Meeting Mike again got me bac k o f f ro p e s
BIGGEST FIGHT IS OUTSIDE RING Bruno feeling a trillion times happier in mental health battle after being reunited with “close brother” Tyson
FRANK BRUNO did not understand the warning at the time.
He had just retired after his second loss to Mike Tyson in 1996 and trainer George Francis told him he was now facing his hardest fight.
Yet within a few years Bruno knew exactly what his old cornerman was trying to tell him. Francis was tragically prophetic.
He hanged himself at home in 2002 when he lost his battle with depression after cancer claimed his wife and son.
Meanwhile Bruno’s onceidyllic life disintegrated, as did his marriage.
A low point came in 2003 when his family had him sectioned because of struggles with his bi-polar condition. Now he is fighting back.
Meeting his nemesis Mike Tyson and seeing how the American is winning his battle with mental health issues has given him renewed strength. The old rivals met in Miami last year for the Sky documentary Bruno v Tyson.
“My trainer George Francis said, ‘Your hardest fight is going to be when you retire,’” the former WBC heavyweight champ told Tyson. “I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. But, blimey, when I retired I definitely knew what he was on about.
“You put on weight, you get lazy, your aggression starts to pile in, the mental health kicks in and it’s drama.
“You’ve been through what you’ve been through and I’ve been through it myself.
“Unfortunately mine’s been slapped all over the papers – cuckoo, madness and whatever. If you can handle it, I can handle it.”
The three-times married Tyson, who has blown over £250million during his chaotic life, is finally in a good place.
Iron Mike, 54, loved returning to the ring after 15 years out for his exhibition bout with Roy Jones Junior in November and told Bruno he has his demons in check.
“We’re all crazy,” said the former undisputed world heavyweight king. “You went to one mental health facility. I’ve been to 10 of them.
“I don’t feel sorry for myself, this is just the journey we have to go on. I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me.
“I got the title of the Baddest Man in the World, I’m the scariest fighter that ever lived. I come across as ferocious and it’s like fire. You can use it to warm you up but if you let it get out of control it can kill you and everyone around you.
“My mind is a torture chamber. It’s not my friend, so I have to control it to have any kind of stability in my life. That’s my biggest problem today, staying in control.”
Bruno was battered by Tyson in their world title fights in 1989 and 1996 but he was lifted by this more gentle encounter.
There were flashes of the old Bruno, still adored by the British public, and his shoulders shook to his trademark belly laughs. After meeting Tyson, Bruno, 59, reflected: “I’ve had my run-ins, he’s had his run-ins, good days, bad days, feeling down, can’t motivate yourself. He’s been in prison, crashing his car before he was supposed to fight me the first time. “He’s been down a rocky road. I’m glad I’ve met him again because it’s taken a lot of pressure off me mentally. “I’ve been through a hard time. He’s been through a hard time and he’s happy. I feel like a close brother to him. Meeting Mike Tyson again has put it all in perspective. I thought I had problems. I’m going back a trillion times happier man.” ● Bruno v Tyson is available now on Sky Documentaries and NOW TV.
THE Murray brothers almost blew the roof off the Emirates Arena the last time they played together in Scotland six years ago.
Jamie expects more of the same in December when he and Andy team up to face England in Aberdeen.
The third Battle of the Brits event, unveiled by Jamie yesterday, has added twist with a Scotland team taking on the English, led by Dan Evans.
Others have still to be named for the two-night, six-match extravaganza that the older Murray hopes will be able to be played in front of a capacity crowd of 7000 at Aberdeen’s P&J Live Arena on December 21-22.
Jamie is convinced the event will be hard fought and provide a similar atmosphere to the 2015 Davis Cup semi-final when a packed house in Glasgow saw the Murrays beat Aussies Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth in a five-set thriller en route to winning the trophy.
He said: “When we played against the States (earlier in 2015) that was the first time we’d played in a long time. It was an incredible atmosphere.
