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| Boxing
career Bruno became a professional boxer in 1980, quickly racking up a streak of twenty-one consecutive wins by knockout. This streak caught the attention of many international boxing magazines, such as Ring Magazine, KO Magazine, Boxing Illustrated, The Ring En Espanol and many others. In March 1984, however, future world Heavyweight champion, American James 'Bonecrusher' Smith, then a boxing journeyman, halted that streak when he defeated Bruno by knockout in the tenth and final round of their bout, with Bruno leading on all three judges' cards. This would not be the last time Bruno went on to lose a contest he had been clearly winning and would have emerged victorious from had he survived until the final bell. Bruno got back into title contention with wins over the likes of former WBA champion Gerrie Coetzee (by knockout in round one), and, in July 1986, he challenged Tim Witherspoon for the WBA world Heavyweight championship. 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. A comment often made was that Bruno, a fine physical specimen, had a bodybuilder's musculature rather than a boxer's, and carrying the extra weight of so much muscle sapped his energy and stamina over a long contest. The contrast between Bruno and the seemingly lard-laden Witherspoon was particularly marked, but the difference was that Witherspoon worked when he had to, and did enough over the course of the fight, whereas Bruno lacked the nous and the killer-instinct to press on when he had the initiative. In 1989, Bruno, whose training partners included celebrities like Sting, challenged Mike Tyson for the unified world Heavyweight title. After being sent down in round one, Bruno finished that round by rocking Tyson with a left hook. However, Tyson beat Bruno by knockout in round five. Frank Bruno kept winning fights, helping him to retain his spot as one of the world's leading Heavyweights. In 1993 he had a third world title chance against young Lennox Lewis, who was making the second defence of the belt (his first of three championship reigns). Lewis beat Bruno by knockout in round seven, Bruno again failing to take his title chance after leading the contest on points up until the seventh round. On 24 September 1994, Oliver McCall beat Lewis in London, and, after defeating Larry Holmes, he came to England to defend the WBC title against Bruno. On 2 September 1995, Bruno finally became world champion by outpointing McCall over twelve rounds. Bruno did not last long as champion: his first defence was a rematch with Tyson. Tyson beat Bruno by knockout in round three, in what turned out to be Bruno's last bout as a professional.
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boxing Bruno has remained a popular figure with the British public. His cuddly bear image was enhanced by his relationship with the avuncular BBC boxing commentator Harry Carpenter and his seemingly frequent appearances in pantomime.
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