Ingemar Johansson vs Oscar Ringo Bonavena, both prime.

I agree with all of this once Ingo was outside of championship level. 100%.

But don’t you think Ingo was momentarily a better fighter than Jimmy Ellis for that short 1958-59 period where he was just so razor sharp?

Or can it just be that Ingo benefits from being taken too lightly for both results against Machen and Floyd?

There is a strong case Ingo was probably out of that level as soon as he got that victory over Floyd. I think Like a lot of champs he lost something the second he became champion.

 

This is silly because
1.It implies they each had Machen in trouble and he escaped.
2.Machen fought a safety first fight against Liston.
3.Frazier was still green when he stopped Machen.
4.Ingo was a sloppy finisher ,exhibit A the first Patterson fight.
5. Liston took Patterson out clinically twice, in the first round without even breaking a sweat.
6.It took a ton of punches for Ingo to stop Machen who was trapped in a corner .

Ingo is overated as regards his quality and also as regards his power, who of any class did he actually knock unconscious? Fringe world class Cooper.Did he stop London, McBride,Adams,Bacilleri , Bygraves 1st time?
The Swede was very carefully matched aside from Machen who did he beat who was a top class man to earn his shot he was steered clear of loads of Yanks,and feasted on Euro heavies .
Ingo did not have a sturdy chin Ringo did and he could bang a bit too, he beats the Swede up.

 

Machen still on his feet against Ingo.????
He was flat on the floor during the stupid referees count to 10

 

The bottom line, is that Johansen still did much better against Machen, than either Liston or Frazier.

He did much better against Patterson, than anybody except Liston, and that includes Bonavena.

I am not a Johansen apologist, I understand that his resume is very thin, but his right hand was a neutron bomb!

 

Or maybe he never was that good in the first place ,and was just in the right place at the right time?

 

And that one was against the GOAT.

 

Quite possibly contributed to his mental health issues.

 

Seriously? I would pick many contenders over Johansson. Some from his own era.

 

There are very few champions who would lose to mere contenders at their best. Champions can lose to Other champions yes. But In most cases a contender has to be a potential champion to beat a prime champion.

Ingo has a thin resume, but the guy was legit in that at for one very short spell he was the best in the world and would have been favoured to beat anyone around.

 

No I don’t think many people buy that. The legacy of the linear title has shown that each champ was legit, especially the ones beating prime champions inside the distance.

 

Corrected.

 

Was Shannon Briggs legit?

 

Did Shannon Briggs win his title against a prime champion inside the distance? Because that is what I said.

 

Ingo was a limited operator, his left hand was mainly a rangefinder more of a pawing jab just to set the right up.
Oscar was a tough and awkward operator who could bang.
I think he would have too much for Ingo and would stop him around half way or beyond.
I think it should be recognised though that Ingo’s right hand was a genuine weapon and if Bonavena was careless he could be decked or even taken out.
Those knockdowns of Patterson and Machen were very heavy, and although it’s true that Johannson was a sloppy finisher, those fighters never recovered from those knockdowns.