“We then got the chance a few months later to play Australia in the semi-final, which was crazy.
“The doubles match that me and Andy played was insane. The support was off the charts.
“We want to have those opportunities more often.
“I say ‘we’, I definitely mean me but probably Andy as well. When we look back on our careers, when we stop, those are definitely going to be some of the best memories we’ve had on a tennis court.
“To be able to share them together is such a unique position that we’re in.”
Jamie has no doubt the Scotland-England rivalry will ensure the event isn’t just a glorified friendly, even though those competing in it have been Davis Cup team-mates for years.
He added: “It is definitely a proper competition.
“Everyone wants to get one over on their mates. The events we put on last year were highly competitive and there was no messing around.
“This event will be the exact same. I have zero doubts about that. We’ve always represented GB, that’s the way it is in tennis.
“Even for the English guys, when I pitched them the event, they were so excited about getting the opportunity to compete against Scotland. It is one of the oldest rivalries in sport and want the fans to come out, make a lot of noise and have a good night out.
“We are there to put on a good show and have everyone there enjoy themselves. That’s what it’s about and this format lends itself to that.
“For us to come to Scotland and lose to England, that’s not really what we want to do.
“We are putting ourselves on the line. We get run out of town if we lose.”
Murray is desperate for restrictions to have eased significantly by the end of the year to make it a sell-out event.
He said: “Wanting to bring live tennis to Scotland is the main thing, first and foremost.
“We’ve had amazing moments in our careers playing tennis in Scotland, representing GB.
“But there are obviously no regular live tennis events in Scotland and, as we get older, those opportunities become less and less.
“I thought this was a great opportunity to put on a really unique event and bring live tennis to the Scottish public.
There is a huge demand for it up here. There’s been huge interest in people following Andy’s careers and, to a lesser extent, mine.
“We miss playing in front of full stadiums. For us, that’s where the excitement comes, walking out on to court and seeing thousands of people there to support you or not.
“They are there because they enjoy tennis and they want to see good matches. That’s what gets the butterflies going in our stomachs. We are performers at the end of the day and I know the players have missed that.”
DAVID MOYES admits Pep Guardiola is like the Heston Blumenthal to his Gordon Ramsay.
Moyes faces Guardiola today hoping to end Manchester City’s record-breaking 19-match winning streak.
But the West Ham boss says his task is made tougher because, just like celebrity chef Blumenthal, the City manager is always coming up with wacky new recipes for success.
Blumenthal is renowned for bizarre dishes such as snail porridge and bacon and eggs ice cream while Ramsay is famous for turning the air blue.
Moyes said: “Pep does things in football terms which are remarkable. He is always looking for new ideas. He is innovative.
“I might draw a really bad analogy – Heston Blumenthal who mixes chocolate with eggs or something stupid and outrageous.
“He is nearly the Heston
MAN CITY v WEST HAM
TODAY, 12.30PM, LIVE ON BT SPORT
Blumenthal of football. He does things where you think, ‘That is never going to work, that is not going to taste right or look good.’
“Snail porridge! That’s what I’m talking about. It’s ridiculous. Full-backs going into midfield.
“He’s done things as a football coach lots of people wouldn’t have thought of doing. Which chef am I? Gordon Ramsay, all day long! And you know what you’re getting there, don’t you!”
Moyes was responding to a question about Guardiola’s latest tactical tweak, easing full-back Joao Cancelo into midfield when City are in possession.
The Hammers boss said: “I get this feeling he is in a thinktank room, thinking about how he can make his players perform better.
“He is making all the other managers think about how you can try to deal with what they are doing.”
A 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in October ended City’s nine-match winning run against the Hammers.
And the runaway leaders are the only team who have been in better form than West Ham in the Premier League in 2021.
But Moyes said: “I’m striving for better, always thinking our performances could be better. City have to lose at some point.
