Reading this I think that Bonavena is scumbag even worse than Monzon. Hell even Monzon respected other fighters,was quiet,didn't pick pocket people and steal from them and was nice to everyone. I remember him rising Hagler's hands...Monzon was atleast good guy. And Max Baer was too but he was portrayed as an killer and bully but he was a sweatheart and very kind man with charisma. http://www.boxing.com/desperately_seeking_oscar.html
Ya, Bonavena was enemies w/ Frazier, despite being friendly towards him after the first fight. He said something inappropriate to Frazier in the press conference before the rematch, and evidently walked up to him during the Caracas Caper and said something rude again. He was friendly towards Ali right after the fight, but evidently didn't get along with Ali before and after the fight. He also pulled the same stuff w/ Lyle and ducked Chuvalo.
Ducked Chuvalo? LOL He beat Chuvalo and also knocked him down twice. Frazier said he THOUGHT Bonavena was rude to him because Bonavena would sniff and hold his nose when Frazier was around. Frazier felt he was being racist but Bonavena did this to all of his opponents. You can see it in several press conferences for several different fighters. As for Lyle he was very complimentary toward Lyle after their fight as well as Ali who he called the real champion and picked to beat Frazier based on his experience with both fighters. Bonavena was like a big immature kid, literally, that combined with his inability to speak English I think led to him being misunderstood by some. I dont think Bonavena was any worse a person than Ali who gets lauded for the same behavior that this article denigrates Bonavena for.
I don't mean that he did duck Chuvalo in the sense you're thinking, but that he stayed in his room before the fight and refused to come out. I will say that I'd only heard about the Frazier thing a time or two, but had never researched it a lot as it was really not that important, so thnx for clearing that up. However, I think Bonavena must have been a worse person than Ali, since he actually got murdered at age 33 while fighting with a ranch owner.
But he wasnt fighting with the owner. Thats where this article is wrong. He drove to the ranch to collect his things. The ranch had a gate blocking the road up the ranch. When Bonavena stopped his car to open the gate he was murdered by Conforte’s bodyguard who was hiding in the bushes nearby with a high powered hunting rifle. It was an ambush plain and simple. Conforte was a scumbag and wannabe gangster his entire life that ultimately got run out of the country, how Bonavena becomes the bad guy in his story is a mystery to me.
Interesting article .. I'm sure there is a mixture of items in it that are a bit fabricated .. I find Bonavena interesting as well .. like Monzon, I wish there ws much mire in english I could read .. a friend of mine , Bob Bozic was a Chuvalo sparring partner and a pro that fought Holmes .. a very tough guy in his own right .. he said George says he tripped against Oscar ... Bob also sparred w Oscar and said he hit hard but not Foreman hard .. he said at one point after they were brawling he stopped and gave Oscar a huge kiss on the lips like a nut and Bonavena laughed hysterically over it .. who knows .. ?
That's just what the article said. I didn't read up on it anymore that. Besides, this is SerbianLoudmouth we're responding too, so no matter how accurate we attempt to make our replies, he will distort them to the wildest proportions? Amiright?