Comparing Anthony Joshua to the Likes of Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno Joe Bugner & Henry Cooper!

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

For whatever reason, you may wish the Heavyweight Division carries with it more romanticism than any other. That might be because one big punch can cause mayhem. It might be the fact that they are like massive dinosaurs that belie the training and the effort they make to get in a ring.

Or it could just be simple.

We love knockouts and heavyweights knock each other out.

Last Saturday night, Anthony Joshua, 19-0, 19 KO’s, made a crossover from a boxing ring to the hearts of the majority of the British public. He was already a star. He had won Olympic Gold and he had given his heart and soul to his country before turning his dedication into cash and making his sport his income.

In the history of British boxing there have only been two other heavyweight boxers who have managed what Joshua has done and become popular sporting heroes; one managed to be a world champion whilst the other did not.

Neither though was the UK’s most successful heavyweight champion; Lennox Lewis.

Lewis, took Gold at the Seoul Olympics in 1988 for Canada! He had already represented Canada at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and won Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1986 for them. He qualified for Canada on the basis that he had lived there from the age of 12 though he had been born in London.

It was perhaps this quirk that led the British public to show some disdain for a guy who was a massively impressive boxer but spoke in a mid-Atlantic accent that was hard to believe made him British. Even when he went on to unify the heavyweight division it was difficult to rally behind him as Brits. Remember this is the former British, European, Commonwealth, WBC, IBF, WBO, The Ring and lineal world champion – what’s not to like?

He beat Frank Bruno.

Forget that he beat Shannon Briggs, Vitali Klitschko or Mike Tyson. He took on a guy who the British public loved an adored and what was worse – he beat him up! He took on Bruno to defend his WBC belt.

It was Bruno’s 3rd world title attempt and one that he was sorely backed to win but few thought he had a real chance. We desperately wanted the genial giant to prove us all wrong but were far from surprised when Lewis stopped him in the 7th.

Bruno was loved by the public for his honesty and his simple kind nature. His relationship with the broadcaster Harry Carpenter led to his catch phrase, Know What I Mean Harry? becoming something shouted at him in the street and expected in every interview. The fight with Lewis had come after losing his second world title bid as he tried to wrest the WBA belt from Tim Witherspoon and also after the first of his losses to Mike Tyson which was for the WBA, IBF, WBC, Ring and lineal titles.

Bruno was to finally win that world title by outpointing Oliver McCall for the WBC title before relinquishing it in a second-round loss to Mike Tyson. Bruno severely damaged his eye in that fight that meant he was warned not to carry on fighting. He retired but had a massive presence in the public eye as he went on to perform onstage and on television in a variety of roles and appearances.

Now he is also well known as the frail, former boxer whose mental health has suffered and that popularity has not dimmed but turned to sympathy for the vagaries of mental illness he has suffered and bravely confronted through talking publicly.

Prior to the rise of Bruno, we had another strange cross country heavyweight in Joe Bugner. Bugner was a strange mix as he was a Hungarian, British/Australian boxer. Born in Hungary his family fled the Soviet invasion and settled in the UK. In later life, he took his own family to Australia where he became a naturalised citizen – hence the triple nationality!

The British public struggled to take to Bugner and there were, at times, hints of a racist element to their objections. After all this is a former British, Commonwealth and European champion adding, in his comebacks, the Australian and WBF heavyweight titles. In 1975, he fought for the WBC and WBA heavyweight titles against Muhammad Ali and lost on points in Kuala Lumpur. He also fought Brian London and won, Joe Frazier and lost, Ali in 1973 and lost, Jimmy Ellis and won, Richard Dunn and won, Earnie Shavers and lost as well as that loss to Bruno which made him announce his first retirement. What’s not to like?

He beat Henry Cooper.

March 1971 in a highly contentious decision over 15 rounds, Bugner won by the slimmest of margins – ¼ of a point on one card. It was the last professional fight of Cooper’s long and distinguished career; that made it less sweet for the British public.

Cooper was the other favorite that transcended the sport and became a legend in his own celebrity. His Henry’s Hammer – a left hook described as the best in the business of the time – was his trademark and catchphrase. This was a boxer who was the British, Commonwealth and European champion as well as the only boxer to date that has been knighted by the Queen and therefore known as Sir Henry Cooper. He was also one of only four sportsmen and women to win the BBC sports personality of the year award twice. All this despite never winning a world tile!
Of course, he fought just the once for a world title, in 1966, against Muhammad Ali and lost. Like Bugner, he was to face Ali twice and lose on both occasions.

In all we have had quite a few world heavyweight champions. Including Bob Fitzsimmons from 1897, there have been 9 British born Heavyweight World Champions. As well as Bruno, Lewis and Joshua there have been little known Michael Bentt (WBO – lost it to Herbie Hide), then Herbie Hide (WBO – lost it to Riddick Bowe, then regained it against Tony Tucker before losing it to Vitali Klitschko), Henry Akinwade (WBO – lost it to Lennox Lewis), David Haye (WBA – lost it to Wladimir Klitschko) and Tyson Fury (WBO, WBA, IBF and still the lineal champion) are all added to Bruno and Joshua.

Of those 9 heavyweight world champions, we have had, one truly world class champion in Lennox Lewis and two icons of the sport in Frank Bruno and Henry Cooper.

Each of the three of them lacked one element. Lewis could not attract the popularity whilst Bruno was not up there in terms of world class and Cooper never delivered a world title. Joshua has the attraction, the class and the titles.

19 fights in, some of us are beginning to ask if we are witnessing the birth of a truly world class phenomenon, the likes of which we have never seen in British boxing. Already the signs are there and as long as Joshua is not found slaughtering goats in cupboards in some bizarre ritual the future is bright, the future is Joshua…

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