Oscar Bonavena vs. Nino Valdes

I think Valdes would win. He was somewhat craftier, smarter and excellent boxer as well. He can use his size and reach outbox to his advantage but he I can see him struggling against Oscar's roughhouse style

 

Valdes was not an excellent boxer and did not use his size and reach well..have you watched film of him? Valdes was a mauler who loved to go toe to toe inside where he would unleash mean uppercuts and his vicious right hand. Sometimes he threw a good left jab but he would abandon boxing and brawl his way in for a good slugfest. He has no defense and questionable toughness at times

 

Reading between the lines, 'no defence' combined with 'questionable toughness' bodes ill against anyone with a half decent punch. I think Suzie's going with Ringo.

 

Valdes seemed to get more tired and sloppy as a fight wore on. Bonavena was a more consistent, even-keel performer throughout a fight, and he had an excellent chin. His defense wasn't elegant, but he didn't get hit too often which puts his defense in the category of being effective. So, I don't think Valdes would stop Bonavena. The fight would either go the distance with Bonavena winning a decision or else Oscar would stop Nino in a late round, IMO.

 

yes I am . Bonavena by unanimous decision. Valdes was durable so I give him benefit of doubt surviving distance. But bonavena is a bull and outfights Valdes in the trenches and wears him down kinda of like satterfield did.

 

bonavena by Ud. Valdes would have his moments with the jab and land a few good right hands but Oscar is a bull. He’s strong and tough, he survives and beats down Valdes in the trenches. Valdes will be hanging on for dear life by the end of the fight

 

Bonavena would win this,...just "do the math".

 

Hello there Yoda. How are you doing? You'll have seen Suzie has come back although not with the exact outcome I had expected.

My honest answer would be that I don't know. Valdes is not someone I have seen much of and I don't want to go with Oscar simply because I am more familiar with him.

I've been reading a bit about Bonavena lately. I don't think the world became a poorer place for his passing. An already thoroughly obnoxious man whose behaviour may have been affected badly by early onset of CTE, he was spiralling out of control from what I read and no man or woman (or girl, in Oscar's case, apparently) was safe around him.

Keep safe.

 

I would root for Valdes he’s a much better man while I don’t like Oscar as a person at all.

However, Bonavena really performed well vs Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali pushing both to close fights. He also won a slew of matches vs good contenders of the era without any bad losses.

He’s was more consistent and I think Valdes would do far better vs a less aggressive fighter stylistic wise. Valdes would mow down a lot of good boxers who didn’t have the pop to keep him off.

 

Oscar Bonavena looked the same from round 1 through 15. Mauling and brawling as he went.

 

yeah bad stylistically for Nino. Cuban trainers of the time said he was extremely powerful but lacked that killer instinct. When I watch him on film, his heart was very questionable. He was in a lot of close fights where he just gassed and broke down in final few rounds to lose the fight. Not on film but prime example of this is the last 3 rounds of world title eliminator vs Moore where he allowed the 38 year old Archie Moore to back him against the ropes and batter him to close out the fight. Valdes was in a great spot to win the fight after the 12th, having dishes out a lot of punishment on Moore and the fight being dead even on scorecard. In the hot Miami sun in front of his Latino crowd with a title shot on the line, he took his ball and went home.

Joe Rein told me about a sparring session he witnessed between Valdes and Marciano in very early 50s where Valdes started off hot then after a few rounds, got battered at the end of one of the rounds and walked out of the ring with a look of fatigue and feeling completely broken.

Now Valdes was dangerous at his best. 6’3 80” reach, a good left hand when he felt like it, a very powerful right hand and dangerous uppercut. He was a good finisher too, swarming all over his man when he had him hurt. Charles was still tough in 1953 and took an unknown Valdes very lightly trying to knock out Valdes where he was good (inside mauling). After winning first two rounds, Valdes wore Charles down and mauled him the rest of the fight. Valdes took some of Charles sunday punches and walked him down and outfought him in trenches.

According to one of Ezzard’s close friends whom I spoke with, Valdes got his jab going in later rounds which really threw off Ezzard. Ultimately, Ezzard showed up a heavy 192 and Valdes gassed him out, a terrific win for Nino. Charles fought the wrong strategy and Valdes made him pay.

now difference between bonavena and that version of Charles is bonavena would be much bigger (20lb), stronger, and Oscar had a bigger punch. Oscar would be younger and in better condition as well. I think Oscar wins the meatgrind in an entertaining fight

On a last note, Valdes battled back very well after a rough patch off losses in 55-56 to clean out the entire European landscape and work his way back up to number 2 world ranking in 1958. D Amato appeared to want no part of him and picked on opponents who posed no threat to Patterson

 

Thanks for the explanation, Suzie. As I say, I don't really know much about Nino. I haven't studied that era much.

That doesn't stop me piping up on the occasional Marciano thread. Now you're posting again I probably need to watch my step before I get countered by someone much more knowledgeable than me. Even if it means getting put in my place, though, good to see you back.