Big Frank Part Four: The Battle of Britain
Frank Bruno Great Britain had been waiting for a world heavyweight champion since Bob Fitzsimmons defeated James J. Corbett in March 1897, only to lose it in his first defence against James J Jeffries in June 1899. Fitzsimmons also failed in his attempt to regain the title from Jeffries in July 1902. Other British challengers like Tommy Farr versus Joe Louis, Don Cockell against Rocky Marciano, Brian London facing Floyd Patterson, Henry Cooper, Joe Bugner and Richard Dunn challenging Muhammad Ali, and Frank Bruno’s two attempts against Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson, respectively, all ended in failure. That all changed when Lennox Lewis was awarded the WBC heavyweight belt in December 1992, after Riddick Bowe, who defeated Evander Holyfield for the undisputed title the month before, refused to face his mandatory challenger Lewis, and elected to dump his green and gold belt into the bin. Lewis, born in West Ham on 2nd September 1965, moved to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada with his mother a...