Could Oscar Bonavena Have lasted 12 Rounds With Peak Tyson??

I think Tyson would have knocked him out. In general, the guys who lasted with Tyson during his prime were taller guys with long reaches or guys who held a lot. Bonavena was neither of those. Basically, he was Tyson's size and he was all about hitting his opponent.

 

I'm sure he could.

Bonavena was stopped once in 68 fights ... and it came in the 15th round.

Half the guys Tyson fought in 1987 (two out of four) went the distance with him. The other two lasted six and seven rounds respectively.

None of the four were more durable than Bonavena.

I think the four of them were stopped a combined 22 times.

 

While I don't agree with you, I am a big fan of research and knowledge. Nice post.

 

Possibly. Bonavena could definitely go the distance, but if he gets taken out, I think Tyson maybe stops him late maybe? Accumulation of blows or ref waving it off? No one punch KO or early round blitzes happening here. The Mathis Jr fight showed crowding Tyson constantly could mess with his style. And Bonavena had a hell of a chin.

Bonavena would get hit then hit him right back immediately and wouldn't back off. Tyson would not be used to this and would be thrown off by the boldness and uncomfortable having to constantly fight at close quarters against a bullish guy who won't back off. Would get very ugly and Tyson wouldn't be able to get full leverage on his shots or use his fancy head movement which was meant for dealing with tall rangy fighters.

 

Well stated

 

I think Tyson blows through him like he did Berbick ...

 

oscar was a counter puncher to but no mike hit way to hard and great at angles for him

 

I’m not sure. It would’ve been interesting to watch though no matter the outcome.

 

Tyson had fought 1 minute and 29 seconds in 4 1/2 years when he took on Mathis. It's also not peak Tyson obviously. I wouldn't be taking near that much from it personally.

 

Agree, Bonevena's awkwardness would help him as well.

 

There's literally no other opponent remotely similar to Oscar that we can use to speculate.

We also know that when aggressive shorter boxers who don't like backing up fight, they tend to smother each other's shots and can't always get full leverage.

I understand Tyson was rusty, but it's not far fetched at all that Oscar, whose both tougher and better overall than Mathis, might be able to last long or go the distance.

 

Oscar Ringo Bonavena sent Smoking Joe Frazier to the canvas on Sept 21 1966, twice in the same round, only to be on the end of a split decision victory for Joe. Ringo was decked by Jimmy Ellis in their 1967 WBA Tournament bout, Ellis won by unanimous decision. On Dec 7 1970, Oscar was knocked down 3 times in round 15 against a ring rusty Muhammad Ali, that only had fought three rounds in 43 months. Ali won by TKO 15. Mike Tyson wins this fight by TKO 5, as another talented poster stated, Mike hits too hard.

 

No