# Oscar Bonavena

Oscar Natalio "Ringo" Bonavena (September 25, 1942 – May 22, 1976) was an Argentine heavyweight professional boxer with a career record of 58 wins, 9 losses and 1 draw. A rugged, wild-swinging puncher, he was nicknamed "Ringo" because of his Beatles haircut, and enjoyed professional success in both Argentina and the United States. He is remembered for giving Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali hard fought bouts.

## Life and pro career

Oscar Natalio Bonavena was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants. He was a professional boxer, Argentine and South American champion. He also participated in several Argentine TV programs such as the Pepe Biondi Show.

## Early career

Bonavena began his early career in New York City under the management of World War II hero and dentist Marvin Goldberg.
Following his pro debut on February 1, 1964, he racked up a quick string of early knockouts. Sometimes fighting twice a month, he lost by decision in February 1965, in only his 15th contest, to the highly rated Zora Folley. Bonavena was far too inexperienced to take on a top veteran like Folley. Three years later he won their rematch by decision.
Returning to Argentina, his winning and knockout streak continued. In mid-1966 he was enticed back to New York where the free-swinging Bonavena ran into trouble outside the ring. He called Muhammad Ali a black kangaroo, and a chicken for draft dodging. When, much later, he saw Ali seated ringside at the George Foreman–Ken Norton fight, he went over and started a big slanging match.
In his pre-fight press conference with Frazier, Bonavena needled effectively by implying that Frazier had a personal hygiene problem. He would start sniffing and grimace. Lawsuits were brought about by reporters with broken cameras; and other such "colorful" behavior. He was always volatile, as trainers soon discovered.

### Big name contests, Chuvalo and Frazier

Bonavena first came to wide public attention after a fine performance: defeating rated contender and Canadian champion George Chuvalo, boxing technically better than expected, and later going the distance against the young hard-hitting great Joe Frazier. In this, their first fight, Bonavena had the future champion down twice in the second round.

### WBA elimination contests

In 1967, after the World Boxing Association stripped Muhammad Ali of the title for refusing to be inducted into the U.S. military, Bonavena participated in that sanctioning body's 1967 tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion. In a strong performance he decked favoured European champion Karl Mildenberger four times, winning by a decision in Frankfurt, West Germany. But he was himself knocked down twice and clearly outboxed by eventual tournament winner Jimmy Ellis in the semi-finals in Louisville, losing by unanimous decision in an upset. Many deemed it the best win of Ellis's career.

### World Title shot, the Frazier rematch

The following year, in 1968, after outpointing Leotis Martin, he got a rematch with Frazier for the heavyweight title in Philadelphia. After a grueling fifteen rounds Bonavena lost the rematch by decision, fighting more defensively than previous. He left with a seriously battered face, as photographed in the Ring magazine. In 1969, he got a draw in a rematch with talented Gregorio Peralta, who he'd outpointed four years earlier for the Argentine title.

### Versus Ali

In December 1970, he fought Ali at Madison Square Garden, in the former champ's second bout after his three-year layoff. Bonavena absorbed punishment throughout but fought well, getting through with various head and body punches. With just under 1:30 left in the 15th and final round, Ali caught Oscar rushing in and decked him with a perfectly placed left hook. Bonavena got up, but was clearly not fully recovered. Ali decked him twice more, and the fight was automatically stopped under the three knockdown rule, giving Ali a TKO (technical knockout). The ending was somewhat controversial, as Ali stood over Bonavena as Bonavena was getting up, never going to a neutral corner as the rules of boxing require, which allowed Ali to quickly knockdown Bonavena twice more and automatically end the fight. After the second knockdown, the referee appears to be attempting to guide Ali to a neutral corner, but Ali brushes the referee's arm away and pursues a wobbly Bonavena.

### Other matches

After the loss to Ali in 1970, he had a brutally tough match with underrated Alvin Lewis, being decked multiple times but eventually winning by disqualification. Bonavena fought intermittently for the next few years. A gregarious party man, he enjoyed life to its fullest, at the cost of his boxing career.
Eventually losses to Floyd Patterson in 1972 and Ron Lyle in 1974 effectively relegated him to lower contender status, though he did well enough in both matches. In the Patterson fight he broke his left hand early, possibly after decking Patterson in the fourth, and remained an advancing threat to the final bell. It was around 1973 that a match with a then rising Ken Norton was being planned but never materialized.
On February 26, 1976, an overweight and sluggish Bonavena fought what would be his last fight, winning a ten-round decision over the unranked Billy Joiner in Reno.

