LONDON, April 14: Former world heavyweight champion Frank Bruno has been told to prove himself all over again if he wants to take on new British hope Audley Harrison.

Bruno set tongues wagging last week when he said that after seven years out of the ring and at the age of 41, he felt he could beat Harrison, the Sydney Olympics super-heavyweight champion who is being groomed for the top.

The popular former fighter says he wants a 10 million pounds (US$15 million) bout staged at West ham’s Upton Park in London.

But Harrison’s manager Colin McMillan has said that before any of that transpires, Bruno would have to prove himself in a series of warmup matches.

“It is definitely a fight that would generate an awful lot of interest,” said McMillan.

McMillan believes Bruno’s health may be a stumbling block, and said: “Don’t forget, the reason Bruno retired after losing to Mike Tyson was because he had a detached eye retina.

Bruno, now a popular performer on the British pantomime circuit, won 40 of his 45 professional contests in his 14-year professional career.

But it was said by his critics that many of those victories came against moderate opponents and that as soon as he fought boxers of any real quality he lost.

Bruno’s five professional defeats came against James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and in world title bouts against Tim Witherspoon, Tyson (twice) and Lennox Lewis.

He eventually won the World Boxing Council (WBC) version of the world heavyweight title when he outpointed Oliver McCall over 12 rounds at Wembley in 1995.

Harrison, 31, has been criticised heavily for following a similar path to Bruno’s in his currently unbeaten 10-fight professional career with a series of unconvincing wins over low grade fighters earning him the unkind nickname ‘Fraudley’ in some quarters.—AFP