Bonavena-Foreman '74

Foreman would have been arrested for murder after this fight, which THANKFULLY was never meant to be for obvious reasons...atsch

 

Bonavena was pretty well past it by 1974 and was having major hand issues. Prime for prime? He gives George hell. But you have to favor Foreman obviously.

 

Foreman TKO's Bonavena in five rounds, but it wouldn't surprise me if Oscar lasted the distance against George.George wouldn't be able to intimidate Ocar, and Oscar would use his experience to a limited extent while it lasted.

 

Oscar was so strong, and so awkward, and so durable Id say he would lose on points but give Foreman some problems before he did. Bonavena was a handfull and usually had bigger issues with boxers than with guys like Foreman.

 

Seems like Foreman would be a huge favorite early. But if the fight went a while, the odds would turn in Oscar's favor. Foreman never went 15 rounds in his career. Bonavena did.

I read in Sports Illustrated or another publication like that years ago that if Frazier had refused to fight Foreman in 1973, the WBA threatened to strip Frazier and pit Foreman and Bonavena against each other for the vacant belt.

Why Ali wouldn't have been in the mix to fight for a vacant belt, I'm not sure. If true, though, this Foreman-Bonavena fight came pretty close to happening.

 

Styles make fights and it's interesting that Foreman never fought Bonavena or Quarry. I give Oscar a chance because he would have a better chance than Chuvalo of surviving into the latter rounds. Stamina could become an issue. It would be damn interesting to see Bonavena against Foreman in rounds 10 through 15.

 

Yes,it would have been quite exciting for three or four rounds.

 

Strange considering that Ali was the number one contender. Joe had been avoiding Muhammad for quite a while by this point and only gave him a rematch after he lost the title and needed the fight as much as Ali did. No direspect to Frazier but that's the way it was.

 

Actually, I found it. It wasn't the WBA it was the WBC. And Foreman's team asked the WBC to strip Frazier if Frazier wouldn't defend against George, and his team asked the WBC to award the title to the winner of Foreman-Bonavena - which was in the works for late 1972. But Frazier agreed to fight Foreman, so Foreman fought Frazier instead.

 

I'd expect Foreman to handle Bonavena and knock him out somewhere between 1-4 but I agree I would've liked to see it.