BoxRec

What happens?

Mercer KO late

Agreed.

+1. Terrible opponent for Frank.

Am afraid I differ slightly. I think Bruno can do this. I rate Mccall higher than Mercer and Bruno was able to win there, so I think he can get a win here. I'm not saying it's guaranteed and it certainly would be a stuggle.

Maybe in a ten rounder Frank takes a close one...but over 12 or 15 it's Mercer every time.

Roco wrote:Am afraid I differ slightly. I think Bruno can do this. I rate Mccall higher than Mercer and Bruno was able to win there, so I think he can get a win here. I'm not saying it's guaranteed and it certainly would be a stuggle.

McCall was very passive. A good version of Mercer takes over properly in the 2nd half. Granted a ten rounder could potentially see Bruno edge the decision before total collapse. Old Frank was pretty clumsy and slow when you rewatch some of his 17 stone plus efforts.

Frank was a tidy boxer, better than Mercer, and a bigger puncher to boot, but Mercer's chin was up to it unless Frank got really lucky. Ray got stronger down the stretch, just when Bruno would start to tie up and tire, and regrettably, I'd see him finding Frank's chin.

This fight was scheduled to happen in 94 in Hong Kong, the card was unfortunately cancelled at 24 hrs notice when the money ran out. Bruno was then seen as a decent favourite and I think he could hang on and take a 10 round decision, Mercer has a better chin and stamina but Frank has everything else and I think he takes this one reasonably comfortably.

Flump wrote:This fight was scheduled to happen in 94 in Hong Kong, the card was unfortunately cancelled at 24 hrs notice when the money ran out. Bruno was then seen as a decent favourite and I think he could hang on and take a 10 round decision, Mercer has a better chin and stamina but Frank has everything else and I think he takes this one reasonably comfortably.

You only have to compare Mercer/Lewis with Bruno/Lewis to see that Mercer is the more formidable 12 round fighter.

Mercer TK0 8

Frank Bruno had one of the weakest chins ever for a guy of his size. He had better boxing skills than Ray Mercer, but those boxing skills were nothing to be awed about. Mercer would take his best shots and win late by KO. I do not trust Bruno's stamina, either.

elmersalsa wrote:Frank Bruno had one of the weakest chins ever for a guy of his size. He had better boxing skills than Ray Mercer, but those boxing skills were nothing to be awed about. Mercer would take his best shots and win late by KO. I do not trust Bruno's stamina, either.

To me Mercer's only chance is to hope that Bruno tires bad enough where he had literally nothing left. However, I don't think Mercer would have been able to inflict the damage that a Witherspoon and Smith could late on Bruno to get him out. I just don't think Mercer is as good a puncher as either of the former.

As I said - Mccall who is a much harder puncher than Mercer could not get a badly tired Bruno out of there so why do we think that Mercer could - who was notoious for being lazy and out of condition for most of his fights.

I don't think that Bruno's chin is as bad as we are making out here. Only above average punchers were able to stop him.

You've got to pick a peak version of Mercer. Granted if its the Jesse F version then its not looking good. I disagree that Mercer can't punch. A number of his best wins were impressive stoppages.

Mercer vs Morrisson it was a brutal KO.

Mercer was a massive puncher, IMO he hit harder than either Spoon (who was definitely the better all round fighter) or Smith. The destructions of Damiani and Morrison, to name but two, are examples. Bruno's chin was pretty good; he never got flattened, but when he got caught he would turn to stone. He actually might have been better off if he went down a bit easier, but over 12, he's going to be tying up in the late rounds (he pretty much always did), and Mercer, when in shape, came on strong at the end. If he hurts Bruno, he's going to finish it brutally.

I'd have to go with the more reliable guy. You can argue that you can rely on Bruno's stamina to run out but I don't think Mercer is the man to take advantage, he was no monster.

Mercer lost when at his peak to a 42 year old Holmes and Jesse Ferguson, I just think all Bruno has to do is keep slamming his jab into Mercer's face and he'd be in control. Mercer would not get too aggressive because Bruno hits hard enough to put him off. Not impossible that Mercer stops him late of course, but I heavily favour Big Frank.