“And I hope that is the case. We are in good form and I hope we can try to show it.”
West Ham are in the top four after 25 top-flight matches for the first time since 1986, when they finished in third place.
But Moyes believes that a Champions League slot could be beyond his team. He said: “I don’t think it’s going to be this year. I don’t think we are at that level but we will push all the way to see if we can do it. There are better teams in the league but hopefully we can keep punching above our weight and see what happens.”
Guardiola though, is making all the noise in English football after leading City on a 19-game winning streak – and the former Barcelona boss admits he has plenty to shout about. City, who hold a 10-point lead over secondplaced United at the top, were branded the “noisy neighbours” by Old Trafford icon Sir Alex Ferguson as his rivals began to emerge as a true force.
And Guardiola said: “Sometimes I shout and shouldn’t but I cannot control it.
“When I was a player it was the same, it’s the way I am. I do it because I love my job, I enjoy being a manager and I want to be better.”
Snail porridge! It’s ridiculous. Full-backs going into midfield DAVID MOYES ON PEP’S TACTICAL TWEAKS
CALL me pessimistic but I don’t see many, if any fans, being allowed inside Hampden when Scotland face the Czech Republic and Croatia in June.
Yes, the vaccination programme is seeing us slowly emerge into the light.
But while the buffoon that calls himself Prime Minister is virtue signalling for all he’s worth down south, telling folk what they want to hear rather than relying on facts and data, there has always been a more cautious approach on our side of the border.
Far too cautious in some respects, particularly in relation in getting the lower leagues and women’s football back up and running.
In fact, it’s a disgrace that these clubs have been mothballed since the second week in January and not even allowed to train, when they are prepared to have Covid tests as regularly as those clubs in the Championship.
But that very softly-softly approach convinces me that Holyrood won’t allow thousands to roll up at Hampden to watch Scotland finally play in their first major tournament since 1998.
That would be hugely disappointing to punters but understandable to a degree, considering what we’ve all gone through and many continue to go through.
But what wouldn’t be understandable – in fact it would be deplorable – will be if the thousands of public pitches around the country are as empty in June, July and August as Hampden might be for the Euros.
Those playing fields have already lay empty for far too long as our children have been forced to sit at home, becoming increasingly isolated from the game they love, or at least used to love.
These days Fortnite vies for their attention and affection as much as football and the longer they are kept away from the sport the worse it will get.
With schools going back gradually and non-contact training being permitted from mid-March for 12-17 years old, it’s to be hoped that grassroots football will be back by April.
What must not happen, though, is for it to be shut back down again in the summer. Not by Covid but by the local councils taking down the goalposts because football is a ‘winter’ sport.
It shouldn’t happen any year and certainly not this year.
There’s a strong argument for summer football whatever the circumstances.
For decades, our kids have been forced to play on gluepot or rutted pitches in the driving wind and rain where survival rather than scoring has been the objective.
Even on 4G surfaces ball control and passing is well nigh impossible in the conditions we have to put up with in winter, so it is any wonder we don’t produce as many top class footballers as we should?
But with winter football being knocked out this year, what an opportunity we’ve got to allow our boys and girls to play right through the summer months with the sun on their backs and on good pitches.
And the argument that coaches and families will be on holiday are null and void as well because none of us will be going very far this summer.
If there’s a willingness by local authorities and by those who organise youth football throughout the country, then summer football could happen.
It’s time for a ‘can do’ culture to kick in and make it happen rather than the ‘this is why we can’t do’ mantra that sucks out our souls. Our children have missed far too much sport this year.
There’s a chance many of them have been lost to it forever but giving them the chance to play in good weather during the long daylight hours of June, July and August might just entice them back.
The consequences of failing to do so could be catastrophic in terms of developing talent.
In years to come the stands at Hampden and elsewhere might still be empty. Not because of Covid but because there will be no decent players worth watching.
There’s a strong argument for summer football, whatever the circumstances