Bruno was the archetypical British sporting hero, a lovable gentle giant who seemed totally harmless until you put him in a boxing ring. This book does not destroy this image of him, even with his unfortunate fall from grace a couple of years ago he is still a lovable character. The writing is simple and to the point. Franks happy childhood and home life are explained and his start in the boxing ring. Pretty much all his major fights are discussed in detail and his feelings when he lost or won them. Boxing was this guys life. He lived and breathed it and he was no doubt good at what he did, but it comes across to me that boxing just ends on a downer. You get hit just one time too many and that’s the end. Frank nearly didn’t make it into the sport at all because of a dodgy eye problem but he did get it sorted out for long enough to carve a successful career, in the end however, it caught up with him and he retired.
His dramatic fall from grace a few years ago is dealt with in the first chapter of the book. Frank writes it as only he can, in an honest, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of way. The problem stems from a bout of depression. Franks career was over, his days of glory were gone and he felt he had let his beloved British public down by losing his last title. It is no wonder that when his behaviour became erratic his wife Laura decided to take the kids and herself away for safetys sake. Frank, lovable as he may be, is a huge man with huge fists. The tabloids made a big thing of him swinging those fists towards his wife but I doubt that very much. They still see each other regularly and they seem to be getting on better as friends rather then partners. The whole sorry episode of his illness makes sad reading and you cannot help but feel for him. The British tabloids loved every second of his “Barmy Bruno” episode, but it obviously hurt Frank a great deal. He is still reeling from it. At the end of the book he is slowly picking himself up and getting on with life, but as he said, it looks like panto every year is about all that he can hope for. I mean, that’s quite heart breaking when you think about it. He was a great fighter, but so was Mike Tyson and you don’t see him playing the fairy godmother in Grimsby’s production of ‘Cinderella’ do you?
Score Board: Too short, too thin but worth a read 6/10
His dramatic fall from grace a few years ago is dealt with in the first chapter of the book. Frank writes it as only he can, in an honest, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of way. The problem stems from a bout of depression. Franks career was over, his days of glory were gone and he felt he had let his beloved British public down by losing his last title. It is no wonder that when his behaviour became erratic his wife Laura decided to take the kids and herself away for safetys sake. Frank, lovable as he may be, is a huge man with huge fists. The tabloids made a big thing of him swinging those fists towards his wife but I doubt that very much. They still see each other regularly and they seem to be getting on better as friends rather then partners. The whole sorry episode of his illness makes sad reading and you cannot help but feel for him. The British tabloids loved every second of his “Barmy Bruno” episode, but it obviously hurt Frank a great deal. He is still reeling from it. At the end of the book he is slowly picking himself up and getting on with life, but as he said, it looks like panto every year is about all that he can hope for. I mean, that’s quite heart breaking when you think about it. He was a great fighter, but so was Mike Tyson and you don’t see him playing the fairy godmother in Grimsby’s production of ‘Cinderella’ do you?
Score Board: Too short, too thin but worth a read 6/10
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