Фрэнк Бруно: Путь британского тяжеловеса к мировому титулу

British boxer (born 1961)
the British boxer

Bruno became a professional boxer in 1981, quickly achieving 21 consecutive wins by knockout. This streak caught the attention of international boxing magazines, such as The Ring, KO Magazine, Boxing Illustrated and Ring En Español. During this period Bruno convincingly stopped some notable fighters, such as former world title contender Scott LeDoux, the fringe contender Floyd Cummings, Belgian champion Rudy Gauwe, British contenders Tony Moore and Eddie Nielson, and some strong journeymen such as Bill Sharkey, Walter Santemore and Ken Lakusta. However, in May 1984 the up and coming future world heavyweight champion, American James "Bonecrusher" Smith, halted that streak when he defeated Bruno by knockout in the tenth and final round of their bout, with Bruno leading clearly on all three judges' cards.

Bruno won his next six bouts against respected opposition. He won the European heavyweight title with a KO over Sweden's Anders Eklund, KO'd former European champion and world title contender Lucien Rodriguez in one round, was taken the distance for the first time by the useful world rated Phil Brown, and beat fringe fighters Larry Frazier and Jeff Jordan. Bruno got back into title contention with a quick one round KO win over former WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa, and, in July 1986, he challenged Tim Witherspoon for the WBA heavyweight title. After once again leading on the cards for most of the fight, he ran out of steam and was defeated by knockout in round eleven. Bruno once again got himself back into title contention with wins over former contender James Tillis and journeymen Reggie Gross and Chuck Gardner. In October 1987 Bruno faced the veteran Joe Bugner in an all British match up. Bugner, although long past his peak, was coming off good wins over Greg Page, James Tillis and David Bey. Bruno won by TKO in the 8th round, the referee stopping the bout.

In February 1989, Bruno challenged Mike Tyson for the undisputed world heavyweight title. In the opening moments, the fighters came together with huge punches. Bruno's legs buckled, and he took a big step back, inadvertently stepping off the ring apron. Most agree that he would have gone down, at least to a knee in any event, and this was called a knockdown. Bruno did not complain and continued, ultimately rocking Tyson (for the first time in Tyson's career) with a left hook toward the end of the round. However, Tyson recovered and eventually beat Bruno when the referee stopped the contest in round five with Bruno taking heavy punishment on the ropes. Bruno kept winning fights, helping him to retain his spot as one of the world's leading heavyweights. He defeated contender Carl Williams, and then journeymen such as Jose Ribalta, Pierre Coetzer, and Dutchman Jan Emmen.

In 1993 he had a third world title chance against Lennox Lewis, who was making the second defence of the belt (his first of three championship reigns). The Lennox Lewis vs. Frank Bruno fight was the first time that two British boxers had fought for the world heavyweight title. Lewis beat Bruno on a stoppage in round seven, Bruno again failing to take his title chance after leading the contest on points up until what proved the final round. Bruno again regrouped, dispatching Jesse Ferguson in one round and fringe contenders Rodolfo Marin and Mike Evans equally easily.

On 2 September 1995, Bruno finally became world champion by outpointing WBC Champion Oliver McCall over twelve rounds. After an even start, Bruno built up a strong lead in the middle rounds before appearing to run somewhat out of steam in the last couple. However, unlike Bonecrusher Smith and Tim Witherspoon earlier in Bruno's career, McCall was unable to find a way through Bruno's defences to force the late stoppage he needed. Bruno won unanimously on points, only the second time he had taken an opponent to the judges. Bruno's reign as champion was brief: the contract he signed to get McCall meant he had to face Mike Tyson in his first defence. Tyson beat Bruno on a stoppage in round three, Bruno performed unusually poorly in what turned out to be his last bout as a professional due to the recurrence of a severe eye injury, originally caused during his first fight with Tyson, which had already necessitated experimental surgery to allow him to fight again after that defeat. After the second Tyson fight Bruno was advised not to fight again to avoid running the risk of causing any more damage to it, which could result in permanent blindness. Bruno retired soon after that bout. Bruno's publicist throughout most of his career was sports historian Norman Giller, who wrote three books with Bruno: Know What I Mean, Eye of the Tiger and From Zero to Hero. His manager for all but his last five fights was Terry Lawless, who signed him as a professional shortly after he had become ABA heavyweight champion at the age of eighteen.

