1967: Bonavena vrs. Liston

Liston late stoppage. The charging Bonavena gets frozen in his tracks time and time by Listons thudding jab...and bonavenas effectivness in close is squandered by listons superior strength and powerful uppercuts...Bonavena gets outboxed at long range and outfought in close. Bonavena is durable but listons constant hammering gets the job done as a bloody bonavena is floored twice in the 9th before the referee stops the fight...

Liston TKO 9

 

I think Bonavena could make a hell of a fight out of this.

He had better stamina (More proven at the very least) Was the only other fighter besides Foreman to drop Frazier, Oscar had had damned good punch and an iron chin.

 

Bonavena is tailor made for liston...a walk in brawler with much less power and much less strength....This might look like Liston-Wepner II

 

I'll go with Liston in this one.

 

This is a fairly easy fight for Liston,everything Oscar does ,Sonny does better.
in 67 The year this is projected for Bonavena lost a Udec to Jimmy Ellis, he was floored twice,two years previously he was floored for an 8 count by Folley ,he had a good chin ,but it was not iron.
Liston by late tko or U DEC.

 

I think Bonavena was a bit more than a walk in Brawler. He had some skills.

I'll go with Liston on points for two reasons.

1 ) Liston slowed down a bit in the late 60's.

2 ) Bonavena was a hard guy to stop. Indeed Bonavena was only stopped once in 68 fights, and it was an attrition based stoppage in the 15th rounds.

Frazier 2x, Lyle, Patterson, Chavalo, and Martin could all punch too. They could not stop Ringo.

 

Good assessment. If you actually look at Bonavena vs. Ali, Frazier etc., he's not easy to hit at all. I think a lot of how bad Ali looked against Bonavena had to do with Oscar, considering the fact that Ali didn't look bad against Quarry. Only Ellis had an easy time with Bonavena, and Ellis is almost a polar opposite to Liston.

As you point out, Bonavena was only stopped by Ali and that was I think because Bonavena had gassed out completely by the 15th; he no longer had his legs, in the same way Foreman had no legs by the 8th against Ali. Liston, whose stamina was very suspect by 1967, is not going to score a late stoppage and isn't going to win on cuts against Bonavena who very rarely cut; even Muhammad "Cut-Maker" Ali could do no more than make Bonavena bleed a bit inside his nose.

Over 12 rounds, I think Liston wins a decision. Over 15, I think Bonavena has a very good chance at the upset.

 

Bonavena was ONLY dropped by sneaky punchers. Frazier hit him with some of the hardest shots I've ever seen Joe land and the stupid ******* didn't seem to notice.

More flukes then anything. Does anyone doubt Ali's chin when he was dropped by Jones and Cooper when he went on to show a ATG chin?

Bonavena did the exact same thing. If you want to nitpick his lows, look at his highs as well.

 

Keep in mind that in 67 Liston was in his mid 40's ...

 

I gave him his due ,I said he had a good chin but it wasn't iron ,and I stand by that.By the way Jones never dropped Ali, that was Sonny Banks ,a very good puncher who caught him right on the button ,he got up and sparked Banks.
I'm familiar with Bonavena he was my era .I grew up watching him tussle with Chuvalo,Mildenberger, Martin , and Frazier etc.

 

Liston by SD over Bonavena in a war.At this point, Sonny wasn't quite the fighter he was, and Bonavena was starting to come into his own.

 

Good post.

 

Bonavena may not have had an anvil of a chin like Chuvalo, but he did have a very good chin..to withstand everything Frazier threw at him without going down...and he wasn't a "walk in slugger" either..he had no real style, akin to a heavyweight Gene Fullmer..he had a "B" style like Fullmer when he fought a real walk in type like Chuvalo. Oscar just kinda schlepped around in most of his fights, doing what was necessary to win..and his lack of a style, lack of a rhythm and what have you, combined with his toughness, strength and punch made him a very difficult opponent...and Liston had slowed down by '67 appreciably and was fighting B fighters. I think Bonavena would have given Sonny real problems..like he gave everybody problems..with his awkwardness..and I think he would sneak a decision over Liston for an upset.