Frank Bruno has named the man who he considers to have given him his hardest ever night in the ring.
Bruno remains a much-loved British sporting icon. The Londoner had 45 fights between 1982 until his retirement in 1996 and took on a legendary list of names, including the likes of Lennox Lewis, James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith, Mike Tyson twice and Oliver McCall.
His fight with McCall came in 1995 and was Bruno’s fourth attempt at winning a world title he had so long chased. On the night, he won a 12-round decision, having failed in previous attempts against Tyson and Lewis, as well as Tim Witherspoon.
Speaking to Clubhouse Boxing, Bruno named the former two-time world heavyweight champion as the toughest night he ever had in the ring.
“I think Witherspoon. I went in there with one head and came out with two heads, cute he battered me. He was a good heavyweight; a lot of them were scared of him to be honest, but he was a good fighter, a very, very good fighter.
“He was desperate to come over here and do something. A lot better champion than people given him credit for. He even gave Larry Holmes a run for his money, in the 15-round days.”
The fight with Witherspoon came in July 1986 and saw Bruno stopped in the 11th round of 15. The contest saw Witherspoon retain his WBA heavyweight title before losing it in his next fight to Smith via first-round KO. He fought on until 2003 but won another recognised world title.
