Big Frank Part Five: Fourth Time Lucky

 Frank Bruno

When Frank Bruno lost his world title challenge to Mike Tyson in February 1989, he spent thirty-three months out of the ring. However, when he lost to Lennox Lewis, he ignored all calls for retirement and told his manager, Mickey Duff, to get him another fight. Within five months, Bruno faced thirty-six-year-old American Jesse ‘Boogeyman’ Ferguson at the bp pulse LIVE Arena in Birmingham.

Ferguson started in the paid ranks in January 1983, going 13-0 (10 KOs), with wins over Reggie Gross via a third round TKO, and a ten round majority decision against future undisputed heavyweight champion James ‘Buster’ Douglas, before Carl ‘The Truth’ Williams stopped him in the tenth and final round of their match in August 1985.

Ferguson then lost eight of his next thirteen fights; a sixth round technical knockout against Mike Tyson, points defeats to James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith, Anders Ecklund, Orlin Norris and Oliver McCall, a fifth round retirement against Bruce Seldon, and ten round unanimous decisions to Michael Dokes and Tony Tubbs, bringing his resume to 18-9 (13 KOs).

Ferguson next appeared in the ring on 6th February 1993 at Madison Square on the undercard of Riddick Bowe’s first heavyweight title defence against Michael Dokes. Ferguson’s opponent was Ray Mercer, who was promised a $1.5 million payday to face Bowe next if he defeated Ferguson.

However, Ferguson lived up to his Boogeyman moniker and outboxed Mercer over ten rounds, winning a unanimous decision. Mercer had offered Ferguson a $100,000 bribe before and during the contest to go down, which, according to Ferguson’s testimony under oath in court, he refused. This fight led to charges of sports bribery being filed against Mercer by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

The victory meant Ferguson received a shot at Bowe, instead of Mercer. The Boogeyman’s big chance came in May 1993 and the forty-to-one underdog was quickly blasted out in the second round.

Ferguson recorded a rare victory two months later before facing Mercer for a second time in November 1993 at Atlantic City’s Convention Center. Mercer made no mistake in the rematch, winning by split decision as Ferguson dropped to 20-11 (14 KOs), before his trip to Birmingham to face Frank Bruno on 16th March 1994.

Ferguson was picked as a confidence booster and to make Bruno look good as he looked at a fourth world title shot. Bruno, always in tremendous condition, faced a fat and out of shape Ferguson, who was clubbed to the canvas without taking a clean punch, with Bruno winning inside the opening three minutes in an unsatisfactory affair.

The result was so bad, even Bruno’s friend, the BBC commentator Harry Carpenter, had a go at him in the post-fight interview. “It was a pathetic performance and there are thousands of people who paid up to £100 for a ticket. I don’t think any of them will be satisfied by that.”

Bruno escaped the backlash from the media, who were more critical of his management team of Terry Lawless, Mickey Duff and Jarvis Astaire, with the Daily Telegraph writing: “Boxing is a sad and dirty business where the ability to make loose ends meet is a prerequisite - and Duff and Astaire are past masters at connecting loose ends. They do nothing illegal but for twelve years they and their client (Lawless) have relied on willing fans and somebody at the BBC with more money than sense. The trio have enjoyed over a decade of lucrative Bruno fights but only two out of thirty seven victories were ranked in the world’s top ten. It has been twelve years of frantic hype punctuated by three unsuccessful world title challenges. It has been year after year of hand-picked flops and former contenders, each with no more ambition or chance of survival than a balloon in a hurricane.”

The criticism fell on deaf ears as Lawless, Duff and Astaire looked to get Bruno a shot at the new British-born WBO heavyweight champion Michael Bentt. This fight never materialised when Bruno severed his fourteen year ties with Duff, and joined Frank Warren’s stable, who had a contract with ITV.

Bruno’s first fight under Warren took place at the unlikely setting of Somerset’s Shepton Mallet in February 1995 against Puerto Rico’s Rodolfo Marin, who boasted a record of 20-3 (16 KOs). A closer look at Marin’s resume showed that every time he faced a world class opponent i.e. Tyrell Biggs, Riddick Bowe, and Joe Hipp, he lost.

Bruno-Marin, like against Jesse Ferguson, was an unsatisfactory event, with the Puerto Rican falling over after the first time Bruno landed a serious blow, with referee John Coyle counting him out after 65 seconds of the first round. ITV boxing commentator Reg Gutteridge famously said, “He wouldn’t stand up in a gust of wind.”

Bruno was now seen as a has been and few regarded him as a serious world championship contender. The pattern of opponents continued three months later at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall when Bruno faced America’s Mike Evans, with Frank Warren signing a lucrative deal with Sky TV.

Evans, thirty-six, and a massive 270.5 pounds (122.70 Kg), put up little resistance, as Bruno hammered him in the second round. Bruno improved to 39-4 (38 KOs), and amazingly the substandard victory got him the fourth crack at the heavyweight title he coveted against Oliver McCall, scheduled for 2nd September 1995. “I don’t care what people are saying,” retorted Bruno when the critics asked how he could overcome the experienced and durable champion, “I’ve got my shot and that’s all I care about.”

At thirty-three-years-old, this was certainly Bruno’s last chance at becoming world champion, and defeat would be the end of his career, with the British public having no appetite for another comeback attempt.

The tough WBC heavyweight champion was born on 21st April 1965, starting his paid career in November 1985 with a first round technical knockout over Lou Bailey, losing his next bout a month later.

