Frank Bruno: Find Another Way to Make A Living! Boxing Fans Around the World Still Care About You and this is Not the Right MOVE….

By Roy “Sharpshooter” Bennett

Reports have emerged from several British sources that Frank Bruno – the former WBC heavyweight champion – is emerging from retirement to return to boxing. But in what capacity? He is 54 years old and has been retired for 20 years. He also has a history of mental health issues – for which he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act -and has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Under these circumstances it would be grossly negligent of the British Boxing Board of Control to license Bruno to fight again.

The story of Bruno – depressed and confused – sleeping in the ring in his back garden and sometimes cycling for hours in his bare feet while wearing his gum shield – will not soon be forgotten by British boxing fans. At the time friends of Bruno’s said that the boxer, who won the WBC title against Oliver McCall at Wembley in 1995, had started to believe that he was the jockey Frankie Dettori and had accused a tailor, who was fitting him for a pantomime costume, of putting a straight jacket on him.

There was a time when Frank Bruno was the darling of British sporting circles. Extremely popular with the public he appeared on TV and the stage in numerous seasonal theatre productions. But the crushing loss of his world title to Mike Tyson and a painful and costly divorce from his childhood sweetheart in 2001 took its psychological toll on Bruno after his boxing career ended in 1996.

Far be it from me to call for a restraint of a man’s trade but in this case I think it is justified. No good can come of a 54 year old man with health issues returning to professional fighting competition. Boxing does not need to give itself another black eye as it tries to broaden its wider appeal to general sports fans. If a tragedy or permanent injury should befall Bruno in the ring the outrage from the medical anti boxing establishment and the general British public would be a severe blow to the sport.

Hopefully common sense prevails and Bruno finds another way to make use of the considerable boxing experience which carried him to a record of 40-5, 38 KO’s.

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