This full-length sport documentry tells the story of the infamous rivalry between boxing heavyweights Mike Tyson and Frank Bruno, charting the sensational highs and lows of two of the world’s most iconic boxers in history.
Bruno the British hero, Tyson the US villain, once known as the "baddest man on the planet" Iron Mike Tyson was friend and foe of Britain’s gentle giant Frank Bruno. In this film you'll find out the fascinating way their lives always remained connected like two sides of the same coin.
This amazing story, told from Frank Bruno’s perspective also features the insight of boxing legends Lennox Lewis, Buster Douglas and others at the centre of a sensational boxing tale that doesn’t shy away from the darker side of the sport, culminating in a brutally honest head to head meeting as both Tyson & Bruno deal openly with their inner demons, during a reunion between the two boxing foes.
Bruno the British hero, Tyson the US villain, once known as the "baddest man on the planet" Iron Mike Tyson was friend and foe of Britain’s gentle giant Frank Bruno. In this film you'll find out the fascinating way their lives always remained connected like two sides of the same coin.
This amazing story, told from Frank Bruno’s perspective also features the insight of boxing legends Lennox Lewis, Buster Douglas and others at the centre of a sensational boxing tale that doesn’t shy away from the darker side of the sport, culminating in a brutally honest head to head meeting as both Tyson & Bruno deal openly with their inner demons, during a reunion between the two boxing foes.
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TVTranscript
00:00:00I was hanging around with the wrong sort of like people, I was fascinated with bad guys.
00:00:12I think if I would have stopped hanging around with them people, I might not have been here
00:00:18today.
00:00:19He's always in a fight.
00:00:20He used to fight the teachers, his friends.
00:00:21He used to fight everybody.
00:00:22My mum warned me, if I don't behave myself and pull my socks up, I will be sent to a
00:00:38bull stool.
00:00:39I got expelled from my primary school and I got cast away to Sussex.
00:00:47They taught me a lot of discipline, focus and manners.
00:00:51I didn't have the education to be a lawyer, a solicitor.
00:00:57That's where I decided I wanted to be a boxer.
00:01:08This guy is an awesome puncher.
00:01:09I don't think the men in the street have any idea how powerful he is.
00:01:14Just a touch could floor your eye or anybody else's around.
00:01:21Do you ever wonder why you can hit people so hard?
00:01:24You seem to have a gift for it.
00:01:26If you want something in life and you want to be something in life, you just work and
00:01:30go for it as they say in America.
00:01:32Just go for it.
00:01:34We gon' let them know my story.
00:01:37They got the gold, the glory.
00:01:41My mama say, I'm gonna be a champion.
00:01:48I'm gonna hope to be a heavyweight champion of the world.
00:01:50I've been an underdog for a long, long, long time.
00:01:53Can Frank Bruno become our first heavyweight champion this century?
00:01:57Dreams do come true, just remember that.
00:02:00The heavyweight champion of the world is the pinnacle.
00:02:02It's the number one spot in sport.
00:02:04It's a rocky road, the boxing game.
00:02:06He's got a family that adore him.
00:02:08He's our Frank.
00:02:10My mama say, one day you're gonna be a champion.
00:02:13I had a family and I had bread to put on the table.
00:02:16I had it all worked out and I could make as much money as I could boxing.
00:02:20I would have reigned supreme if it weren't for Iron Mike Tyson.
00:02:25Mike Tyson!
00:02:27Mike Tyson is frightening.
00:02:31He's an animal, he just loves to hurt people.
00:02:33Psychologically, mentally and physically.
00:02:41I feel I was born to fight.
00:02:49They want my title, but they're not getting it.
00:02:51Frank has got the support that Mike Tyson will never have.
00:02:55Because people truly love him.
00:02:57I don't want you to go, daddy.
00:02:59Oh no, race, race, race, race, race, race.
00:03:25I'm telling you, really.
00:03:27I have a friend who's a judge.
00:03:29And when he gets a person like he did this particular one who came,
00:03:33the judge felt that in this sport there was some good, something worth saving there.
00:03:38Gravy on there already?
00:03:40Mike Tyson, he had a tough upbringing.
00:03:44He had been arrested 38 times.
00:03:47He had been arrested twice.
00:03:50He had a tough upbringing.
00:03:52He had been arrested 38 times by the age of 13.
00:03:56And when legendary trainer Customato met him,
00:03:59he had no parents and no home.
00:04:01So he adopted him as his son.
00:04:06I always liked boxing.
00:04:08I said, if he's into boxing, I can tell you now I can do something with him.
00:04:11All right, come on, are you going to be seated?
00:04:13Yes, I am going to be seated.
00:04:15All right.
00:04:18If he wants to be the fighter, he says he wants to be.
00:04:20He has to subject himself to those rules and the framework of this house
00:04:24and the demands of the gymnasium.
00:04:28How much is it? You got enough?
00:04:30The guy went to the restaurant, right?
00:04:32He took off a very expensive coat and hung it up.
00:04:35And on the coat he put a little card.
00:04:38And on there it said, this coat belongs to the heavyweight champion of the world.
00:04:41Come back, the coat is gone.
00:04:43There's a little card, another card.
00:04:46The coat was stolen by the fastest runner in the world.
00:04:48Come and get me.
00:04:52Is that for real?
00:04:56I was just very ambitious.
00:04:58I wanted people to know my name.
00:05:00I was just fed that.
00:05:02I was fed that every day from my trainer, you're the best ever.
00:05:04People are going to know your name.
00:05:06The world's going to know you.
00:05:08People are going to name their children after you.
00:05:10And I was worried.
00:05:12I didn't want to disappoint them and make them look stupid.
00:05:16So you don't throw it from there.
00:05:18You throw it from there more.
00:05:20Get over there more.
00:05:22Yeah, that's it. Now you can throw it, see?
00:05:26My job is to take the spark and fan it.
00:05:30That's it, see?
00:05:32Ain't no way it's going to hit you now, right?
00:05:36When it starts to become a little flame, I feed it.
00:05:40And I feed the fire until it becomes a roaring blaze.
00:05:46All right, we'll do the uppercuts another time.
00:05:48By 20, he was the world's youngest ever heavyweight champion.
00:05:50I wanted to make my mentor look correct.
00:05:52And that was my main objective.
00:05:54I wanted to make him happy
00:05:56to have the youngest heavyweight champ.
00:05:58That's good enough.
00:06:00That's good enough.
00:06:02That's good enough.
00:06:04That's good enough.
00:06:06That's good enough.
00:06:08That's good enough.
00:06:10That's good enough.
00:06:12That's good enough.
00:06:14That's good enough.
00:06:22And as my first guest, who certainly knows how to survive,
00:06:24it's the people who are on the receiving end
00:06:26of one of his punches that have the problems.
00:06:28Will you please welcome
00:06:30the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world,
00:06:32Mike Tyson!
00:06:44Is this some kind of truss
00:06:46that you've brought over?
00:06:48What's that?
00:06:50That's the WBC one.
00:06:52Yeah, look at that.
00:06:54Fantastic. That's terrific.
00:06:56You saw Frank Bruno today.
00:06:58Is he in good shape?
00:07:00He looks in great shape.
00:07:02Does he?
00:07:04You sparred with Bruno?
00:07:06Yeah.
00:07:08Was this when you were an up-and-coming fighter
00:07:10and he was there?
00:07:13We were both young.
00:07:15He was like 20 and I was like 15
00:07:17when we first started.
00:07:19Frank Bruno has always said
00:07:21that boxing really saved him
00:07:23from a life of crime.
00:07:25Did that be true of you?
00:07:27Because it has been said
00:07:29that you were a pretty rough diamond
00:07:31when you were young.
00:07:33I came from a very wild and active neighborhood
00:07:35when I was a young kid,
00:07:37but it's really difficult for me
00:07:39to believe that Frank Bruno
00:07:41was a fighter.
00:07:43He's so powerful and such a sweet guy.
00:07:45I want to give him a hug and give him a kiss.
00:07:51Iron Mike has come a long way
00:07:53since the days on the Brooklyn streets
00:07:55of unarmed robberies and muggings
00:07:57and house breakings.
00:08:05There was a tremendous excitement
00:08:07about the possibility
00:08:09of Frank and Tyson fighting.
00:08:11And Frank, with his big laugh,
00:08:13the guy that trained
00:08:15above the Royal Oak pub,
00:08:17wanted to disprove
00:08:19the doubts that people had.
00:08:23Joel just said he's going to turn you
00:08:25into an animal.
00:08:27You've always been the most lovable
00:08:29pussycat.
00:08:33I'll be an animal, Jimmy.
00:08:35In what way?
00:08:37Self-wise, you know, because this is so important
00:08:39to me.
00:08:41The 80s were boring
00:08:43until
00:08:45Frank Bruno came along.
00:08:47He changed how people looked at the sport.
00:08:49Every time
00:08:51he fought on TV,
00:08:53the public would go wild
00:08:55about it.
00:08:59Frank Bruno's
00:09:01unthreatening nature was
00:09:03the secret to his success.
00:09:05You know, as long as I keep my feet on the ground
00:09:07and don't start being a playboy
00:09:09and everything like that,
00:09:11I should build up all the time.