On 22 September 2003, Bruno was taken from his home near Brentwood in Essex by medical staff assisted by police officers, under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983. He was taken to Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, where he underwent psychological and psychiatric tests. He had been suffering from depression for several months beforehand. He was later diagnosed as having bipolar disorder. On 9 October 2005, Bruno admitted that cocaine use, which began in 2000, had contributed to his mental health problems. Media coverage of Bruno's problems raised controversy, the principal accusations being gross intrusion and insensitivity. Particular criticism was aimed at The Sun, whose headline in the first editions the next day read "Bonkers Bruno Locked Up". Second editions retracted the headline and attempted to portray a more sympathetic attitude towards Bruno and mental health in general. As an attempt at atonement, the paper established a charity fund for people suffering from mental illness, although some mental health charities condemned The Sun latter action that day as being grossly hypocritical in the light of the former. On 24 February 2008, Bruno offered his support to former footballer Paul Gascoigne, who on 21 February had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Bruno also spoke on his own personal experiences in the mental health system at a conference run by Hari Sewell, on 22 June 2009. Bruno was sectioned again in 2012 and taken to St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton for five weeks. In December 2013, Bruno spoke to the Daily Mirror in support of their mental health campaign, stating: "Mental illness is a terrible thing to have to cope with but I've learnt it's a fight you can win if you live your life the right way". In December 2005, Bruno announced that he was to become a father for the fourth time since finding new romance with old friend Yvonne Clydesdale. The couple, who first met five years previously at a health resort, began dating months after bumping into each other at a wine bar near his home. Yvonne gave birth to baby Freya on 10 May 2006. On 10 October 2006, Bruno and Clydesdale were jointly awarded £50,000 damages for libel against The People newspaper and publishers MGN in respect of false claims made about their relationship. In 2006, Bruno published an autobiography Frank: Fighting Back. It won the Best Autobiography category of the British Sports Book Awards. As of May 2012, Bruno was living in Glasgow with his new hairdresser girlfriend, Nina Coletta in the Gorbals area of the city. Bruno has joined the Get Close and Personal Platform to raise funds to support The Frank Bruno Foundation, dedicated to improving the mental health of men around the world. Bruno offers one to one video calls with anybody wanting to discuss issues related to mental health and Bruno's own journey.

Bruno's image was enhanced by his relationship with the BBC boxing commentator Harry Carpenter, which, in their many interviews, was generated Bruno's best known and most quoted phrases "Know what I mean, Harry? ", his appearances on Comic Relief programmes in the early 1980s and his frequent appearances thereafter on television and on stage (in pantomime). In 1991, he opened "The Ultimate" at Lightwater Valley which was, at the time, the longest roller coaster in the world. He described the ride "scarier than Mike Tyson". In 1993, Bruno briefly appeared as a guest on CITV's Finders Keepers hosted by Neil Buchanan. The episode aired on Tuesday 30 March that year. He was the subject of a This is Your Life programme in 1993, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel. In 1995, the year of his world championship, he released a cover version of "Eye of the Tiger", the theme song of the movie Rocky III. It reached No. 28 in the UK charts. In 1999, he featured on the celebrity special in the second season of Fort Boyard. In January 2001, prior to that year's general election, Bruno announced that he wanted to stand as the Conservative candidate in the traditionally safe Conservative seat of Brentwood and Ongar against the independent Member of Parliament, Martin Bell. His proposed slogan was "Don't be a plank, vote for Frank!" However, this idea was quickly dismissed by Conservative Central Office. In an interview with BBC Sport at the time, Bruno laughed at the story and denied he had any intention of standing. In 2006, he was one of a number of celebrities who were recorded on the World Cup song, "Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Jurgen Klinsmann?". On 15 August 2009, he appeared on The Weakest Link beating Duke McKenzie in the final for £12,800. He had a small role in the 2008 British crime drama Cass. Bruno made brief guest appearances in episodes of the ITV comedy show, Harry Hill's TV Burp in February and October 2011. On 21 April 2011, Bruno appeared on the ITV1 chat show The Alan Titchmarsh Show, where he was candid about his previous health issues. In 2011, he made a guest appearance in Sooty. On 20 April 2012, Bruno was featured in the ITV series Piers Morgan's Life Stories. He supports West Ham United F. C. whilst also having an affinity for the Scottish team, Aberdeen F. C. Bruno completed the 2011 London Marathon which is the third marathon he has run successfully. He has also run numerous half marathons. He is also a patron for The Shannon Bradshaw Trust, a children's charity. Bruno regularly makes personal appearances and also sells autographed items of memorabilia. On 23 July 2013, Bruno was featured in the BBC Three documentary with his daughter Rachel in Rachel Bruno: My Dad and Me. In 2020 amid the COVID 19 crisis, Frank Bruno joined a supergroup of celebrities called The Celebs which included Kellie Shirley and X Factor winner Sam Bailey to raise money for both Alzheimer's Society and Action for Children. They recorded a new rendition of "Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin' Stevens and it was released digitally on 11 December 2020, on independent record label Saga Entertainment. The music video debuted exclusively on Good Morning Britain the day before release. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart.

