BoxRec

We know Bruno fought Tyson twice, and proberly faired better in the first encounter. I think Bruno fought Tyson the 2nd time for money reasons rather than face easier opposition for less cash. infact Bruno could have easily defended the title rather than go for Tyson again.

My question really is do you think Bruno could have ever beaten Tyson, maybe fought him a few fights later rather than rushing in for the second fight. Maybe in 1996 when tyson lost to Holyfield??

No.

For the Tyson rematch Brunos (right?) eye had developed problems again and he went into that fight suspecting that the retina had torn again (it had). This was one of the reasons his performance was so poor that night. He feared what a big Tyson shot could do to his already injured eye. Bruno knew that due to his eye his career was almost over after the McCall fight so took the Tyson fight as it offered by far the biggest payday.

Bruno knew the Tyson fight was going to be his last (due to his eye) but still felt he could beat the troubled former champ. He said apart from the eye he felt great untill it was time to leave his dressing room. Then the occasion and his thoughts about his eye got to him and basically froze.

mimmy123 wrote: Bruno could have easily defended the title rather than go for Tyson again.

I though King gave Bruno the shot at McCall on the understanding that if he won his first defence would be against Tyson.

Bruno would never have beaten Tyson. He caught what seemed like an underprepared Tyson in the first fight and lost. His chance came in the first round when he rocked Tyson, but didnt follow it up. That was his problem, Bruno wasnt really a natural fighter, great power and decent technique, but not the instinct.

Maybe in Bruno's wettest dream.

whenever Tyson wins a fight the opponent always has something missing: an eye, arm, leg, or a case of a bad heart.

if Bruno had an injury like that i'm sure he could have ended his career right there. No damn contract would be that iron.
He knew he would lose and took the money.. and spitted out excuses afterwards.

He said apart from the eye he felt great untill it was time to leave his dressing room. Then the occasion and his thoughts about his eye got to him and basically froze.

how typical is that. HE FROZE:.. he had done this shit 40 times before.. how gullible can you be to believe this crap.. everybody has fear in the ring.

cultus wrote:

He said apart from the eye he felt great untill it was time to leave his dressing room. Then the occasion and his thoughts about his eye got to him and basically froze.

how typical is that. HE FROZE:.. he had done this shit 40 times before.. how gullible can you be to believe this crap.. everybody has fear in the ring.

You are quite correct. It is very gullible to believe that any professional Boxer has ever 'froze' in a fight.

dr_devious wrote:Bruno would never have beaten Tyson. He caught what seemed like an underprepared Tyson in the first fight and lost.

Yeah, that's what I would have said. I would say the first fight in the steady decline of Tyson was the first Bruno fight, that was the first appearance of the Tyson who would decline to the point where he would lose to Douglas; but that Mike was still good enough to beat Bruno.

KOJOE90 wrote:No.

For the Tyson rematch Brunos (right?) eye had developed problems again and he went into that fight suspecting that the retina had torn again (it had). This was one of the reasons his performance was so poor that night. He feared what a big Tyson shot could do to his already injured eye. Bruno knew that due to his eye his career was almost over after the McCall fight so took the Tyson fight as it offered by far the biggest payday.

Bruno knew the Tyson fight was going to be his last (due to his eye) but still felt he could beat the troubled former champ. He said apart from the eye he felt great untill it was time to leave his dressing room. Then the occasion and his thoughts about his eye got to him and basically froze.

I believe the eye was a concern for Frank, espacially when it was time to leave the dressing room for batle, but make no mistake, the most worrying aspect to Bruno, was he knew what was coming to him, knew what Tyson's objective was. That was the real worry for Frank.

I remember watching the fight live, and thinking, Bruno is going backwards when throwing the jab, how can he possibly think he'll be effective when he's way too apprehensive when throwing his punches.

Tyson was ferocious, and although many backed Tyson to win, there can't have been many that felt he would get the job done in quicker time than the first bout, or win by such devestating fashion?

The combo Mike stopped Bruno with was pure class, set-up perfectly by a right to the body, which made Bruno wince in pain. Mike unleashed punches from everywhere.

It was felt Bruno was a better fighter for the second bout, than he was for the first. Do we agree with this?

It was thought at the time that Bruno was a better fighter in 1996 than in 1989. He was tipped to do better than the first time, and I thought hed got a chance due to Tyson's decline and some improvement in himself. I think he carried the mental scars from the first fight into the re-match. It affected him badly and he didnt perform at all. That was Bruno's problem; good boxer, great puncher, but didnt have the mental game to match. Also he struggled with stamina, he was probably too muscled to be a boxer. That said, hed clean up nowadays if he was around. The first time he landed on Vlad it would be goodnight Vienna.

dr_devious wrote:It was thought at the time that Bruno was a better fighter in 1996 than in 1989. He was tipped to do better than the first time, and I thought hed got a chance due to Tyson's decline and some improvement in himself. I think he carried the mental scars from the first fight into the re-match. It affected him badly and he didnt perform at all. That was Bruno's problem; good boxer, great puncher, but didnt have the mental game to match. Also he struggled with stamina, he was probably too muscled to be a boxer. That said, hed clean up nowadays if he was around. The first time he landed on Vlad it would be goodnight Vienna.

may this was the reason Bruno faired poorly the second fight, he might have done a better job if this was the first encounter, rather than the second. Being champion Bruno might have seen the decline of Tyson and been more brave in this fight.

Do you think Bruno was given the wrong opponants in his career, do yuo think he was fed bums to keep a winning record, obviously to the point of the Witherspoon fight.

Bruno's record was very "padded" up until the Witherspoon fight - hed already been found out in by Bonecrusher in any case. I dont think this made a difference, Bruno did about as well as he could in his career anyway.
I think his training regime might have made some difference. I read somewhere that Frank trained quite heavily with weights during his career. Frank was always extremely muscled but his big weakness was stamina. A more traditional training approach might have improved his stamina; better stamina would have seen him through the Bonecrusher fight and maybe against Witherspoon, but I think he was in over his head against Lewis and Tyson

I think Brunos 'stamina' problem was in part due to nerves and burning off a lot of nerous energy during a fight.

I don't get how he fought Lewis well, until he got KTFO, and shitted bricks when he fought Tyson.