00:09:13In Britain, Bruno came to
00:09:15represent the acceptable face
00:09:17of black masculinity.
00:09:21His parents came from
00:09:23the West Indies. They were among the first
00:09:25immigrants to settle in this part of the world.
00:09:27And then he became, well, his company
00:09:29a state and kidney buyer.
00:09:32You took a bit of stick
00:09:34from some of the critics, didn't you, at the beginning?
00:09:36And now I notice they're all coming around and saying
00:09:38that you're really good at it.
00:09:39I mean, I'm just a ducker and diver
00:09:41just trying to make a living.
00:09:47Frank cared about other things.
00:09:49He cared about what other people wanted.
00:09:51He cared about what people thought about him.
00:09:53That could have been a weakness.
00:09:58Tyson, on the other hand,
00:10:00was untamed. He was feared.
00:10:04The media loved to hate Tyson.
00:10:06And just here, Mike.
00:10:08We all think now
00:10:10of a fight of you against Bruno.
00:10:12Is that something you're looking forward to?
00:10:16We're looking forward to the possibility
00:10:18of fighting Bruno.
00:10:20A lot will depend on how Bruno
00:10:22does against Tillis.
00:10:31The crowd and Bruno know
00:10:33that he has to do a really good job tonight.
00:10:35If he does, it could put him on the path
00:10:37to the world heavyweight title.
00:10:39And the man who holds the world heavyweight title
00:10:41I'm delighted to say is sitting
00:10:43right beside me and he's going to help me with the commentary tonight.
00:10:45Mike Tyson, welcome to Wembley, Mike.
00:10:47Thank you very much, Harry.
00:10:50My dream is to win the heavyweight championship
00:10:52with the world. I've got my chance.
00:10:54I'm going to let it pass me, you know?
00:11:00Bruno's entire career at stake here.
00:11:05Frank never was great with speed
00:11:07but he had a right hand like, you know
00:11:09it was probably like getting hit in the face with a tree trunk.
00:11:13There's the big Bruno right.
00:11:15That's the one he's been saving.
00:11:20Good uppercut from Bruno.
00:11:23Tillis is badly hurt and he doesn't want to fight on
00:11:25and the referee stopped it anyway.
00:11:28Maybe one of these days, Mike
00:11:30you may be in there with him.
00:11:33I commend you. You came out very well
00:11:35and I'm very impressed.
00:11:37And I look forward to meeting you in the future.
00:11:39Thank you very much. I think you're a great man.
00:11:41Thank you. Same to you, Mike.
00:11:47Mike Tyson has signed to fight
00:11:49Frank Bruno in London.
00:11:51The richest fight in British boxing history.
00:11:53Frank Bruno is hoping to beat the American Tyson
00:11:56and so become the first Britain this century
00:11:58crowned as the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
00:12:06Do you really believe you can win this fight?
00:12:08You know me, there's no man unbeatable at all.
00:12:10There's only one God.
00:12:14Boxing is a business.
00:12:17Mike Tyson and Frank Bruno
00:12:19were going to be the biggest fight ever
00:12:21in this country.
00:12:2490,000 people
00:12:26and Frank had the opportunity
00:12:28to make more money than ever before.
00:12:33He was going to get a million quid.
00:12:36Some people would say you're just doing it for the money.
00:12:38The money does help pay the light bills
00:12:40and put petrol in the car.
00:12:42He's supposed to be something of a tiger in the ring, isn't he?
00:12:44Frank has demolished
00:12:46some pretty hard men, hasn't he?
00:12:48Right, it's people like you that are making him
00:12:50sound like he's on one stone
00:12:52but I'm heavier than him
00:12:54and he's fighting in my country so I'm happy.
00:12:59But Frank sadly
00:13:01did not get his dream.
00:13:06Tyson's car skidded off a wet road
00:13:08and slammed into a tree
00:13:10knocking the fighter unconscious.
00:13:12He was taken to a local hospital
00:13:14and then transferred to one in New York City.
00:13:16All the while his wife
00:13:18tried to keep the media away.
00:13:23In an interview
00:13:25with ABC television this evening
00:13:27Gibbons had called her marriage
00:13:29to Tyson pure hell, describing
00:13:31the heavyweight champion as a manic depressive
00:13:33who terrorized her.
00:13:35It was humiliating.
00:13:37Tyson's demons were being
00:13:39laid bare on national TV
00:13:41and he just sat there and said nothing.
00:13:43I went from
00:13:45one corner of the wall
00:13:47bounced off that corner of the wall to another corner
00:13:49and then I was out.
00:13:53October's
00:13:55world heavyweight fight
00:13:57between Mike Tyson and Frank Bruno
00:13:59is off. Tyson suffered
00:14:01head injuries in a car crash at the weekend.
00:14:03He will fight Bruno eventually
00:14:05but it's not known when.
00:14:09It's sad you know
00:14:11because I've done solid four months
00:14:13training for this fight.
00:14:15I've been away from home for four months
00:14:17and it's been hard taking it to be quite honest
00:14:19because I've put in a lot of work
00:14:22You hear all crazy questions about people saying
00:14:24you shouldn't go in the same ring as him.
00:14:26He's busted his hand, he's done his ribbing, he's done his braiding
00:14:28and he's confused at the moment
00:14:30so wouldn't you think I should stand a much more better chance?
00:14:42I think being wrapped up in the whole Mike Tyson
00:14:44story only propelled Frank
00:14:46further into the limelight.
00:14:48In 1989 in Britain
00:14:51really no other sportsman had anything like his profile
00:14:55but he was in limbo
00:14:57and the only way he was going to get to the title
00:14:59was to go and meet Tyson
00:15:01in person and try to beg him
00:15:03to confirm a fight date.
00:15:11British boxer Frank Bruno
00:15:13has set off to Los Angeles to meet the man
00:15:15he wants to fight for the world heavyweight title
00:15:17which has been postponed five times
00:15:19since last June.
00:15:21By December the fight had been delayed
00:15:23and delayed and delayed
00:15:25and I think Frank
00:15:27felt like the opportunity was slipping away from him.
00:15:29Do you think it was any
00:15:31deliberate attempt to try and unsettle you?
00:15:33It might have been to try and unsettle me
00:15:35but I've been training nearly every day
00:15:37I'm a little bit old now and I'm a man
00:15:39I can stand up to all them sort of things.
00:15:43I'm very very confident it's going to be on this time
00:15:45I'm not going there for the suntan.
00:15:48What will you be saying to Mr Tyson when you get there?
00:15:50I'm not too sure. All I want to know is that he's going to be
00:15:52in the opposite corner.
00:15:59The plan worked.
00:16:01Frank finally got his fight
00:16:03and a bigger payday for his trouble
00:16:05but there was a catch.
00:16:08Now two million pounds is the purse
00:16:10presumably that's because the venue's changed
00:16:12it won't take place in Britain
00:16:14but Las Vegas, does that bother you?
00:16:17It does bother me a little bit because
00:16:19my true fans
00:16:21wanted to see the fight
00:16:23the fight was made in England and it's a little bit disappointing.
00:16:33He hated being away from home
00:16:35he was very homesick.
00:16:40You bring the family over? Your mum?
00:16:42My mum's coming over for the fight
00:16:44my lady's coming over
00:16:46my brother and sisters are coming over
00:16:48and there's 2,000 people from England.
00:16:502,000 people from England?
00:16:52And they're all staying at your place?
00:16:54No.
00:16:56Does your mum, does she sit right up in front?
00:16:58No she's just coming to Vegas
00:17:00she's a evangelist
00:17:02so she doesn't really like boxing.
00:17:04Well I couldn't think of a better place for evangelists
00:17:06than Vegas.
00:17:12I've never been there before
00:17:14but I should be there this time.
00:17:16I mean you have got to bend over backwards
00:17:18at times
00:17:20to please everybody
00:17:22especially in your family
00:17:24and I'm doing just that.
00:17:28I miss home, I miss England
00:17:30but it's a job that I've got to do.
00:17:32Do you think it would help if you could have the children or see the children?
00:17:34It's life's hell, I moved away after Christmas
00:17:36from seeing them, I miss them
00:17:38I speak to them nearly every single day
00:17:40and I love them.
00:17:42Where are they?
00:17:44I have them here, you'll be able to see them.
00:17:46Here they come, that's Rachel and Nicola.
00:17:48Rachel and Nicola.
00:18:10I love you as well darling, you'll be good for mummy.
00:18:18If there was one guy
00:18:20to beat Mike Tyson
00:18:22it was Frank Bruno
00:18:24because he had the stature, the strength
00:18:26and the power.
00:18:28It's all about the will to win.
00:18:34This was a great moment
00:18:36of opportunity for Frank
00:18:38because Mike Tyson seemed to have
00:18:40completely lost his way.
00:18:42So how's the training going?
00:18:44Because Bruno is kind of hoping you're not going to be fit enough.
00:18:46I don't know.
00:18:48Are you feeling in great shape?
00:18:50I'm in good enough shape to fight.
00:18:56The guy had a car crash, he damaged his hand.