## Death

On 22 May 1976 Bonavena was shot dead at the age of 33 by security guard Willard Ross Brymer at the Mustang Ranch brothel near Reno, Nevada, after having become involved in a conflict with its owner, Joe Conforte. His body was returned to Argentina to lie in state at the Luna Park sports arena in Buenos Aires, where 150,000 people filed by.

## Professional boxing record

| 68 fights | 58 wins | 9 losses |
| By knockout | 44 | 1 |
| By decision | 14 | 8 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
58 Wins (44 Knockouts), 9 Defeats, 1 Draw :
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
| Win | 58-9-1 | Billy Joiner | UD | 10 | 1976-02-26 | Reno, Nevada | |
| Win | 57-9-1 | Reinaldo Gorosito | PTS | 10 | 1975-11-01 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 56-9-1 | Mani Vaka | TKO | 5 (10) | 1974-11-12 | International Center Arena, Honolulu | |
| Win | 55-9-1 | Oliver Wright | KO | 9 (10) | 1974-10-18 | Rome | |
| Win | 54-9-1 | Bob Mashburn | KO | 2 (10) | 1974-09-21 | Rome | |
| Win | 53-9-1 | Larry Renaud | KO | 3 (10) | 1974-07-13 | Rome | |
| Win | 52-9-1 | Larry Middleton | UD | 12 | 1974-05-21 | Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland | |
| Loss | 51-9-1 | Ron Lyle | UD | 12 | 1974-03-19 | Denver, Colorado | |
| Win | 51-8-1 | Terry Sorrell | TKO | 2 (8) | 1973-11-20 | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | |
| Win | 50-8-1 | Lou Bailey | UD | 10 | 1973-08-15 | Denver, Colorado | |
| Win | 49-8-1 | Roy Wallace | TKO | 6 (10) | 1973-08-06 | Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Win | 48-8-1 | Leroy Caldwell | TKO | 2 (10) | 1973-07-23 | Circus Circus Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada | |
| Loss | 47-8-1 | Floyd Patterson | UD | 10 | 1972-02-11 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 47-7-1 | Alvin Lewis | DQ | 7 (10) | 1971-10-04 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 46-7-1 | Muhammad Ali | TKO | 15 (15) | 1970-12-07 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | NABF Heavyweight title fight. |
| Win | 46-6-1 | Luis Pires | RTD | 8 (10) | 1970-10-29 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 45-6-1 | James J Woody | KO | 5 (10) | 1970-07-04 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 44-6-1 | Manuel Ramos | KO | 1 (10) | 1970-05-09 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 43-6-1 | José Menno | KO | 2 (8) | 1970-04-24 | Montevideo, Montevideo | |
| Win | 42-6-1 | Santiago Lovell | KO | 7 (10) | 1970-03-21 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 41-6-1 | Miguel Angel Paez | DQ | 7 (10) | 1970-01-10 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 41-5-1 | Santiago Lovell | TKO | 8 (10) | 1969-12-13 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Draw | 40-5-1 | Gregorio Peralta | PTS | 10 | 1969-08-08 | Palacio Peñarol, Montevideo, Montevideo | |
| Win | 40-5 | Wilhelm Von Homburg | TKO | 3 (10) | 1969-06-20 | Sportpalast, Berlin | |
| Win | 39-5 | Luis Pires | RTD | 8 (10) | 1969-03-05 | Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 38-5 | Joe Frazier | UD | 15 | 1968-12-10 | Spectrum, Philadelphia | NYSAC Heavyweight title fight. |
| Win | 38-4 | Jim Fletcher | KO | 1 (10) | 1968-11-09 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 37-4 | Leotis Martin | UD | 10 | 1968-09-07 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 36-4 | Zora Folley | MD | 10 | 1968-07-06 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 35-4 | Roberto Davila | UD | 10 | 1968-06-01 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 34-4 | Lee Carr | KO | 3 (10) | 1968-04-20 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 33-4 | Alberto Benassi | KO | 3 (10) | 1968-03-08 | La Rioja, La Rioja | |
