BoxRec

It always struck me as odd to why Bruno didn't cash in on his world title after he beat Oliver McCall. Anyone throw anything on this reason? Was it just Tyson was big money? Surely Bruno knew he had no chance, it showed in the ring. It would have been nice for Frank's legacy to have at least defended it successfully.

I'd imagine frank only got the McCall fight if he promised to defend vs Tyson . both were done king fighters I think

was fighting tyson not cashing in on it ?

don't know if his eye would've made it past another medical, think frank knew this so cashed out against tyson

doug.ie wrote:was fighting tyson not cashing in on it ?

I understand what you are saying but how much did Bruno earn for the fight? Surely there was more money for a 'Wembley' fight for some other fighter.

If I remember correctly Bruno was paid $5 million to defend against Tyson. He had turned down a bigger purse (I can't remember how much) to defend in a rematch against Lennox Lewis. I thought that was a strange move at the time. if it was all about cashing in, why not go for the bigger payday? Maybe he genuinely thought he could beat Tyson at the time - although it didn't look like it come fight night.

SteveO wrote:If I remember correctly Bruno was paid $5 million to defend against Tyson. He had turned down a bigger purse (I can't remember how much) to defend in a rematch against Lennox Lewis. I thought that was a strange move at the time. if it was all about cashing in, why not go for the bigger payday? Maybe he genuinely thought he could beat Tyson at the time - although it didn't look like it come fight night.

I didnt realise that

SteveO wrote:If I remember correctly Bruno was paid $5 million to defend against Tyson. He had turned down a bigger purse (I can't remember how much) to defend in a rematch against Lennox Lewis. I thought that was a strange move at the time. if it was all about cashing in, why not go for the bigger payday? Maybe he genuinely thought he could beat Tyson at the time - although it didn't look like it come fight night.

This fight would hav emade more sense and proberly a lot more money for Bruno win or lose. Why go to US to fight Tyson? Like you say he must have thought he could beat Tyson, and knew he couldn't beat Lewis

Part of the McCall deal was to defend immediately versus Mike Tyson if he won. End of story. Bruno made £3 million versus Tyson.

How on earth he could have made more money versus Lennox Lewis in 1996 is beyond me. No one who followed boxing at the time believes he could have made more money, nor anyone who still has the print media from the time. Lewis was desperate to fight Bruno of course, but Lewis had no fanbase on either side of the pond and brought no money without a title. Lewis at the time was turning down a far more lucrative HBO funded mega fight with Riddick Bowe. Lewis instead took a huge paycut to get knocked around by Ray Mercer.

mimmy123 wrote:

doug.ie wrote:was fighting tyson not cashing in on it ?

I understand what you are saying but how much did Bruno earn for the fight? Surely there was more money for a 'Wembley' fight for some other fighter.

But I'm sure Tyson was mandatory and it would have resulted in a stripping, Tyson was the cash fight.

He was going to have to retire anyway, win lose or draw as his eye was gone (detached retina, which is ironically what almost forced his pro career to not get off the ground in the first place).

Lewis was mandatory, he was paid step-aside money so Tyson could fight him, but King put it into Bruno's contract when he fought McCall that the fight had to happen. They were both DK fighters anyway, he was just trying to keep Lewis out of the picture.

Bruno was happy with his £3m until he saw how much the challenger was getting.

Tyson was made number 1 contender by the WBC the moment he was released from prison, therefore Bruno by beating McCall inherited his lucrative mandatory. He also had to sign to fight Tyson next in order to get the McCall shot.

In a WBC eliminator, Lewis harpooned a beached whale that answered to the name of Lionel Butler, but the WBC quickly recanted and said it wasn't a 'final final eliminator' or some such marvelous doublespeak. Later in the year Tyson vacated his WBC title and boxed Bruce Seldon. Quite simply Tyson and King were bigger than boxing and he was set to bash Holyfield and Moorer in lucrative 'easy' megafights and then attend to problems such as Bowe and Lewis. All went awry.

Essentially Bruno didn't cash in on his title because no one at that time other than Tyson and King had the sway to cash in on a title.

£3m is about as much as Bruno could have got for ANY fight, he perhaps could have got more of a share of Tyson's ridiculous purse but Tyson was the draw here, not Frank.

I remember one photo with Bruno, Seldon and Botha all holding their belts. Heady times.

orbtastic wrote:£3m is about as much as Bruno could have got for ANY fight, he perhaps could have got more of a share of Tyson's ridiculous purse but Tyson was the draw here, not Frank.

I remember one photo with Bruno, Seldon and Botha all holding their belts. Heady times.

I remember that photo. In Boxing Illustrated it came with the caption: WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

Riddick Bowe, who couldn't even buy a ranking, would have duffed up all three on the same night.

Boxing Illustrated were always pretty dismissive of certain fighters but I feel it was warranted.

I'd have given big Frank a decent chance against either.

stevedoc wrote:I'd imagine frank only got the McCall fight if he promised to defend vs Tyson . both were done king fighters I think

Pretty sure I remember this being the case.

Tyson was made number 1 contender by the WBC the moment he was released from prison, therefore Bruno by beating McCall inherited his lucrative mandatory. He also had to sign to fight Tyson next in order to get the McCall shot.

In a WBC eliminator, Lewis harpooned a beached whale that answered to the name of Lionel Butler, but the WBC quickly recanted and said it wasn't a 'final final eliminator' or some such marvelous doublespeak. Later in the year Tyson vacated his WBC title and boxed Bruce Seldon. Quite simply Tyson and King were bigger than boxing and he was set to bash Holyfield and Moorer in lucrative 'easy' megafights and then attend to problems such as Bowe and Lewis. All went awry.

Essentially Bruno didn't cash in on his title because no one at that time other than Tyson and King had the sway to cash in on a title.

Pretty much that, and add in the pertinent fact that Don José Sulaimán was running the WBC and sometimes behaved like Don King's silent business partner/matchmaker and the Tyson fight was happening.

Don Jose was not a complete villain - he did some good things once every decade - but there was a period when King got the rankings he wanted, the fights he wanted and when he wanted them to happen. Frank was going to fight Tyson...probably before Frank had been told himself!