Tyson stops Bruno in fifth round

Press, 27 February 1989, Page 40

Tyson stops Bruno in fifth round

NZPA-Reuter Las Vegas

Mike Tyson stopped a courageous Frank Bruno in the fifth round — with a barrage of punches that pinned the British challenger on the ropes — to retain - his undisputed world heavyweight championship yesterday (N.Z. time). The referee, Richard Steele, quickly moved in to stop the fight when Bruno was helpless against the battering. Bruno’s trainer, Terry Lawless, had jumped on to the apron of the ring to stop the scheduled 12round fight when he saw his man was defenceless. Mr Steele waved an end to the bout at two minutes 55 seconds of the round.

“I am the greatest fighter in the world,” Tyson said after his triumph. “He threw a

great deal of hard punches but I refused to go down. They did not faze me.”

Tyson decked the Briton in the opening seconds of the first round with a right cross to the head. But Bruno, a 10-1 underdog, was apparently not seriously hurt. He got up and grabbed on to Tyson and even landed a few solid blows of his own.

Bruno, who said before the bout that he would not be intimidated by Tyson’s brawling tactics, pushed the champion into the ropes after the knockdown, twisting him around, and began clubbing Tyson in the back of his head.

Bruno gained a measure of respect from the American when he hit Tyson with a hard left hook to the head which

wobbled the champion. After the bell, both men glared at each other and Mr Steele ordered a point taken from Bruno for hitting Tyson on the back. Bruno’s tactic throughout the fight — which lasted longer than many ringsiders had predicted — was to throw a few punches and then hold on to Tyson. But Bruno, criticised by many for being too slow and not able to take a decent punch, weathered several hard blows for the explosive champion. Mr Steele warned Bruno, aged 27, several times for holding Tyson around the head and pushing the , shorter Tyson’s head down. Tyson, aged 22, fighting for the first time since he demolished Michael Spinks in just 91 seconds last June, displayed his

awesome power but appeared a bit rusty.

He was awkward at times, lunging off balance at the tall Briton, who had an Bcm advantage in height and a 28cm edge in reach. Bruno used his reach to keep Tyson off him, but merely flicked his jab in the champion’s face.

Bruno began bleeding from his nose early in the fight, as much by forearms and elbows thrown by Tyson in the clinches as by the champion’s punches.

The Briton continued holding in the third round and an apparently frustrated Tyson hit Bruno with a solid left hook well after the bell rang. Bruno’s corner yelled for the referee to take a point from Tyson but to no avail.

Tyson, who earned

about eight million dollars for his work, stunned Bruno in the fourth round with a hard right to the head. He followed with a thundering left hook, but the game Bruno — who will earn about $3.8 million — came back with a good left to Tyson’s head.

Tyson opened up the fifth round with a hard left hook to Bruno’s head followed by a flurry of combinations, signalling the end was near.

Tyson pushed his record to 36-0 and Bruno, bidding to become the first British heavyweight champion since 1897, dropped to 32-3.

• Julian Jackson successfully defended his World Boxing Association junior-middleweight title in Las Vegas yesterday when he stopped Brazil’s Francisco De Jesus in the

eighth round of a scheduled 12-round bout.

Jackson, dominating from the opening bell, floored De Jesus with a left-right combination and the referee, Mills Lane, counted the Brazilian out at 2.T9 of the eighth round.

The fight was the first of three title bouts on the card featuring Tyson nd Bruno.

Azumah Nelson, of Ghana, retained his World Boxing Council super featherweight title when the referee stopped his bout against Mexican Mario Martinez in the twelth round. Nelson ended it with four wicked shots to Martinez’s head in the last scheduled round as the referee, Carlos Padilla, of the United States, stopped the bout at one minute 18 seconds of the twelth.