00:18:58His mind is not on the game.
00:19:00His mind is not conditioned for this fight.
00:19:02I was confident before all this happened.
00:19:04I think this is a prime time
00:19:06to beat Mike Tyson.
00:19:10If Bruno can find the punch
00:19:12of his life
00:19:14he believes he can fulfil what he says
00:19:16is his destiny.
00:19:18The heavyweight championship of the world.
00:19:24Don King is trying to make Mike Tyson
00:19:26out to be Superman.
00:19:28But I got Kryptonite to beat him.
00:19:30Thank you very much.
00:19:38Win or lose
00:19:40White Britain had embraced Bruno.
00:19:44Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!
00:19:46They'd like to hear Bruno give a preview
00:19:48of what you can expect in the ring
00:19:50Saturday.
00:19:52A new heavyweight champion.
00:19:56Anybody who hits like Frank
00:19:58has got a chance with anybody in the world.
00:20:00Because you only have to hit somebody once
00:20:02in the right place at the right time
00:20:04and you've won.
00:20:06It's a story of hard work
00:20:08versus war talent.
00:20:10Bruno lived by the rules.
00:20:12He wanted to serve his country.
00:20:14Frank Bruno weighs in at 228 pounds.
00:20:20Tyson on the other hand
00:20:22was framed by the US media
00:20:24as a dangerous deviant.
00:20:26Mike Tyson weighs in at an even
00:20:28218 pounds.
00:20:34Two men with so much in common
00:20:36were loved and hated in equal measure.
00:20:43Welcome to ringside in Las Vegas.
00:20:45Bruno! Bruno! Bruno!
00:20:47Everybody's had an opinion about
00:20:49what would happen when Frank Bruno
00:20:51entered the ring against Mike Tyson.
00:20:53Well, we're about to see.
00:20:56Bruno is on his way
00:20:58to the ring.
00:21:01The most important night of his life.
00:21:03A momentous occasion
00:21:05in the history of British boxing.
00:21:09And here comes the gladiator
00:21:11Iron Mike Tyson
00:21:13makes his way to the ring.
00:21:17Can Bruno pull off
00:21:19the greatest British win of the century?
00:21:23Are you ready Harry?
00:21:25I'm ready Des. Here's Frank.
00:21:29This is the main event
00:21:31of the evening
00:21:33for the undisputed
00:21:35heavyweight championship of the world.
00:21:37In the blue corner
00:21:39the challenger Frank Bruno.
00:21:45And in the red corner
00:21:47the undisputed heavyweight
00:21:49champion of the world
00:21:51Iron Mike Tyson.
00:22:01Here is the moment of truth.
00:22:05In round one
00:22:07Tyson's got the ball
00:22:09he just charges at Bruno.
00:22:11And there goes Bruno!
00:22:13Bruno's hurt and he's out there in the first few seconds.
00:22:15It's disaster time.
00:22:17He caught Bruno, he was wobbled
00:22:19and then another right hand
00:22:21got him up over the shoulder, got him off balance.
00:22:23That must have been a dreadful blow
00:22:25to his bravado.
00:22:29I think Tyson thought
00:22:31and this was going to be one way
00:22:33it was going to be easy cake
00:22:35but
00:22:37Frank was fighting to win.
00:23:01I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing.
00:23:05I'd never seen Tyson before but Bruno did.
00:23:09I'm out of my seat. I'm actually out of my seat
00:23:11because you just think he could actually win.
00:23:15Tyson trying to fight back
00:23:17it's the first time
00:23:19I've seen Tyson staggered.
00:23:21A bell ends.
00:23:23Round number one
00:23:25and the crowd loves it.
00:23:27So Bruno went down but not hurt
00:23:29and Bruno tagged Tyson
00:23:31and did hurt him.
00:23:35It's been a fantastic feeling to go back to the corner for Frank.
00:23:37The first round had gone much better
00:23:39than anybody had really hoped.
00:23:43Nobody likes to get
00:23:45hit in the head by anybody.
00:23:47Much less a big
00:23:49strong guy like Bruno
00:23:51and I'm sure that
00:23:53from a mental standpoint
00:23:55Tyson's
00:23:57expectations were
00:23:59turned.
00:24:06It'll be interesting to see if he's like a
00:24:08wild man in round two.
00:24:12Frank had some other good moments
00:24:14in rounds two and three.
00:24:18But Tyson
00:24:20started to take control back
00:24:22and he went up the gear
00:24:24immediately.
00:24:27Tyson is punishing Frank Bruno
00:24:29right now.
00:24:32Bruno again lets Tyson
00:24:34come in and again he hangs on.
00:24:36Frank was taking more
00:24:38and more punishment.
00:24:42And in the fifth round
00:24:44the end was inevitable.
00:24:55But Bruno was
00:24:57too brave for his own good.
00:24:59He's still in big trouble.
00:25:01The uppercut catches him.
00:25:03The right hand catches him.
00:25:11Tyson knows he's got him
00:25:13in big trouble.
00:25:21Richard Steele has moved in
00:25:23and has stopped the fight.
00:25:25Bruno's brave challenge
00:25:27has come to an end.
00:25:29Michael Tyson wins
00:25:31on the fifth round. TKO!
00:25:58Come on, where's he going?
00:26:02You weren't intimidated at all, Frank?
00:26:04Not one little bit. I'm intimidated by you.
00:26:06Good luck.
00:26:10Frank left the ring
00:26:12but there's no way he's a loser because
00:26:14he has got the support that Mike Tyson
00:26:16will never have because people don't
00:26:18truly love him and they love Frank.
00:26:20If Tyson walked out that ring
00:26:22the loser, he'd have nobody
00:26:24because he hasn't got what Frank's got.
00:26:27Frank's got a family that adore him
00:26:29and he's never a loser to us
00:26:31because he's ours. He's our Frank.
00:26:43I haven't seen my kids
00:26:45for nearly two months
00:26:47so that's the first thing I want to see.
00:26:49Thank you everybody.
00:26:51Cheers.
00:26:54Rich, come on.
00:26:56Easy, boy.
00:26:58He found his compulsion. Did he ever hurt you, Mike?
00:27:00Well, he was throwing hard punches. I got hit with some hard punches
00:27:02but I refused to be hurt.
00:27:04Thanks, Mike.
00:27:06Tyson regarded himself as being
00:27:08invincible and there was no reason
00:27:10to doubt his invincibility
00:27:12at that time.
00:27:14We were all
00:27:16blown away by the performance of Tyson.
00:27:18On that night,
00:27:20Bruno had probably faced
00:27:22the best Mike Tyson ever.
00:27:24I knew that he was
00:27:26going to be tough because I knew he read the papers
00:27:28and he was so psyched out and as he said,
00:27:30this is the peak time to beat Mike Tyson
00:27:32and
00:27:34I knew
00:27:36he had that in his mind. I knew he was serious
00:27:38to fight.
00:27:44You would have thought
00:27:46that this would have ended Frank's moment
00:27:48in the limelight but I think it was
00:27:50the manner in which he lost that made
00:27:52the public love him even more.
00:27:56It's so difficult, you know.
00:27:58I went in there 100% confident
00:28:00that I got knocked down so that messed up
00:28:02my confidence, my balance and everything
00:28:04but I'm not making no excuses. Mike Tyson's a good
00:28:06fighter and I can't take nothing away from him.
00:28:10He was almost lifted aloft and carried on people's
00:28:12shoulders throughout the whole nation.
00:28:14Everybody was patting Frank Bruno on the back.
00:28:16Move to the back.
00:28:20Back.
00:28:24That's really not what he wanted.
00:28:26He wanted the heavyweight championship of the world.
00:28:30He'd spent 15 years of his life
00:28:32working toward producing a performance
00:28:34that would give him a victory.
00:28:38I thought it was fantastic
00:28:40what he'd done.
00:28:44So long as Mike Tyson was at the helm
00:28:46he was always going to have
00:28:48an impossible task of fulfilling
00:28:50his ultimate dream.
00:28:58The problem really for Tyson
00:29:00was as good as he performed
00:29:02against Bruno there was this sense
00:29:04of impending chaos all
00:29:06around him.
00:29:08Anyone growing up the way Mike Tyson
00:29:10grew up would have
00:29:12a deeply flawed
00:29:14personality. He grew up
00:29:16on the streets fighting for his
00:29:18life.
00:29:22When his mentor
00:29:24Custom Motto died
00:29:26Tyson had nobody
00:29:28to keep him under control.
00:29:30He was the only one
00:29:32who could do it.
00:29:34Tyson had nobody
00:29:36to keep him under control.
00:29:38He needed a father.
00:29:40The time he only
00:29:42had he gave him how to fight.
00:29:44That's about all but actually
00:29:46how to live he didn't have enough time.
00:29:50The Bernersville Police Department
00:29:52received a call
00:29:54indicating a disturbance was in progress
00:29:56at the Tyson residence.
00:29:58Robin Givens fled to California from her husband
00:30:00the heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
00:30:02And today Marvin Mitchelson
00:30:04filed for a Givens divorce from
00:30:06Tyson.
00:30:10After Mike
00:30:12and Robin Givens broke up
00:30:14emotionally he was
00:30:16destroyed.
