Frank Bruno fought a total of 45 times against some of the biggest names in the sport, but the man who hit him hardest might be a surprise.
Bruno is one of Britain’s best-loved sports personalities. He finally became a world heavyweight champion at the fourth time of asking when he beat Oliver McCall via unanimous decision to lift the WBC strap at Wembley Stadium in London in September 1995.
Prior to that, he had toiled without success against WBA ruler Tim Witherspoon, who knocked him out in 11 rounds in 1986; undisputed champion Mike Tyson stopped him in the fifth round in 1989; and in 1993, WBC champion Lennox Lewis stopped Bruno in the seventh round.
Speaking in an interview with fellow former world champion Tyson Fury by Wow Hydrate, Bruno swerved all of those obvious names when outlining the hardest night and biggest puncher he had faced in the professional ring, instead choosing an opponent he actually beat.
“I fought a guy called Jumbo Cummings, he ‘knocked me out’ in the first-round, and every time I think of that name I think that I need to go to the doctors and get some counselling. He hit me on the temple and I didn’t know where I was. I remember it like it was yesterday, that was my toughest fight.”
Floyd ‘Jumbo’ Cummings had a controversial draw against legendary heavyweight Joe Frazier, and he retired in 1983 after the loss to Bruno with a record of 13 KOs from 15 wins with 6 losses, but not before almost stopping Bruno with a big shot right on the bell at the end of round one.
