani was winning on points at the time of stoppage) and Oliver McCall.

Their best career wins were also arguably of a similar calibre:

Bruno: stopped Gerrie Coetzee, James "Quick" Tillis, Reggie Gross, Joe Bugner, Jose Ribalta, Pierre Coetzer, Carl Williams, outpointed Philipp Brown and Oliver McCall.

Damiani: stopped Tyrell Biggs and Johnny Du Plooy, outpointed Eddie Gregg, James Broad, and a faded Greg Page.

Their careers overlapped -- did they ever came close to fighting?

Wouldn't count Damiani out of this fight. Might even give him the edge.

[Bodyshot3]

I'd go for Frank's heavy hands and especially the thudding jab, brute strength and sometimes roughhouse tactics.

But Damiani was absolutely no mug either as an amateur or pro and it feels like a top fight for the famous Euro blue belt....I might go for Damiani pinching the fight if it was in Italy and Bruno winning by stoppage in his London stomping grounds.

[giacomino]

I think Damiani wins UD, close. Bruno looked great against a certain level of fighter but I can see Damiani ultimately outscoring him

[Cutman Scabbers]

I'd go for Frank's heavy hands and especially the thudding jab, brute strength and sometimes roughhouse tactics.

But Damiani was absolutely no mug either as an amateur or pro and it feels like a top fight for the famous Euro blue belt....I might go for Damiani pinching the fight if it was in Italy and Bruno winning by stoppage in his London stomping grounds.

Bruno sure did rabbit punch a lot, didn't he?

[HomicideHenry]

I can see the big Italian winning the fight but unfortunately getting cracked somewhere late in the contest and hitting the deck. One thing about Bruno is that he did not quit he was always chasing the KO.

[Cutman Scabbers]

I can see the big Italian winning the fight but unfortunately getting cracked somewhere late in the contest and hitting the deck. One thing about Bruno is that he did not quit he was always chasing the KO.

So the same thing that happened vs. Mercer?

I think that win shows the difference between Mercer and Bruno, who -- despite his incredible determination -- did not have that kind of timing, creativity, or punch selection. The Mercer finishing blow was a perfect single "45," an angled left uppercut he said they worked on throughout training camp.

[HomicideHenry]

I can see the big Italian winning the fight but unfortunately getting cracked somewhere late in the contest and hitting the deck. One thing about Bruno is that he did not quit he was always chasing the KO.

So the same thing that happened vs. Mercer?

I think that win shows the difference between Mercer and Bruno, who -- despite his incredible determination -- did not have that kind of timing, creativity, or punch selection. The Mercer finishing blow was a perfect single "45," an angled left uppercut he said they worked on throughout training camp.

Bruno, imho, would have forcefully created openings. Mercer had timing, etc but Bruno's strength and determination I think would have eventually broke through at some point. We're talking Damiani here, not one of the legitimate and concrete top tier heavyweights of the time.

Mind you, I like Damiani but in my view he was more of a top 15 guy outside the scope. Bruno was a bit of a hype job, for sure, but by the time he started colliding with guys like Oliver McCall and the like I think he could have weathered any storms and overcome Damiani eventually.