“Groundbreaking February 25, 1989 Showdown: Tyson vs Bruno Decides Heavyweight King”

Frank Bruno, on the other hand, was regarded as a gentle giant, a family man.

In the ring he was obviously a force to be reckoned with,
beginning his career in 1982 and racking up a 21–0 win record.

In 1984, though, Bruno came up against a ready James Smith.

Smith was on hand to lay his fist on Bruno’s chin
to hand him his first loss in the tenth round.

The British hype around Bruno was real,
but the commentator at the time shouted:
“And the Bruno story is more or less over.”

It wasn’t.

Bruno was back in the ring by September to face Ken Lakusta,
and over the years, the wins started to rack up,
including claiming the European heavyweight title
against Anders Eklund via knockout in 1985.

However, the 6-foot-3 “True Brit” fell short of his quest for a World Title,
falling to Tim Witherspoon in Wembley for the WBA Championship.

By the time Tyson had his shot at the WBA Championship,
the holder was Bruno’s previous vanquisher, James Smith.

Smith was beaten by Unanimous Decision by Tyson in 1987
for his WBA Title.

Come 1989, Tyson’s personal life went into turmoil
due to divorce proceedings, despite holding four belts.

Bruno, on the other hand, bounced back from his win
to stake his claim at the title,
irrespective of the fact he had not put on the gloves for 16 months.

His last bout was against Joe Bugner,
a heavyweight who had fought the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,
and he stopped him in the eighth round.

Few had Bruno coming away with the title,
and many predicted he would once again fail
in his attempt to claim a world title.

They were right.

However, the big news is that someone had rocked Tyson —
a feat seldom done,
as Tyson’s feet buckled.

It was not to be, though, for the Brit.

Ring rust was very evident,
and come the fifth round,
some devastating body blows followed by an uppercut
saw Frank falter.