00:30:20That's what enabled Don King
00:30:22to take over.
00:30:28He's one of the great
00:30:30con artists of all
00:30:32time.
00:30:38I pay fighters more money
00:30:40than anyone in the history of this sport.
00:30:42Only thing I can be guilty of
00:30:44is hitting them in the head with hundred dollar bills.
00:30:46Don's motive was to put
00:30:48Mike back in a street punk mentality
00:30:50because Mike's attorneys
00:30:52were Don's attorneys.
00:30:54Turbulent Tyson
00:30:56slipped away from training for an unannounced
00:30:58trip to Vancouver to visit
00:31:00his estranged wife Robin Givens.
00:31:02While there he'd assaulted a TV crew.
00:31:04It all added to the speculation
00:31:06that he may be in no fit emotional
00:31:08state.
00:31:10They don't care about
00:31:12Mike. They care about money.
00:31:16The undoing of Tyson
00:31:18had started already.
00:31:20The reckless behavior,
00:31:22the chaos, it was allowed
00:31:24more.
00:31:26Had an arsonist in your midst.
00:31:28Problem with
00:31:30King was he'd give them matches.
00:31:36I had been shipwrecked
00:31:38on this island now for three
00:31:40long years.
00:31:42I was becoming weary of the same old
00:31:44food. Then one day
00:31:46I came across a wooden case.
00:31:48Inside I found a curry sauce,
00:31:50a chili sauce, and spicy
00:31:52tomato. All from HP.
00:31:54My food
00:31:56was now much improved.
00:31:58I wish I could say the same for Friday.
00:32:00He still can't get my name right.
00:32:02Add variety to life
00:32:04with the new sauces from HP.
00:32:12I think any fighter
00:32:14in Frank's situation at that time
00:32:16did need a period away
00:32:18from boxing.
00:32:20Commercially,
00:32:22Frank was a hotter proposition
00:32:24than ever before, and he did take
00:32:26the opportunity to maximize
00:32:28that.
00:32:30This is 1989.
00:32:32The days of just having a guy as a boxer
00:32:34was one thing. If you've got a guy
00:32:36with a personality like Frank, then
00:32:38there's obviously lots of opportunities in
00:32:40television, advertising, sponsorship,
00:32:42that sort of thing.
00:32:46He could even go on to
00:32:48have a long future as a TV personality.
00:32:50What is your requirements, Michael?
00:32:52Why do you think that is?
00:32:54I think it's because he's just such a nice guy.
00:32:56And it doesn't matter if he's a loser.
00:32:58Exactly.
00:33:02Do you think you are more an entertainer
00:33:04than a fighter?
00:33:06I'm just a ducker and diver, you know. I do a little bit of entertaining,
00:33:08a little bit of boxing.
00:33:10You wouldn't find Mike Tyson doing that, would you?
00:33:12That's my sweetie money, you know.
00:33:14Say please.
00:33:16And go. And in.
00:33:20That's the sort of thing.
00:33:22When you do pantomime, it doesn't do your boxing
00:33:24any favors.
00:33:26The two don't really mix.
00:33:28How are you enjoying your first acting role?
00:33:30It's a different experience for you,
00:33:32isn't it? It's pretty nice.
00:33:34Very different. Unusual.
00:33:36A bit different from boxing, though.
00:33:38Yeah, totally different.
00:33:45And I'm delighted to say
00:33:47he's joining us live from Las Vegas
00:33:49right now, the undisputed heavyweight champion
00:33:51of the world, Iron Mike Tyson.
00:33:53Mike,
00:33:55in honor of your position as the
00:33:57undisputed heavyweight champion of the world,
00:33:59and for maintaining your unbeaten record
00:34:01in 1989, I'm very happy indeed
00:34:03to present you with the BBC's
00:34:05Overseas Sports Personality
00:34:07of the Year Award. Congratulations, Mike.
00:34:15Well, alongside me
00:34:17is the man that I suppose you dealt
00:34:19with back in February, Frank Bruno.
00:34:21You got anything to say here to Frank?
00:34:23How you doing, Frank? I hear you singing nowadays.
00:34:25Yeah?
00:34:27Give us a little verse. Let's hear what you're
00:34:29going to sing us. No, no, yeah, you got me on the
00:34:31spot, you know? I can't sing.
00:34:33Of course, we don't really know, Frank, whether
00:34:35there's any prospect of you two getting together again.
00:34:37I was just going to ask him if he's still on, you know?
00:34:39Yeah. But you just let him go.
00:34:41Well, of course, for the moment, you're otherwise engaged, aren't you?
00:34:43Do you mind if we have a little look at your
00:34:45most recent performance, Frank?
00:34:51I think there were moments
00:34:53that he probably would probably go back to the hotel room afterwards
00:34:55and think, oh, God, I'm not
00:34:57doing my career anymore.
00:34:59He didn't have a purpose. He never got that
00:35:01buzz that he got from boxing.
00:35:03Hello, beautiful!
00:35:05Relax, darling, I'm only acting.
00:35:09Ladies and gentlemen, Frank Bruno was a great sport.
00:35:19I knew something wasn't right.
00:35:21He was down. He wasn't happy.
00:35:35In 1990, I got a call
00:35:37and said I was next in line
00:35:39to Charles Tyson.
00:35:41He was still undefeated.
00:35:43But leading up to that fight,
00:35:45he was all over the place.
00:35:47Rumours were
00:35:49he'd been a partying all night.
00:35:55It's still in great shape and
00:35:57there's nowhere I could lose.
00:35:59In terms of sports psychology and so on,
00:36:01do you have a method? None at all?
00:36:03It's fight. Nothing's better.
00:36:05You can have a psychiatrist, you can have whatever.
00:36:07No, you can't fight.
00:36:09You're ****.
00:36:15Tyson was going to be defeated sooner or later.
00:36:17But everybody thought I had nothing to offer.
00:36:19The only ones that believed
00:36:21that it could be possible for me to beat him
00:36:23was my brother and my father and myself.
00:36:29Douglas looks pretty dangerous with that right.
00:36:33Tyson is having his problems.
00:36:35Douglas there, really looking to explode the right hand.
00:36:41Look at that right uppercut.
00:36:43Tyson is down!
00:36:45Tyson is down for the first time in his career.
00:36:47Once I dropped him,
00:36:49I thought he was going to get up.
00:36:51We never thought we'd see this.
00:36:53You may be watching the biggest sensation
00:36:55in heavyweight history.
00:36:57It is all over.
00:36:59The title has gone from Mike Tyson.
00:37:01Tyson didn't really take Buster Douglas
00:37:03too serious.
00:37:05And when you don't,
00:37:07history happens.
00:37:09Buster Douglas is the new
00:37:11heavyweight champion of the world.
00:37:13Going into that fight,
00:37:15he was indestructible.
00:37:17After the fight,
00:37:19I don't think we were ever the same individual.
00:37:21You can't betray yourself
00:37:23outside the ring.
00:37:25It's going to show up inside the ring.
00:37:27What do you think went wrong?
00:37:29I wasn't right.
00:37:31I took it for granted.
00:37:33I took my body for granted.
00:37:35I took my skills for granted.
00:37:37Leave the girls alone.
00:37:39Leave the late nights alone.
00:37:41Concentrate on what you're doing.
00:37:43The king is dead.
00:37:45Mike Tyson's reign as heavyweight champion is over.
00:37:47Frank Bruno, does that make it any easier
00:37:49for you to make a decision to come back?
00:37:51The way people were talking about Tyson
00:37:53as if he was King Kong.
00:37:55I'm not running down Tyson now
00:37:57as he got beaten or anything,
00:37:59but no one's King Kong.
00:38:01Nobody's invincible.
00:38:09I've got the hat on.
00:38:11It's been quite a year for you.
00:38:13You've been in Panto.
00:38:15I'm here talking to you press guys.
00:38:17It's been quite an exciting year for me.
00:38:19So many commentators
00:38:21enjoyed the demise of Mike Tyson,
00:38:23but in semi-retirement,
00:38:25Frank was still a hero.
00:38:27Thank you very much, gentlemen.
00:38:37Frank was a very wealthy man.
00:38:41He was able to hire helicopters,
00:38:43flying celebrities
00:38:45for his children's birthday parties.
00:38:55But it didn't matter
00:38:57how things went in his personal life.
00:38:59Frank wanted that title.
00:39:03It's like being married
00:39:05and your wife running away from you
00:39:07and you love her and she just won't come back.
00:39:09It's always in your heart.
00:39:17It is all over.
00:39:19The title has gone from Mike Tyson.
00:39:21Any normal person
00:39:23would have taken that loss
00:39:25and learned a real lesson from it.
00:39:27But not Mike Tyson.
00:39:29His attitude was still one of
00:39:31I can take whatever I want.
00:39:33I can do whatever I want
00:39:35and nobody's going to stop me.
00:39:41Mike Tyson was only in town
00:39:43for 24 hours.
00:39:45But in those 24 hours,
00:39:47he blew in like a tornado.
00:39:49He was by himself,
00:39:51so he decided to just go ahead
00:39:53and show up at Miss Black America.
