What the papers said about . . . Frank Bruno

'Fat's a joke . . . Even Widow Twankey - one of Bruno's panto characters - could have stopped the American Jesse.' Sun

'The worm - if Harry Carpenter will forgive the description - turned last night and bit Frank Bruno . . . He was surprised and somewhat annoyed to be quizzed critically by a friend regarded as the straight man in one of sport's longest and steadily less funny acts.' Mirror

'This contest proved only that if you put Bruno in the ring with a stiff he is guaranteed to knock him over.' Independent

'The next time Frank Bruno devours 244lb of lard in 142 seconds he had better watch out that Great gullible Britain does not catch indigestion. Joe Public will only take so much. That is more than can be said for Jesse Boogieman Ferguson. He could not take anything at all. This boogie was a dirge.' Express

'Can Hilarious Frank be speaking with a straight face when he informs us he would now like to trade fisticuffs with Geriatric George Foreman? Oh, yes he is . . . oh, no he isn't . . . oh, who cares? And thus did the misguided mugs who had been duped into paying good money for the dubious privilege of watching this unseemly fiasco depart from whence they came many pounds lighter.' Telegraph

'If this brief encounter proved anything it was that Bruno's confidence was unscathed; but it will generate yet another argument about mis- matches and the importation of American cannon fodder.' Guardian

'The British public knows what it likes and it takes a lot more to change its mind than one flat pint of bitter, one ladder in Princess Di's nylons, one dull episode of Coronation Street, one ropy rasher of bacon or one more flabby fall-guy for Frank Bruno.' Mail

'Frankly, this was a joke.' Star

'He's fat and 45 . . . No wonder Foreman is lined up for Frank's next contest.' Sun