Lennox Lewis took part in a historic heavyweight title fight against one of his most vocal rivals, leading to a rather nasty feud pre-fight.
Considered one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all-time as well as one of the best British fighters to ever grace the ring, Lennox Lewis made a rare return to the UK during his boxing career for a sizable grudge match.
And making history in the process, Lewis, who won gold representing Canada at the Olympic Games, featured in the first world heavyweight championship fight featuring British-born fighters.
However, against that opponent, Lewis was embroiled in a rather sensitive pre-fight race row following ugly comments from both sides.
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Lennox Lewis’ bitter feud with Frank Bruno
Featuring at the now-demolished National Stadium in Wales on this day in 1993, Lewis would draw the challenge and wrath of emerging challenger Frank Bruno in defense of his WBC heavyweight championship.
And embroiled in a nasty pre-fight row, Lewis’ allegiance was called into question by Bruno, who questioned if the defending champion could even be considered British after he represented Canada at the Olympic Games.
Ripping Bruno for his comments, Lewis referred to the contender as the derogatory term, ‘Uncle Tom’, before branding him a fool for questioning his national identity.
“What was I supposed to do? Not follow my mother to Canada?”, “Look, I’ve fought more British fighters than that guy has,” Lewis said of Bruno. “He makes a fool of himself, dressing up in girls’ clothing on television.”
Come fight night, Bruno was leading on the judges’ scorecards before his eventual loss, with Lewis turning the tide with a big shot in the seventh round.
With ‘True Brit’ splattered on his fight shorts, Bruno was countered by Lewis, who exploded with a lengthy barrage of strikes, and despite dropping the challenger to the canvas, the champion prevailed with a successful defense, landing hellacious uppercuts for a finish.
Frank Bruno’s manager’s controversial comments
Despite his impressive showing against defending kingpin Lewis, Bruno was eventually stopped in the seventh round with that above-mentioned barrage.
Showing immense steel and grit to remain vertical despite the output from the towering Lewis, Bruno was on the receiving end of some rather terse comments from his own manager, Mickey Duff.
Questioning the ability of the Hammersmith native to absorb strikes, Duff boldly said, “Frank (Bruno) has no chin. Once he gets hit clean on the button, he goes.”