Heavyweight Funso Banjo

[Fray Bentos]

I was just giving my opinion on the matchup that was brought up, just like you did when you posted that you think Bruno would win. I never said that anyone claimed Banjo would lose.

Not sure why this all turned you into such a crybaby

You're trolling.

[margaret thatcher]

How so? All I did was post that I think Bruno would win handily, then you had a hissyfit.

What exactly offended you so much my man? You posted that Bruno would win before I did

[Fray Bentos]

How so? All I did was post that I think Bruno would win handily, then you had a hissyfit.

What exactly offended you so much my man? You posted that Bruno would win before I did

You're still trolling. Weren't you banned from the OT for trolling? Not learned your lesson by the looks of it.

[margaret thatcher]

No, I wasn't actually, long story.

Again, what has offended you so badly? Maybe when you've finished your cry you'll be able to muster up an answer.

[Fray Bentos]

No, I wasn't actually, long story.

Again, what has offended you so badly? Maybe when you've finished your cry you'll be able to muster up an answer.

You're trolling again, I tried to engage you on the careers of Bruno and Banjo but you weren't having it because you want to troll.

Stop trolling. I can see you getting banned soon.

[margaret thatcher]

Lol, all I did was pick Bruno to handily beat Banjo and it set you off, you been having a hard time lately or something mate

Sure, why don't you call the mods to this thread, and point out exactly where I have been trolling. More likely they'll see that you tell me to piss off just for thinking Bruno was some levels above lolol, all while you yourself made the first pick for Bruno over Banjo

[Fray Bentos]

Lol, all I did was pick Bruno to handily beat Banjo and it set you off, you been having a hard time lately or something mate

Sure, why don't you call the mods to this thread, and point out exactly where I have been trolling. More likely they'll see that you tell me to piss off just for thinking Bruno was some levels above lolol, all while you yourself made the first pick for Bruno over Banjo

Trolling again.

[margaret thatcher]

Lolol, still can't say how exactly I've been trolling can you

Like I said, you can call the mods in here and show them all this trolling if it's been that bad

Omg, MT thinks Bruno beats Banjo more easily than I think he does!! waaaah, trollling!!! bans!! get a life!!

[Fray Bentos]

Lolol, still can't say how exactly I've been trolling can you

Like I said, you can call the mods in here and show them all this trolling if it's been that bad

Omg, MT thinks Bruno beats Banjo more easily than I think he does!! waaaah, trollling!!! bans!! get a life!!

This was an intelligent decent discussion until you came along and ruined it. You have offered NO insight into Banjo because you have no clue and you're going to troll this thread like you did with the Donald Trump election night thread.

You're a fornicating pest. Go away.

[margaret thatcher]

Lol, all I said was that I think Bruno would handily beat Banjo and was levels above, i wasnt even responding to you, i was just giving my own opinion of a fight mentioned in several posts here, but you decided to quote me

bruno wouldve beaten him handily, totally different levels

Wow! what an offensive post!

You then tell me that I wasnt even alive at the time and should piss off, even though you picked Bruno before I did lol

You are set off so fricking easy mate

[Controversial]

To be fair to Bruno, Mike Tyson also fought a lot of easy pushovers at the start of his career.

[Fray Bentos]

Lol, all I said was that I think Bruno would handily beat Banjo and was levels above, i wasnt even responding to you, i was just giving my own opinion of a fight mentioned in several posts here, but you decided to quote me

bruno wouldve beaten him handily, totally different levels

Wow! what an offensive post!

You then tell me that I wasnt even alive at the time and should piss off, even though you picked Bruno before I did lol

You are set off so fricking easy mate

You're trolling. Still

[margaret thatcher]

Okay then mate

[margaret thatcher]

To be fair to Bruno, Mike Tyson also fought a lot of easy pushovers at the start of his career.

He did. Although Mike was so active that it's a bit misleading because he still actually stepped up pretty quickly in terms of his time pro

[Fray Bentos]

Okay then mate

Back to all things Funso Banjo, was his amateur career here in the UK or was it in Nigeria? I think he was in the ABA's and fought amateur standout Adrian Elliott? But I might be wrong and he fought the bulk of his amateur career over in Nigeria.

[Fray Bentos]

To be fair to Bruno, Mike Tyson also fought a lot of easy pushovers at the start of his career.

True enough, but Bruno kept on even after he fought for the world title. Chuck Gardner he could have beaten in his pro debut.

