The Boxing History Blog

Frank Bruno  The journey towards Frank Bruno’s second world title shot against undisputed champion Mike Tyson was a long and complicated process. The terms for the fight was originally agreed in February 1988 and scheduled for 3rd September at Wembley Arena, meaning Bruno had been out of the ring for eleven months. However, Tyson was embroiled in legal proceedings to sever ties with his manager Bill Cayton. The champion wanted six to eight weeks off after settling out of court, pushing the bout back to 8th October. The fight was pushed back again when Tyson broke his hand in a street fight with ex-opponent Mitch ‘Blood’ Green in August 1988, with a new date of 22nd October. Again that date was rescheduled to 17th December when Tyson was knocked unconscious in September 1988 when he drove his BMW into a tree. Also, in October 1988, Robin Givens, Tyson’s wife, filed for divorce, with Tyson countersuing her. The champion wanted to be close to his lawyers, and Bruno’s challenge was not...

 Frank Bruno Franklin Roy Horatio Bruno was born on 16th November 1961 to his houseproud Jamaican mother, Lynette and Dominica father Robert Bruno, in Hammersmith, London. His father was a warehouseman in a bakery and suffered from chronic diabetes and his district nurse mother worked all the hours she could to be the backbone of the family and help to provide for her six children. Frank was the youngest of her brood and wanted for nothing. He soon grew to be the biggest on the block, and trouble had a way of finding the young future heavyweight champion of the world. Bruno was not a nasty kid, but street fights, teenage gangs, trouble with the law and expulsion were just part of the ritual on the tough streets of Wandsworth, South London. “At school, he was a bully boy,” Lynette explained, “and I had parents of other boys constantly knocking on my door to complain. I punished Franklin by keeping him in but he was not evil. He didn’t bully other boys to hurt them. He just liked to ...