No. (Number)ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes45Loss40–5 Mike TysonTKO3 (12), 16 Mar 1996 44Win40–4 Oliver McCallUD122 Sep 1995 43Win39–4 Mike EvansKO2 (10), 13 May 1995 42Win38–4 Rodolfo MarinKO1 (10), 18 Feb 1995 41Win37–4 Jesse FergusonTKO1 (10), 16 Mar 1994 40Loss36–4 Lennox LewisTKO7 (12), 1 Oct 1993 39Win36–3 Carl WilliamsTKO10 (10), 24 Apr 1993 38Win35–3 Pierre CoetzerTKO8 (10)17 Oct 1992 37Win34–3 Jose RibaltaKO2 (10), 22 Apr 1992 36Win33–3 John EmmenTKO1 (10), 20 Nov 1991 35Loss32–3 Mike TysonTKO5 (12), 25 Feb 1989 34Win32–2 Joe BugnerTKO8 (10), 24 Oct 1987 33Win31–2 Reggie GrossTKO8 (10)30 Aug 1987 32Win30–2 Chuck GardnerTKO1 (10), 27 Jun 1987 31Win29–2 James TillisTKO5 (10), 24 Mar 1987 30Loss28–2 Tim WitherspoonTKO11 (12), 19 Jul 1986 29Win28–1 Gerrie CoetzeeKO1 (10), 4 Mar 1986 28Win27–1 Larry FrazierKO2 (10), 4 Dec 1985 27Win26–1 Anders EklundKO4 (12), 1 Oct 1985 26Win25–1 Lucien RodriguezTKO1 (10), 26 Mar 1985 25Win24–1 Phillip BrownPTS (Points decision)1027 Nov 1984 24Win23–1 Jeff JordanTKO3 (10), 6 Nov 1984 23Win22–1 Ken LakustaKO2 (10)25 Sep 1984 22Loss21–1 James SmithKO10 (10)13 May 1984 21Win21–0 Juan Antonio FigueroaTKO1 (10), 13 Mar 1984 20Win20–0 Walter SantemoreKO4 (10), 6 Dec 1983 19Win19–0 Floyd CummingsTKO7 (10), 11 Oct 1983 18Win18–0 Bill SharkeyKO1 (10), 27 Sep 1983 17Win17–0 Mike JamesonKO2 (10), 9 Jul 1983 16Win16–0 Barry FunchesTKO5 (10), 31 May 1983 15Win15–0 Scott LeDouxTKO3 (10), 3 May 1983 14Win14–0 Eddie NeilsonTKO3 (10), 5 Apr 1983 13Win13–0 Winston AllenTKO2 (10), 1 Mar 1983 12Win12–0 Peter Mulindwa KozzaKO3 (10), 8 Feb 1983 11Win11–0 Stewart LithgoRTD (Corner retirement)4 (8), 18 Jan 1983 10Win10–0 Gilberto AcunaTKO1 (10), 7 Dec 1982 9Win9–0 George ButzbachTKO1 (8), 23 Nov 1982 8Win8–0 Rudy GauweKO2 (8), 9 Nov 1982 7Win7–0 Ali LukasaTKO2 (8)23 Oct 1982 6Win6–0 George ScottTKO1 (8), 14 Sep 1982 5Win5–0 Tony MooreTKO2 (8)1 Jun 1982 4Win4–0 Ronald GibbsTKO4 (8)4 May 1982 3Win3–0 Abdul MuhayminKO1 (8), 20 Apr 1982 2Win2–0 Harvey SteichenTKO (Technical knockout)2 (8), 30 Mar 1982 1Win1–0 Lupe GuerraKO (Knockout)1 (8)17 Mar 1982