| Win | 32-4 | Felipe Pedro Marich | TKO | 6 (10) | 1968-02-16 | Córdoba, Córdoba | |
| Loss | 31-4 | Jimmy Ellis | UD | 12 | 1967-12-02 | Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky | WBA Heavyweight title eliminator. |
| Win | 31-3 | Karl Mildenberger | UD | 12 | 1967-09-16 | Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Hesse | WBA Heavyweight title eliminator. |
| Win | 30-3 | Carlos Vazquez | TKO | 3 (10) | 1967-08-05 | General Roca, Río Negro | |
| Win | 29-3 | Luis Pires | RTD | 6 (10) | 1967-07-22 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 28-3 | Pablo Sagrispanti | KO | 2 (10) | 1967-06-23 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 27-3 | Hubert Hilton | TKO | 10 | 1967-04-08 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 26-3 | Jose Giorgetti | KO | 9 (10) | 1967-01-21 | Estadio Bristol, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 25-3 | Roberto Veliz | KO | 4 (10) | 1966-12-01 | Asociación Mendocina de Boxeo, Mendoza, Mendoza | |
| Win | 24-3 | Alberto Benassi | TKO | 5 (10) | 1966-11-18 | Rosario, Santa Fe | |
| Win | 23-3 | Amos Johnson | UD | 10 | 1966-10-22 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 22-3 | Alberto Benassi | KO | 5 (10) | 1966-10-07 | Estadio Bristol, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 21-3 | Joe Frazier | MD | 10 | 1966-09-21 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 21-2 | George Chuvalo | MD | 10 | 1966-06-23 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 20-2 | Jose Giorgetti | UD | 10 | 1966-04-16 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 19-2 | Jose Giorgetti | DQ | 8 (10) | 1966-03-12 | Estadio Bristol, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 19-1 | Bruno Segura | KO | 2 (10) | 1966-02-12 | Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 18-1 | Billy Daniels | KO | 1 (10) | 1965-11-13 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 17-1 | Hector Wilson | KO | 2 (10) | 1965-10-22 | Concepción, Tucumán | |
| Win | 16-1 | Pablo Sagrispanti | TKO | 1 (10) | 1965-10-09 | Rosario, Santa Fe | |
| Win | 15-1 | Gregorio Peralta | UD | 12 | 1965-09-04 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | Won Argentinian Heavyweight title. |
| Win | 14-1 | Alberto Gonzales | KO | 2 (10) | 1965-08-06 | Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut | |
| Win | 13-1 | Eduardo Cartelli | KO | 1 (12) | 1965-07-23 | Córdoba, Córdoba | |
| Win | 12-1 | Rodolfo Diaz | TKO | 4 (10) | 1965-06-26 | Luna Park, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 11-1 | Rogelio Gregorutti | KO | 2 (10) | 1965-05-28 | San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán | |
| Win | 10-1 | Carlos Vazquez | KO | 3 (10) | 1965-04-30 | Salón de los Deportes, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires | |
| Win | 9-1 | Rene Sosa | KO | 2 (10) | 1965-04-16 | Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires | |
| Loss | 8-1 | Zora Folley | UD | 10 | 1965-02-26 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 8-0 | Billy Stephan | TKO | 6 (10) | 1964-12-18 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 7-0 | Dick Wipperman | UD | 10 | 1964-11-13 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 6-0 | Tom McNeeley | TKO | 5 (8) | 1964-08-21 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 5-0 | Byron Stoimenides | KO | 1 (8) | 1964-05-29 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |
| Win | 4-0 | Leslie Borden | TKO | 3 (10) | 1964-05-05 | Sunnyside Garden, Queens, New York | |
| Win | 3-0 | Wendell Newton | TKO | 5 (6) | 1964-03-10 | Sunnyside Garden, Queens, New York | |
| Win | 2-0 | Everett Copeland | KO | 1 (6) | 1964-02-04 | Sunnyside Garden, Queens, New York | |
| Win | 1-0 | Lou Hicks | TKO | 1 (4) | 1964-01-03 | Madison Square Garden, New York City | |