00:39:55Oh, I'm in a dream
00:39:57day after day.
00:39:59Beautiful women, such an array.
00:40:01What can I say?
00:40:05I'll play with him a little.
00:40:07Yeah, definitely, that sounds better.
00:40:13I'm only playing.
00:40:15It turned out to be the worst mistake
00:40:17of Mike Tyson's life.
00:40:19He put his arm around me
00:40:21and I thought it was going to my waist,
00:40:23but it went to my rear end
00:40:25and he rubbed it and squeezed or whatever.
00:40:27I'm doing some little moves here.
00:40:29As you notice, I'm going in and out laterals.
00:40:31I'm going to be horizontal,
00:40:33working it over.
00:40:35He was clearly out of control.
00:40:37He almost had kind of a
00:40:39roving hunter look to him.
00:40:41You look good, 14.
00:40:43I forgot how good you look.
00:40:45Shit.
00:40:47He had all of these women
00:40:49clearly enamored with him,
00:40:51including Desiree Washington.
00:40:53Thank you, Desiree.
00:40:55Hello, my name is Desiree.
00:40:57He was obviously taken with her.
00:40:59She was a very pretty girl
00:41:01and Desiree was thrilled
00:41:03and he took advantage of that.
00:41:05Because I love a man who loves to debate.
00:41:07Do you have a problem?
00:41:09Do you have a problem calling to report a rape?
00:41:15A special grand jury
00:41:17returned a four count indictment
00:41:19charging Michael Tyson
00:41:21with one count of rape,
00:41:23two counts of criminal deviant conduct
00:41:25and one count of criminal confinement.
00:41:27Desiree Washington
00:41:29knows what happened in the room.
00:41:31I know what happened
00:41:33and I know I'm innocent.
00:41:35It's a terrible moment
00:41:37for Mike Tyson.
00:41:39All it does for the rest
00:41:41is open up opportunity.
00:41:44Frank Bruno is tonight
00:41:46waiting for the verdict
00:41:48of the British Boxing Board of Control
00:41:50on whether he'll be allowed to fight again.
00:41:55Frank had evidence
00:41:57of a significant eye injury
00:41:59related to his fight with Mike Tyson
00:42:01two years earlier.
00:42:03So I advise Frank that
00:42:05he should seriously consider retiring.
00:42:07It looked like Tyson
00:42:09might be going away for a long time
00:42:11but Frank Bruno desperately wanted a comeback.
00:42:13The doctors said it was way too dangerous
00:42:15but Frank just refused to give up on it.
00:42:17I've just got to wait
00:42:19until I have operation
00:42:21that's when I can give you more information.
00:42:23I've got it all in written, that's all I can say.
00:42:25I'm not too sure yet, Miss Thames.
00:42:27You don't know?
00:42:29Do you fear for the future?
00:42:31You've got to take that into consideration
00:42:33but I've just got to wait and see.
00:42:35Unfortunately, like every other boxer
00:42:37I've dealt with,
00:42:39I tend to ignore my warnings
00:42:41in that respect.
00:42:45We're all crazy in this world.
00:42:47I'm crazy for wanting to come back
00:42:49but it's in my blood
00:42:51and I would like to get it out once and for all.
00:43:03Bruno's retina was severely damaged
00:43:05and he should have retired.
00:43:09That was just not going to stop him.
00:43:15One has to say he returns to the ring
00:43:17amid deep public concern for his well-being.
00:43:23Frank knew the risks.
00:43:25He knew that things
00:43:27could go horribly wrong
00:43:29but it was a part of the challenge
00:43:31that he accepted.
00:43:35The left hand!
00:43:37I think that will put everything
00:43:39beyond any possible doubt.
00:43:43It's official.
00:43:45Frank is back.
00:43:51And the main news again.
00:43:53In America, the boxer Mike Tyson
00:43:55has been found guilty of raping
00:43:57a beauty pageant contestant.
00:43:59The judge sentenced Tyson
00:44:01to six years in jail
00:44:03and four years of psychotherapy after that.
00:44:05I followed the Tyson case.
00:44:07I was a big boxing fan
00:44:09and when he was convicted
00:44:11I was not surprised.
00:44:13Tyson's fall from grace
00:44:15is now complete from heavyweight champion
00:44:17to convicted felon.
00:44:19His boxing career
00:44:21is over.
00:44:23Then I got a call
00:44:25from Don King
00:44:29and he said Mike Tyson would like to
00:44:31meet you and consider hiring you
00:44:33to be his appellate lawyer.
00:44:35And so I flew
00:44:37to Indianapolis
00:44:39on the night before he was
00:44:41to be sentenced.
00:44:45I meet Don King
00:44:47and he takes me up to Mike Tyson's
00:44:49suite. This is Mike Tyson's
00:44:51last night of liberty for
00:44:53a long time and he's with his entourage
00:44:55and they're having a couple of beers
00:44:57and Mike says,
00:44:59Oh, you're Dershowitz the lawyer.
00:45:01Well, let me ask you some questions.
00:45:03Do you believe I'm innocent?
00:45:05I said, Mike, I have to be
00:45:07very honest with you. From what I know about the case,
00:45:09you are an absolute
00:45:11schmuck.
00:45:13He looks at me.
00:45:15I thought he was going to hit me.
00:45:17He said, why are you calling me a schmuck?
00:45:19I said, because you went up to a hotel room
00:45:21alone, without witnesses
00:45:23with a woman
00:45:25who you had just met and
00:45:27you put yourself in a position where you
00:45:29could be extorted, framed.
00:45:31You're a schmuck for doing that.
00:45:35He looks at me. I growled.
00:45:37Then he looks to his retainers
00:45:39and Don King. He said,
00:45:41That guy called me a schmuck.
00:45:43He's right. That was your
00:45:45job to stop me from going
00:45:47up to that room. Allen,
00:45:49you're hired.
00:45:55Mike Tyson was guilty of the crime of
00:45:57stupidity.
00:46:05Tyson might have been out of the way,
00:46:07but Frank
00:46:09still faced a huge uphill struggle.
00:46:13He may be
00:46:15the wrong side of 30, but Bruno's confidence
00:46:17at least remains in peak condition.
00:46:21I'm 31 and I feel
00:46:23the best I've ever felt in my life.
00:46:25I've matured. I've got more hairs on my chest.
00:46:27Look at that. You know what I mean? I feel stronger
00:46:29than I did when I was 28, 25.
00:46:31The age was
00:46:33starting to creep up, certainly, but
00:46:35Frank was still in such amazing
00:46:37condition. He had
00:46:39to start to work his way up from the bottom,
00:46:41but all the time
00:46:43he was thinking,
00:46:45I can still climb the mountain.
00:46:49From Miami in the United States
00:46:51of America, Jose
00:46:53Bruna.
00:46:55That's a good right hand
00:46:57and down goes Levada.
00:46:59The big punch of Bruno has
00:47:01absolutely rendered him unconscious.
00:47:03From South Africa,
00:47:05Pierre
00:47:07Ponce.
00:47:09Bruno's right hand
00:47:11suddenly came through.
00:47:13A tail has come in from the South African
00:47:15corner. It's all over.
00:47:19Jesse, the boogie man
00:47:21Ferguson.
00:47:23Frank's going for the big winner
00:47:25and he's gone inside a run.
00:47:27Frank Bruna was on a mission.
00:47:29The flame that was burning inside of him
00:47:31to be the weight champion of the world
00:47:33was still burning bright.
00:47:41Every fight is a step closer.
00:47:43You know what I mean? Because if you lose, there's no more
00:47:45stepping. You've just got to step backwards.
00:47:47This man is going to go and win
00:47:49the world title for Bruno.
00:47:59It's supposed to
00:48:01produce a citizen who comes out
00:48:03better than when he went in.
00:48:05Will it do that?
00:48:07Not my opinion. My opinion only
00:48:09that I base. It doesn't
00:48:11rehabilitate you more so it dehabilitates you.
00:48:13Dehabilitates. Because I find myself
00:48:15doing things that I never dreamed I'd be capable
00:48:17of doing. The same things I never
00:48:19think I'd be capable of saying.
00:48:21Does this have any bearing on your fighting again?
00:48:23I'm the best in what I do.
00:48:25I'm just the total best.
00:48:27There's guys out there that are great.
00:48:29They're great fighters, but they could do anything else.
00:48:31This is all I want to do.
00:48:35Mike Tyson, more than any
00:48:37other athlete in modern memory,
00:48:39was the most spectacular
00:48:41rise and fall that we've seen.
00:48:47Bruno,
00:48:49he was still our
00:48:51Frank.
00:48:57Loved by the wider white society,
00:48:59but he was viewed with some
00:49:01suspicion by the black community.
00:49:03Because he was seen to be a comic
00:49:05pantomime character.
00:49:11Not for the pantomime, this is real.
00:49:13Not for the pantomime, this is real.
00:49:15All my fans out there, man.
00:49:17Where's your skirt today?
00:49:19It's at home, mate.
00:49:23Many black Britons
00:49:25thought that Bruno had sold out.
00:49:27He'd sold out his race,
00:49:29his black identity, in order to appease
00:49:31white audiences.