He remained undefeated through the next two years, dropping a six round decision against Mike ‘The Bounty Hunter to go 11-2 (7 KOs) in January 1988. He avoided defeat until he faced James ‘Buster’ Douglas in July 1989. Another loss in November 1990 against Orlin Norris looked to have derailed McCall’s chances in the heavyweight title picture, but a ninth round stoppage win over the undefeated Bruce Seldon put him back on track. Three victories later got him a crack at NABF heavyweight champion Tony Tucker in June 1992. Tucker, the former IBF champion and mandatory WBC Contender to Lennox Lewis, successfully defended his domestic crown against ‘The Automic Bull’ with a points victory.

McCall then went on a five fight unbeaten run, stopping Lawrence Carter, Mike Dixon, ex-WBO heavyweight champion Francesco Damiani, Art Card and Dan Murphy, on his way to becoming the mandatory WBC contender.

The American faced Lennox Lewis on 24th September 1994 for the WBC title at London’s Wembley Arena. McCall had not been stopped in his 24-5 (17 KOs) resume, and had sparred over three-hundred rounds with Baddest Man on the planet, Mike Tyson, claiming to have never been knocked off his feet.

Lewis, eyeing a multimillion dollar purse against arch rival Riddick Bowe next, overlooked McCall as a serious threat, saying: “He’s there to be hit.”

McCall, with a single right hand in round two, took away the title and Lewis’s undefeated record. The new champion made the first defence of his belt against the forty-five-year-old former champion Larry Holmes, defeating the veteran by a close unanimous decision.

McCall would next defend his belt at Wembley Stadium against Bruno, who had a crowd of 23,000 fans mostly willing him to make it fourth time lucky. Though the challenger’s opponents since losing to Lennox Lewis had not been world championship calibre, his deal for the fight, sorted out in Spring 1995 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, by Don King, who, loud as ever, would not allow Bruno’s lawyer into the room as he threw the contract on the table in front of Bruno, his wife Laura and promoter Frank Warren, saying: “Take it or leave it.”

The contract stated that if he won the title, he must fight Mike Tyson in his first defence, instead of mandatory challenger, and former champion Lennox Lewis.

Bruno knew McCall when he sparred him for his first crack at Tyson back in February 1989, handling him well. “His style suits me down to the ground,” said a confident Bruno of McCall. “He’s shorter than me and he’s lighter than me. I feel I have got the better jab and the better right hand and I know in the last nine years I have become much stronger and much more focused.”

The words endeared him to the public, but the crass speech from the champion pushed the wave of popularity even further into Bruno’s corner. “I’ll take Bruno out and try to do to him what (Nigel) Benn did to my friend Gerald (McClellan). That’s the way I feel. This isn’t a sporting event, I am going in with bad intentions. The only reason I took this fight was because of Gerald. This isn’t about my world title, it’s about vengeance and revenge.”

Bruno sat in silence, not believing what came out of the champion’s mouth at the press conference, and returned to his training quarters - a health farm in Leicestershire - to take it out on his sparring partners.

The reception the challenger received from the Wembley crowd was immense and McCall, who made Bruno wait fifteen minutes in the ring before making his entrance, was booed, as the emotional champion had tears streaming down his face. McCall had his personal problems, he was a crack addict on and off since his teenage years, and was not always in control of his emotional side. “You’ve got no chance Bruno,” McCall said as he got through the ropes. “You’re out of here,” as his thirty or so hangers-on also screamed at the challenger.

Bruno remained calm, and let his fists do the talking in the ring. His ramrod jab did what was needed and he landed a hard left hook to shudder the durable McCall, who took the punch well.Towards the end of the opening round, Bruno took a stinging right to his eyeball. It scratched the surface of his eye and the challenger knew something was wrong, doing his best not to show any signs of distress to his opponent.

Bruno pumped out his jab in the second round and tied up McCall every time he looked to unleash on the challenger. The champion also took a hard left hook in the fourth and finally came to life in the fifth, getting his jab working and landing a good left hook towards the end of the round.

McCall capitalised on Bruno’s cautiousness in the sixth, and in the seventh backed his man up, before Bruno caught the champion with a chop to the back of the neck, with referee Tony Perez giving him a warning, before they exchanged blows.

The challenger began to tire in the eighth, turning southpaw in an attempt to confuse McCall. The champion sensed Bruno was starting to lag and threw himself at the Brit. McCall, realising he was behind on the cards, stepped up the pace in the ninth, hoping Bruno would once again run out of steam, but the challenger’s jab won him the round unanimously.

McCall got a foothold back in the contest in the tenth, attacking Bruno to head and body. The challenger tied his opponent up after taking a big right uppercut, but Bruno was beginning to show signs of distress - his legs seemed heavy and his eye that was scratched in the opening round was blinking madly as he was struggling to take in the air his muscles desperately needed.

The champion had another good round in the eleventh, winging punches at his man. Bruno responded with a counter right and landed a big uppercut, forcing the referee to prise the men apart from a clinch.

The champion took the fight to Bruno in the final round, and appeared to be getting stronger. Bruno managed to hang on until the final round, with the Wembley crowd going crazy, sensing their man had finally won the heavyweight title at his fourth attempt.

Judges Newton Campos and Ray Solis both saw the contest 117-111, with Malcolm Bulner scoring it 115-113 unanimously for Bruno, who became the third British-born boxer behind Bob Fitzsimmons and Lennox Lewis to become heavyweight champion.

Bruno finally realised his dream, meaning he had to fulfill his contractual obligations and next face Mike Tyson for $6 million.

All the best fight fans

Lea

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