There was Banjo and Hughroy Currie who would have been a lot better competition than most of the opposition he actually faced. I think Currie was a Mike Barrett fighter so it would have been no problem in matching Bruno up with him. Bruno claims that he laments that he never fought for the British heavyweight title and didn't win the Lonsdale Belt but the match with Currie when he was British champion could have been made easily enough.

[bennie]

My post wasn't very clear in that Terry Lawless agonized over the choice of opponent for all his fighters and made life hell for matchmaker Mickey Duff. Lawless particularly dreaded unbeaten opponents because you can never weigh up an unbeaten fighter. That unbeaten fighter could develop into a world class fighter, or a good fighter but no more than good, or a fighter who is completely flattered by his record... You just don't know. That's why the money-driven Lawless was terrified of unbeaten Funso Banjo in the early years of Frank Bruno's career and kept Bruno well away from him, even though a match between them made sense. Funso never beats Bruno but he takes him seven or eight rounds, much as a faded but still durable Joe Bugner took him eight rounds. Funso may even take Bruno the distance, as a negative Philip Brown took him the distance. The more rounds the better for a young Bruno.
Funso was ahead of his time in terms of his sheer size for a heavyweight (and ultimately his weight, as his ambition waned). He was a colossus but a colossus who lacked snap in his work and who failed to stop the vast majority of his opponents. Noel Quarless suffered a broken jaw against him from a clash of heads and not a punch. Moreover, Funso had a bad habit of switching off in his fights. He reminded me of giant American Oscar Holman, the first man to take Gary Mason the distance in Wolverhampton in 1986. Holman soaked it up for eight rounds but never threatened and looked almost bored at times. Nevertheless, it was a good learning fight for Gary.

[Controversial]

To be fair to Bruno, Mike Tyson also fought a lot of easy pushovers at the start of his career.

True enough, but Bruno kept on even after he fought for the world title. Chuck Gardner he could have beaten in his pro debut.

There was Banjo and Hughroy Currie who would have been a lot better competition than most of the opposition he actually faced. I think Currie was a Mike Barrett fighter so it would have been no problem in matching Bruno up with him. Bruno claims that he laments that he never fought for the British heavyweight title and didn't win the Lonsdale Belt but the match with Currie when he was British champion could have been made easily enough.

Yes he did, Tyson did eventually step up whereas Bruno was never really fed anyone too dangerous. Maybe seeing him almost stopped by Cummings in his 19th fight made them wary.

[margaret thatcher]

My post wasn't very clear in that Terry Lawless agonized over the choice of opponent for all his fighters and made life hell for matchmaker Mickey Duff. Lawless particularly dreaded unbeaten opponents because you can never weigh up an unbeaten fighter. That unbeaten fighter could develop into a world class fighter, or a good fighter but no more than good, or a fighter who is completely flattered by his record... You just don't know. That's why the money-driven Lawless was terrified of unbeaten Funso Banjo in the early years of Frank Bruno's career and kept Bruno well away from him, even though a match between them made sense. Funso never beats Bruno but he takes him seven or eight rounds, much as a faded but still durable Joe Bugner took him eight rounds. Funso may even take Bruno the distance, as a negative Philip Brown took him the distance. The more rounds the better for a young Bruno.
Funso was ahead of his time in terms of his sheer size for a heavyweight (and ultimately his weight, as his ambition waned). He was a colossus but a colossus who lacked snap in his work and who failed to stop the vast majority of his opponents. Noel Quarless suffered a broken jaw against him from a clash of heads and not a punch. Moreover, Funso had a bad habit of switching off in his fights. He reminded me of giant American Oscar Holman, the first man to take Gary Mason the distance in Wolverhampton in 1986. Holman soaked it up for eight rounds but never threatened and looked almost bored at times. Nevertheless, it was a good learning fight for Gary.

[Controversial]

Obviously, Bruno beat Bugner a few years later but I've always wondered how it would have turned out if the two of them had met circa '83, when Bugner was a bit younger and maybe still had a bit of ambition left.

I just rewatched the end of the Bruno vs Bugner fight as I hadn't seen it for years, Bruno pushed Bugner over and he was given a count, it didn't look like Bruno went to a neutral corner and he was allowed to steam into Bugner as soon as the count ended.

[bennie]

Okay then mate

Back to all things Funso Banjo, was his amateur career here in the UK or was it in Nigeria? I think he was in the ABA's and fought amateur standout Adrian Elliott? But I might be wrong and he fought the bulk of his amateur career over in Nigeria.