00:49:33I'm a thespian, so don't mess with that.
00:49:35Well, at least I'm not
00:49:37a sellout as well.
00:49:41I think the only time
00:49:43he got really upset was fighting me.
00:49:45I remember calling
00:49:47Frank a coconut.
00:49:49And he got
00:49:51basically one of the best
00:49:53lawyers in London to serve me
00:49:55a writ.
00:50:05Other boxers would kind of play
00:50:07on this, that Bruno was
00:50:09a bit of an Uncle Tom.
00:50:11He loved his people.
00:50:13And it's clear that that
00:50:15really, really hurt Bruno.
00:50:17If you think I'm scared,
00:50:19just move out the way, and I would
00:50:21knock them out right here.
00:50:23I'm definitely not
00:50:25your brother, Uncle Tom.
00:50:29You're trying to fit in.
00:50:31You know, you respect your own people
00:50:33where you at here.
00:50:35It's not nice.
00:50:37I mean, the things that he's been saying.
00:50:39He'll be coming out with that crap.
00:50:41It's really serious stuff
00:50:43what he's coming out with there.
00:50:45I don't want to be associated with people like that,
00:50:47to be quite honest.
00:50:551995,
00:50:57I had a family to provide for.
00:51:05I had two girls and one boy,
00:51:07and that's what kids is worth fighting for.
00:51:11It gave you more fire, more energy
00:51:13and more power, you know what I mean?
00:51:17The only bad thing for me
00:51:19was that Tyson was coming out of prison
00:51:21and he was gunning for me.
00:51:29Tyson wasn't going to always be off the scene.
00:51:31It was only going to be
00:51:33a question of time before he got out of prison.
00:51:37Wearing the white cap and black smock
00:51:39of a Muslim convert,
00:51:41he emerged at dawn amid a phalanx
00:51:43of bodyguards.
00:51:45Seldom has a convicted rapist left here
00:51:47in a stretched limousine.
00:51:51I don't know anybody that's been to prison
00:51:53that's come out and been the same.
00:51:57Tyson was at the top of his game
00:51:59before he went inside.
00:52:01Would he be the same when he come out?
00:52:03There's been a lot of speculation about my plan
00:52:05and here they are.
00:52:07I will fight again.
00:52:09May Allah bless you all.
00:52:29While Tyson was in prison,
00:52:31the title changed hands.
00:52:33A lot.
00:52:35It went from me
00:52:37to Lennox
00:52:39to Oliver McCall.
00:52:41But how long McCall
00:52:43could keep hold of it
00:52:45was up to Bruno.
00:52:47This was Frank's
00:52:49fourth attempt to become
00:52:51a world heavyweight champion.
00:52:53And now
00:52:55ladies and gentlemen,
00:52:57here's the defending world champion
00:52:59from the United States,
00:53:01Oliver McCall.
00:53:07Bruno knew this was probably
00:53:09his last shot
00:53:11he was ever going to get at becoming
00:53:13heavyweight champion of the world.
00:53:15Three times
00:53:17he had been beaten.
00:53:19Time was running out.
00:53:21It was truly now
00:53:23or never.
00:53:25It's showtime.
00:53:27Here we go.
00:53:33That's a tremendous right uppercut by Bruno.
00:53:35Very good left hook
00:53:37from Bruno too.
00:53:41That's encouraging for Bruno.
00:53:43That rocked McCall back.
00:53:45Bruno deserves a world title.
00:53:47But if it was a popularity contest
00:53:49he would have won it years ago.
00:53:53We're just entering this phase of the fight
00:53:55where you start to worry
00:53:57about whether Frank's petrol tank
00:53:59might run dry.
00:54:03One thing that Frank lacked
00:54:05was stamina.
00:54:07After the halfway mark
00:54:09of his championship fights
00:54:11he used to run out of steam.
00:54:15Bruno was out on his feet.
00:54:17He was desperate.
00:54:19He had nothing left.
00:54:21But if he could just get through those
00:54:23last couple of minutes
00:54:25he was going to be the heavyweight
00:54:27champion of the world.
00:54:33We never thought we'd see him become a world heavyweight
00:54:35champion. But he seems
00:54:37so close now.
00:54:39In that desperate last three
00:54:41minutes
00:54:43hearts were in mouths.
00:54:45He drenched up the last
00:54:47remnants of his strength
00:54:49and hung in there.
00:54:51Is this Frank's moment of destiny?
00:54:53He boxed
00:54:55in an almost superhuman fashion.
00:54:57The bell is going to go
00:54:59any second. Bruno must be
00:55:01by a headline point. And he must have been
00:55:03the world heavyweight champion
00:55:05with that final bell.
00:55:07All my life
00:55:09I wanted it here.
00:55:11And the nude, that's what I was looking for.
00:55:17The winner
00:55:19and the nude.
00:55:25That's all I heard.
00:55:29It just
00:55:31brings tears to your eyes.
00:55:37If I won the ten million pound
00:55:39notary today it wouldn't mean as much as this to me.
00:55:41I'm just grateful.
00:55:43It hasn't really sunk in.
00:55:45I've got this belt around me. It's like a dream come true.
00:55:47All the years I've been dreaming for this.
00:55:49I thank all the people staying behind me
00:55:51and persevering
00:55:53and sticking with me.
00:55:55And I thank my wife. I thank my mum.
00:55:57It was tough in there but I done it.
00:55:59I done it man.
00:56:01I love my people. I'm not a sell out.
00:56:09He's finally got there.
00:56:11And he's mentally and physically
00:56:13exhausted.
00:56:15In that moment of vulnerability
00:56:17what does Frank Bruno talk about?
00:56:19He talks about his race.
00:56:31It wasn't just about him fulfilling
00:56:33a professional goal.
00:56:35In many ways Bruno
00:56:37was carrying the hopes and aspirations
00:56:39of Black Britain
00:56:41and he's saying to them, I love my people.
00:56:45I'm no Uncle Tom.
00:56:47Believe that please.
00:56:49Please just believe that I'm no Uncle Tom.
00:56:51I don't think anybody's seriously saying you are.
00:56:53Well done Frank.
00:56:55Cheers. Thank you. Be home Rachel.
00:56:57Love you darling. Love you to the bone.
00:57:05Ladies and gentlemen
00:57:07WBC Heavyweight Champion
00:57:09of the World
00:57:11Mr Frank Bruno.
00:57:13Mr Frank Bruno.
00:57:29It took Frank 13 years
00:57:31to become World Heavyweight Champion.
00:57:3313 years
00:57:35to do what Mike Tyson had done
00:57:37in two years.
00:57:40It's been a hard, hard
00:57:42long slug.
00:57:44A lot of spits here and there. A lot of bruises here.
00:57:46Verbal bruises. Everything.
00:57:48But I'm glad I've come through.
00:57:54This great, lovable
00:57:56giant who had
00:57:58failed so many times
00:58:00and at last
00:58:02through bloody-mindedness
00:58:04got there.
00:58:10He's brilliant.
00:58:12He's a family man.
00:58:14I'm not really a big boxing fan
00:58:16but when it's Bruno.
00:58:18Just a hero, isn't he?
00:58:20It's a nice feeling
00:58:22being Heavyweight Champion of the World.
00:58:24It hasn't really sunk in as yet.
00:58:26Like a dream come true.
00:58:32A lot of blood, sweat and tears
00:58:34but that makes it all worth it.
00:58:39The man has
00:58:41finally achieved his goal.
00:58:43So now it has all come true.
00:58:45It's like a dream.
00:58:47Absolutely fantastic.
00:58:51That should have been
00:58:53thank you and goodnight for Frank Bruno.
00:58:59What does the future hold for Frank, do you think?
00:59:01I'd like to see Frank call it a day
00:59:03because he's reached the pinnacle
00:59:05of his career and I'd like to see him get a winner.
00:59:10The problem was Mike Tyson.
00:59:16Tyson's presence
00:59:18still loomed large in his mind.
00:59:22Tyson was always going to be
00:59:24like a thorn in Frank Bruno's side.
00:59:26Now Bruno had
00:59:28what Tyson and his backers wanted.
00:59:32Obviously as a mother
00:59:34you must be naturally afraid
00:59:36of Frank going into the ring
00:59:39with Tyson.
00:59:41The same God that brought him here
00:59:43will take him over.
00:59:46He knew even in that moment
00:59:48that Tyson would want
00:59:50that belt back.
00:59:55We're here today to announce
00:59:57Frank's title defence
00:59:59against Mike Tyson which will take place
01:00:01on the 16th of March
01:00:03at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
01:00:06In the world's eyes
01:00:08Mike Tyson is still up there, he's out of prison.
01:00:10He's a boxer and to beat him
01:00:12knock him out and wipe him off the
01:00:14map, I mean it goes down in history.
01:00:18It's all on the line
01:00:20going into the second fight.
01:00:22His health
01:00:24his belt and his
01:00:26self-respect.
01:00:29But if he could see off
01:00:31Mike Tyson then
01:00:33truly there would be nothing
01:00:35else left to achieve.
