Jack Sharkey the title against Ingemar Johansson, having lost it to the Swede in their first fight. Oliver McCall then became the third such Heavyweight champion when beating Lennox Lewis for the WBC title in 1994, before losing it to Lewis' countryman, Frank Bruno the following year. In recent years, with the proliferation of European Heavyweight champions, fighters such as Chris Byrd and Hasim Rahman have also won and lost their championships against European opposition. Sharkey's distinction is noteworthy, however, as Schmeling and Carnera were, respectively, only the third and fourth Europeans to win the World Heavyweight championship. Later in life, Sharkey
Frank Bruno the WBA heavyweight title. After once again leading on the cards for most of the fight, he ran out of steam and was defeated by knockout in round eleven. Bruno once again got himself back into title contention with wins over former contender James Tillis and journeymen Reggie Gross and Chuck Gardner. In October 1987 Bruno faced the veteran Joe Bugner in an all British match up. Bugner although long past his peak, was coming off impressive wins over Greg Page, James Tillis and David Bey. Bruno won by TKO in the 8th round, the referee stopping the bout, although