Frank Bruno “knows” that an opponent had doped for his fight: “It’s very scary”

Frank Bruno firmly believes that one of his former opponents, who possessed the strength of a “baboon”, was most likely a performance-enhancing drug (PED) cheat.

During his storied career, Bruno attempted world honors three times, against Tim Witherspoon, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, before finally realizing his ambition with a points victory over Oliver McCall in 1995.

After being stopped in his three previous attempts, it seemed the stars finally aligned for the Londoner that evening at Wembley Stadium, London, where he convincingly dethroned McCall and won the WBC heavyweight title.

Unfortunately for him, this feat comes at a time when he already has more than 40 professional fights and, at 33, is undoubtedly reaching the end of his career.

Nonetheless, his title reign could have been extended, if only by a few defenses, if not for his rematch against Tyson in 1996.

Their first encounter, some seven years previously, saw “Iron Mike” put on a truly destructive display to stop a brave but battered Bruno in five rounds.

Unsurprisingly, their rematch turned out to be much the same, except this time Tyson managed to get the job done in just three one-sided sessions.

The trajectory of Bruno’s story has therefore largely been one of ups and downs, but when reflecting on his career as a whole, the former world champion suspects that he may have been at an unfair disadvantage on several occasions.

Talk with ClubhouseBruno insists that several of his opponents were likely on PEDs, with one man in particular known for his extraordinary strength.

“I know people that I’ve fought – I won’t say their names – but yeah, I know people that have definitely fought. [taken performance-enhancing drugs].”

“You know the strength of a human being when you get in the ring, and when someone comes in like a baboon – I’ve now seen a baboon but this guy was very, very, very scary… I didn’t know [before I got in the ring] but I had a presentiment. He’s a nice guy, but he’s not right. He was strong. If a gorilla walked into the room, it was that kind of feeling. It’s dangerous. And he got away with it.

Later in the interview, Bruno said he believed both Tyson and Evander Holyfield had enjoyed some form of artificial advantage during their campaigns.

Bruno competed in an era where there was less testing and more scrutiny, but many fans would say the situation hasn’t improved much today. Many fighters probably get away with it, and while many are positive, appropriate punishments are often avoided.