01:00:37If he wants to take it away from me he's got to rip my
01:00:39heart out, my ears off, my arms, everything
01:00:41to tell me to take it away and he won't do that
01:00:43because this time I will stop him.
01:00:45I will knock him out.
01:00:47I came to wish the kids goodnight.
01:00:49Right?
01:00:51Where are you?
01:00:53Here.
01:00:55What do you want to say to me?
01:00:57Goodbye daddy, I love you.
01:00:59Yeah?
01:01:01You're going to miss me.
01:01:03I'm going to miss you as well.
01:01:07I don't want you to go
01:01:09daddy.
01:01:21Seven years ago Mike was the
01:01:23undisputed champion of the world.
01:01:25He took on Frank Bruno from England.
01:01:27He beat Frank Bruno in five rounds
01:01:29and now seven years later as the
01:01:31world turns Frank Bruno is the
01:01:33champion of the world, Mike is the challenger
01:01:35and all the unanswered questions
01:01:37will be answered on Saturday night.
01:01:45I felt that Bruno just wanted to correct
01:01:47the Mike Tyson situation.
01:01:49He just wanted another stab at it.
01:01:51The second time
01:01:53my dad fought Mike Tyson
01:01:55I was nine.
01:01:57It was literally the first time
01:01:59I'd ever seen him box live.
01:02:01You can hardly hear yourself think here
01:02:03already because the British fans have been
01:02:05making a thunderous noise.
01:02:07Bruno has overcome
01:02:09two lots of eye surgery
01:02:11and has proved many people wrong.
01:02:13Glenn, still Bruno for you.
01:02:17He has proved many people wrong.
01:02:19Glenn, still Bruno for you.
01:02:21I still think he can do it.
01:02:25We were sat outside dad's dressing room.
01:02:29Tyson's team and him
01:02:31came out first.
01:02:33This guy looked like an absolute monster
01:02:35and we both were sitting there and we were petrified.
01:02:37He was scary
01:02:39to me. He just was an animal.
01:02:41For the first time in his life
01:02:43in the United States
01:02:45Mike Tyson emerges
01:02:47to a chorus of boos.
01:02:57Frank Brewer has so much support here.
01:03:03As I watched
01:03:05Frank crossing himself
01:03:07on that walk to the ring
01:03:09my immediate thought was
01:03:11he looks like a man
01:03:13walking towards the gallows.
01:03:21You can have all the support
01:03:23you can have a whole country like Bruno did
01:03:27but then
01:03:29when you get in that ring
01:03:31it's you
01:03:33the referee
01:03:35and the other guy.
01:03:37That's lonely.
01:04:07I didn't like it
01:04:09watching him box.
01:04:13I was just hysterical
01:04:15absolutely hysterical.
01:04:21Bruno was badly stuck
01:04:23and he is cut
01:04:25bad cut by the left eye.
01:04:29As a young girl
01:04:31seeing your dad hurt like that
01:04:33I just wanted to run in there
01:04:35and cuddle him
01:04:37and get him out of there.
01:04:39And also I wanted to hit Mike Tyson as well.
01:04:41I was angry.
01:04:59The hardest person to knock out
01:05:01is a guy that's got nothing to lose.
01:05:03Short left hook there
01:05:05Tyson has not lost his punch.
01:05:33He's done it a little bit again. He's caught by the right hand.
01:05:35He can't keep on taking it like this.
01:05:49Again Bruno
01:05:51turns up on the clock.
01:05:535-3-4-5 punch combination.
01:05:55Bruno's in desperate trouble.
01:05:57It's going to be stopped. It's over.
01:05:59Bruno's lost his title
01:06:01and I am Mike
01:06:03his champion all over again.
01:06:11It was too much for Bruno.
01:06:13His reign is over after six and a half months.
01:06:19It had always been Frank's dream to become the world heavyweight champion.
01:06:21He worked so hard to achieve it
01:06:23and then within
01:06:25six months it had been taken away
01:06:27from him again.
01:06:29With hindsight
01:06:31I wish Frank Bruno would have retired.
01:06:33He could have gone out
01:06:35as the world champion.
01:06:37It wasn't about money.
01:06:41He was at the top of his game
01:06:43and now
01:06:45he'd been ruined.
01:06:59I tried for England.
01:07:01I tried for my family.
01:07:03I tried for myself and I couldn't do no more than that.
01:07:05I'm sorry. That's the way the cookie crumbles.
01:07:11It's very, very cruel.
01:07:13But then again
01:07:15it's a very, very cruel business.
01:07:19What will you do now Frank?
01:07:21I mean people will say well is that the end of the Bruno story or what?
01:07:23I've had a good time in my life
01:07:25and at the moment I want to swear like
01:07:27I don't want to make no haste decisions
01:07:29and make a fool of myself.
01:07:49When I saw him again
01:07:51Frank had in fact
01:07:53total retinal detachment.
01:07:55He had further surgery
01:07:57which was able to reattach the retina.
01:07:59But because of the nature
01:08:01of the injury
01:08:03the centre part of the vision
01:08:05has unfortunately
01:08:07been irreversibly damaged.
01:08:11I had to tell him
01:08:13firmly and finally
01:08:15that
01:08:17that was it.
01:08:25Alright Chris?
01:08:31Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
01:08:33Thank you very much for coming
01:08:35and just here to say that
01:08:37I'm officially retired
01:08:39and any questions you want to ask.
01:08:43Tyson was the one
01:08:45that my dad lost to twice.
01:08:47He's always going to be
01:08:49his demon.
01:08:51He was the reason.
01:08:53Career ending.
01:08:55That must have been tough.
01:09:09Trainer George Francis goes
01:09:11your hardest fight is going to be when you retire.
01:09:13I didn't know what the hell he was talking about
01:09:15but like me when I retired
01:09:17I definitely knew what it was all about.
01:09:23When you get lazy
01:09:25the aggression starts piling in
01:09:27the mental health starts kicking in
01:09:29and it's drama.
01:09:33A lot of fighters when they retire
01:09:35from the sport are left feeling very empty.
01:09:39It would have been like absolute hell on earth.
01:09:43When you've been doing something
01:09:45that's part of your existence is that.
01:09:47And it's taken away from you.
01:09:49You don't exist anymore. I know you still breathe.
01:09:51You still walk around.
01:09:55But in reality for yourself
01:09:57for what counts
01:09:59for how you feel
01:10:01you don't exist anymore.
01:10:17Boxing was dad
01:10:19when he was boxing that was him.
01:10:21That's what he lived for
01:10:23and that's all he knew.
01:10:25I could see things getting more strange
01:10:27with mum and dad
01:10:29they weren't getting on
01:10:31so I knew something wasn't right.
01:10:35He just didn't know what to do with himself.
01:10:37He struggled to sleep
01:10:39he struggled to settle down.
01:10:41I just remember thinking that's not my dad anymore.
01:10:45You never think it's going to be a point
01:10:47of anything involved because I just thought
01:10:49he was having a bad patch.
01:10:53And he goes on to drugs
01:10:55and drink and physically
01:10:57he went downhill
01:10:59and mentally
01:11:01he went downhill even quicker.
01:11:05He ended up
01:11:07with his eldest daughter
01:11:09insisting on getting him sectioned
01:11:11and he ended up
01:11:13in a mental hospital.
01:11:18Bipolar disorder
01:11:20could be linked to
01:11:22Bruno having to wrestle
01:11:24with these questions of who he is
01:11:26as a person and what he represents.
01:11:28We cannot understand
01:11:30the pressures that he was under
01:11:32what he had to go through
01:11:34and him wrestling with these different versions
01:11:36of Frank Bruno.
01:11:48We can't tell the Frank Bruno story
01:11:50without the Mike Tyson story.
01:11:54I'm looking quite forward to it, you know?
01:11:56Yeah, me too.
01:11:58I haven't seen him for ages.
01:12:00I've got a lot to catch up with him.
01:12:02I hope he doesn't bite my ears off.
01:12:07When did I first hear about Frank Bruno?
01:12:09Hey, that seems so...
01:12:11Hey, doesn't that seem so long ago?
01:12:13It seems like a thousand light years away.
01:12:18I was a totally different kind of person.
01:12:21I can't believe I am who I am now.
01:12:24Who the hell is this guy?
01:12:31Bruno and Tyson
01:12:33weren't just significant boxers.
01:12:35They were cultural icons
01:12:37in their respective countries.
01:12:39I'm here for you, baby. I'm here for you.
01:12:41How you doing, brother?
01:12:43You OK?
01:12:45Their lives crossed
01:12:47at certain moments in their lives.
01:12:49And at each and every moment,
01:12:51Tyson was there, thwarting Bruno.
01:12:53He became this kind of spectre.
01:12:55You all right?
01:12:57I think in some ways
01:12:59it's been a bit sad at times
01:13:01to see Bruno so haunted
01:13:03by Mike Tyson.
01:13:05Yeah!
01:13:07Yeah, yeah.
01:13:09How you doing, brother?
01:13:11Very good, man.
01:13:13On the right path, you know?
01:13:17When you're in London and walking,
01:13:19what is it like?
01:13:21It's nice. It's nice vibes.
01:13:23You've still got a lot of people that love you
01:13:25and respect you, you know what I mean?