Funso didn't lace on a glove until he was 19. He started his amateur boxing career for the Belhus Park club in South Ockendon in Essex, and was outscored by Woking's Joe Awome in the ABAs in 1978. Awome went on to win the ABA title at Wembley and heavyweight gold at the Commonwealth Games that year.
Funso later switched to Repton, where he joined his brother Harry, but was outscored in the 1981 London divisionals by the blubbery Elliott of Fairbairn House and turned pro later in the year.

[Fray Bentos]

Okay then mate

Back to all things Funso Banjo, was his amateur career here in the UK or was it in Nigeria? I think he was in the ABA's and fought amateur standout Adrian Elliott? But I might be wrong and he fought the bulk of his amateur career over in Nigeria.

Funso didn't lace on a glove until he was 19. He started his amateur boxing career for the Belhus Park club in South Ockendon in Essex, and was outscored by Woking's Joe Awome in the ABAs in 1978. Awome went on to win the ABA title at Wembley and heavyweight gold at the Commonwealth Games that year.
Funso later switched to Repton, where he joined his brother Harry, but was outscored in the 1981 London divisionals by the blubbery Elliott of Fairbairn House and turned pro later in the year.

Why didn't Elliott hit the heights, Bennie? He must have won about four ABA titles at super heavy.

[Fray Bentos]

Terry Lawless, the manager of Frank Bruno, was petrified of Banjo and kept his enemy very close indeed because Banjo boxed on the same London bill as Bruno on several occasions. It was bizarre. Lawless was quite happy for Bruno to bowl over useless foreign opposition, learning nothing in the process, and all the time there was a big strong durable opponent right there in front of him. Lawless didn't want to know.

Yeah, Terry Lawless was very protective of Bruno. He didn't want any part of David Pearce (who I think Bruno would have beaten fairly comfortably) or Joe Bugner, who was on the comeback trail with FW in the early 1980s.

Obviously, Bruno beat Bugner a few years later but I've always wondered how it would have turned out if the two of them had met circa '83, when Bugner was a bit younger and maybe still had a bit of ambition left.

I remember watching all of Bugner's fights in Australia (delayed ITV broadcast) - Quick Tillis, David Bey and Greg Page and he whipped them all fairly well despite those fighters being decent even at that stage of the game. It is a real shame the Aussies matched Bugner ambitiously whereas Bruno never got those tests - Bruno wouldn't have had a problem with any of the three fighters mentioned (and didn't with Tillis...) but we never got to see him against those kind of fighters. Shame that.

[bennie]

Back to all things Funso Banjo, was his amateur career here in the UK or was it in Nigeria? I think he was in the ABA's and fought amateur standout Adrian Elliott? But I might be wrong and he fought the bulk of his amateur career over in Nigeria.

Funso didn't lace on a glove until he was 19. He started his amateur boxing career for the Belhus Park club in South Ockendon in Essex, and was outscored by Woking's Joe Awome in the ABAs in 1978. Awome went on to win the ABA title at Wembley and heavyweight gold at the Commonwealth Games that year.
Funso later switched to Repton, where he joined his brother Harry, but was outscored in the 1981 London divisionals by the blubbery Elliott of Fairbairn House and turned pro later in the year.

Why didn't Elliott hit the heights, Bennie? He must have won about four ABA titles at super heavy.

Not too sure. He won a brace of ABA titles, beating Dave Garside and Keith Ferdinand in the respective finals at Wembley, and turned pro with Terry Lawless and had great sparring with Frank Bruno and Gary Mason, and even Neville Meade. He was quick for a big man, with a nice, relaxed style but he lacked a dig and suffered a real shock in his third pro fight when an unheralded heavyweight by the name of Hughroy Currie smashed him in Basildon in October 1983. Currie had linked up with Maurice Hope and was suddenly winning fights but nobody expected him to defeat Elliott. However, it was evident that Currie hit much harder than the flashy Elliott and he pulled out a big left hook in the fifth round to put Elliott on his back. Elliott struggled up at nine but was then pounded on the ropes and referee Mike Jacobs stepped in.
That was obviously a crushing setback for Elliott and manager Lawless, although we all know that Currie went on to win the British heavyweight title with a dour points win over Funso Banjo and would also crush a young Glenn McCrory. Nevertheless, Adrian boxed only three times in the next three years and I fear developed into a handy sparring partner for Bruno and Mason because he just wasn't fighting enough and then dropped off the radar altogether. Ultimately, his lack of a punch cost him a potentially lucrative career.

[Counter-puncher]

Bugner was definitely just there to mug up to the cameras, play the moody villain, and run with the cash

i think i was only about 10 but it seemed clear as day (even to me)