Frank Bruno visits Newark Showground for An Evening With Frank Bruno, in aid of the Newark Patriotic Fund.
Former WBC World Heavyweight Champion Frank Bruno had an audience of more than 100 in the palm of his giant hand at Newark Showground on Saturday night when he was the star attraction for An Evening With Frank Bruno, in aid of the Newark Patriotic Fund.
Frank was expertly interviewed by comedian and compere Jed Stone and gave an unflinching yet highly entertaining account of his triumphs and traumas, both in the ring and in his personal life, including his battles with mental health.
Exchanging a few words with Frank at the start of the evening, he still cuts an imposing figure - broad shoulders, giant hands, and a voice so deep you almost feel the ground vibrate beneath your feet.
Patriotic Club founder member Keith caught the mood of the evening when he opened the proceedings by saying Frank "was a legend in the boxing world, but he also captured the heart of every British person."
The audience included one table occupied by recovering and rehabilitating veterans and their partners from the new Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall, near Loughborough. Their places have been paid for by local businesses and individuals.
The evening also featured an auction of sporting and showbiz memorabilia and music from local singer-songwriter Matt Shepardson.
In his talk Frank described how he began boxing at the age of eight and found it was the only sport at which he could excel: "I didn't like rugby, with football I had two left feet, and I was too heavy for athletics, so I decided to do boxing. I didn't like getting punched – but who does?"
As a teenage amateur he became the youngest-ever ABA champion, but at the age of 18 he felt obliged to turn professional: "My girlfriend was expecting a baby, so I definitely had to turn professional. It just gave me a wake-up call and I knew I had to do something to make money for the baby."
Twenty-one fights later he had 21 wins and 21 knockouts. His stellar progress was finally halted by world-champion-to be James 'Bonecrusher ' Smith in the 10th round of their fight, when Bruno was knocked out while ahead on points on all three judges' cards.
Frank spoke candidly about defeats by Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson too, but he was determined to keep pursuing his dream of a world heavyweight title: "Sometimes you have to lose before you can win. I had to learn to slow down in life." His dream finally came true in 1995, when Frank defeated 'the Atomic Bull' Oliver McCall, a tough Chicago fighter who had in turn defeated Lennox Lewis, and Frank took the WBC crown.
But defending his title, Frank suffered a detached retina in a second defeat to Mike Tyson and retired soon after. Missing the excitement and the focus that boxing gave him saw Frank succumb to depression and a breakdown. He was sectioned three times: "I went to hell and back. Some people do recover, some don't... But I'm a fighter. I'll be break-dancing in my coffin."
Ex-service men and woman can suffer similar problems or post-traumatic stress disorder after injury or retirement from active service, so Frank's message certainly resonated with the audience.He now has his own charity, the Frank Bruno Foundation, which offers wellbeing classes to help people through mental health problems.
Feeding Frank a final punchline, Jed Stone asked the star of the show who had hit him hardest during his boxing career? Not missing a beat, Frank said: "The taxman."