01:13:27They follow you and worship you, you know what I mean?
01:13:29Don't you think, like, wow, this is what I...
01:13:31I brought this to my life.
01:13:33You're Frank freaking Bruno.
01:13:35You're Mike Tyson.
01:13:37I remember when he was in the cat school
01:13:39when you was 15 and we sparred together
01:13:41in London, dear, but watch you grow up.
01:13:43You met Cuss, you knew Cuss.
01:13:45When Cuss is talking,
01:13:47he's like a pastor
01:13:49but as well as a no-nonsense man,
01:13:51you know what I mean?
01:13:53You were the European champion, I think, then.
01:13:55Yeah.
01:13:57And they had high hopes for you.
01:13:59Yeah, but you was a man...
01:14:01The puncher was going to stop my high hopes
01:14:03and you did,
01:14:05but no regrets, you know?
01:14:07LAUGHTER
01:14:11We're going to be so many things
01:14:13before the time we die.
01:14:15Till we die, we figure, this is who I am.
01:14:17We reach that place of
01:14:19this is where I want to be when I leave.
01:14:21Life has been a learning lesson.
01:14:23Life has been re-educating myself.
01:14:25Getting rid of the hangers-on-us.
01:14:27Yeah, those people leave when...
01:14:29When you have nothing left,
01:14:31you don't have to get rid of them.
01:14:33You hit the rock bottom, they leave anyway.
01:14:35Whoa, heavy, you know?
01:14:37Heavy, man.
01:14:39Mike had a wife
01:14:41called Robin Gibbons.
01:14:43I remember it like it was yesterday.
01:14:45And the girl,
01:14:47one minute Mike was crashing his car
01:14:49into a tree...
01:14:51She got me good.
01:14:53The fight was phoned about
01:14:55five or maximum six times,
01:14:57you know?
01:14:59I was horrible in love.
01:15:01My love was just disaster.
01:15:03He'd wipe you out, man.
01:15:05He'd wipe you out.
01:15:07I needed to be in the mental ward.
01:15:09I wasn't well.
01:15:11We just lived in life.
01:15:13Yeah, definitely.
01:15:15God made us to learn and to remember.
01:15:17Yeah.
01:15:19But to remember, unfortunately, yeah.
01:15:21I think all the delays
01:15:23just stressed him out.
01:15:25They really messed with his head.
01:15:27Well, I was hoping they did.
01:15:31I don't know.
01:15:33When I did the first round,
01:15:35I was trying to catch him with a solid shot.
01:15:37And the shots I was hitting him with,
01:15:39he was taking them.
01:15:41And he came back a couple of shots,
01:15:43and he was fighting really good.
01:15:45As a matter of fact, he staggered me,
01:15:47but hit me with a good shot in the first round.
01:15:49It was like electricity hit you.
01:15:51I saw the white lights.
01:15:53You don't know if you're really knocked out.
01:15:55You think you might be down.
01:15:57You don't know if you're down or not.
01:15:59You're boom!
01:16:01It's exploded. It's walked into a bomb.
01:16:03And he was at his best at that time.
01:16:05That was a tough fight for me.
01:16:11When I fought him for the second time,
01:16:13I shouldn't have been there,
01:16:15but I had a family that I got to provide for.
01:16:17He told me to go and rob a bank.
01:16:19And I had to go in there with a disatchered retina.
01:16:21One of the doctors, American doctor,
01:16:23nearly stopped the fight, you know?
01:16:25He was looking at me kind of strange,
01:16:27like my eye was flickering,
01:16:29but it's no excuse. That's boxing.
01:16:31If you bust your arm, you've got the other hand.
01:16:33If you ain't got the other hand, you've got your head.
01:16:39You know, the doctor told him,
01:16:41you might lose the sight in your eye if you fight again.
01:16:44But he was determined to keep going.
01:16:46He was amazingly brave.
01:16:48That's what fighters do.
01:16:50That's why there's very few of us.
01:16:57He had more fire and more vigor in the first fight
01:17:00than he had in the second fight.
01:17:03Before I even got out of prison,
01:17:05the contract was already signed.
01:17:16Being champion again, that was the only thing in my mind.
01:17:20I wanted to know that I can do it again,
01:17:22even after I'd been locked up.
01:17:24And then Keith on the way and all that stuff, you know.
01:17:31You've been through whatever you've been through,
01:17:33but I've been through it myself.
01:17:35Unfortunately, it's been slapped all over the papers,
01:17:37like saying, cuckoo, madness or whatever.
01:17:40And if you can handle it, I can handle it.
01:17:42You know what I mean?
01:17:43Listen, we're all crazy.
01:17:47Frank Bruno went into one mental health facility.
01:17:52I've been around ten of them, OK?
01:17:55So this is what we have to go through sometimes.
01:17:59You know, I don't feel sorry for nobody
01:18:01because I know this is our journey that we have to deal with.
01:18:04We have to go through this journey.
01:18:07And I don't want no one to feel sorry for me as well.
01:18:12Can you imagine if we fought again?
01:18:14Yeah.
01:18:15Frank would probably win.
01:18:20I would never hit him.
01:18:21But Frank Bruno's legacy moves on.
01:18:26It moves on.
01:18:27Yeah, definitely.
01:18:30Hey, listen, right?
01:18:31I got the title of the baddest man in the world.
01:18:34I'm the scariest fighter that ever lived.
01:18:38And that's just really funny.
01:18:41I'm just one of those scary fighters.
01:18:43I come across as ferocious because of my fear.
01:18:46It's like fire.
01:18:48You can use it, you can command it, it can warm you up.
01:18:51But if you get afraid, you let it get out of control,
01:18:54it can kill you and everything around you.
01:18:57Mike, you look after yourself.
01:19:00You too, brother. You look good, man.
01:19:02You too. You too. Respect, man.
01:19:07I don't think about much of anything.
01:19:09Well, I know this.
01:19:10I know me, Michael Tyson.
01:19:12Michael Gerard Tyson's brain.
01:19:15My mind. Forget my brain.
01:19:17My mind is a torture chamber.
01:19:21And it's not my friend.
01:19:23So I have to control it.
01:19:25In order to have any kind of stability in my life.
01:19:29And that's my biggest...
01:19:34My biggest problem to date, yeah.
01:19:36Staying in control.
01:19:42You wouldn't know what it was like meeting the real Mike Tyson.
01:19:46Away from all the entourage sitting down, chilling.
01:19:49Everybody has their criticism,
01:19:51but I've got the greatest amount of respect for Mike.
01:19:56If I had my run-ins, he had these run-ins, you know what I mean?
01:19:59Good days and bad days, feeling down, can't motivate yourself.
01:20:03He's been in prison, crashing his car before he was supposed to fight me.
01:20:07And he's been through rocky roads, you know what I mean?
01:20:12I'm glad I met him today,
01:20:14because it took a lot of pressure off me mentally.
01:20:17If you think I've been through a hard time,
01:20:19if you check him, Mike Tyson, what he's been through,
01:20:22and he's happy.
01:20:24I feel like a close brother to him, you know what I mean?
01:20:30God bless you. Thank you so much.
01:20:32Respect, boss. Respect, Mike. Thank you.
01:20:34Respect, boss.
01:20:36It's nice meeting you, boss.
01:20:38I'm going back to England a very, very trillion times a happy man.
01:20:42I'm going back to England a very, very trillion times a happy man.
01:21:02Frank not only got to the top of his tree
01:21:06and became the best in the world,
01:21:08but when Frank lost against Mike Tyson,
01:21:11he came back a hero.
01:21:14People loved him as much as if he had won.
01:21:18That is his legacy.
01:21:25It's kind of made me the person I am, kind of thing,
01:21:28and made me want to push and strive and be successful in my life.
01:21:33I thank him for that, giving me that drive.
01:21:37I just know that they love him over there in England,
01:21:40and he should take advantage of the love that the people have for him.
01:21:50Meeting Mike Tyson again just brought it all down to perspective.
01:21:56I thought I had problems.
01:22:00I'm happy the way things have gone.
01:22:03I'm happy the way things have gone.
01:22:05There have been good days, there have been bad days,
01:22:07but overall, I mean, I'm a blessed boy from South London,
01:22:13so I've got to thank God.
01:22:20As a kid, I didn't see how much he was putting on the line
01:22:23to give us the life that he wanted to give us.
01:22:27I'm very proud of him, very, very proud of him.
01:22:30I love everything he went through to give us the life that we got.
01:22:34The winner, and new WBC heavyweight champion of the world, Greg Bruno!
01:23:04It's not up to me anymore
01:23:09Till we gather in heaven's bright city
01:23:15Far away on that beautiful shore
01:23:21If we never meet again beside of heaven
01:23:27As we struggle through this world and its strife
01:23:32There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven
01:23:38By the side of the river of life
01:23:44Where the charming roses bloom forever
01:23:50And where separation comes no more
01:23:56If we never meet again beside of heaven
01:24:02I will meet you on that beautiful shore
01:24:08If we never meet again beside of heaven
01:24:14I will meet you on that beautiful shore
01:24:19Beautiful, beautiful shore
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