Did Bonavena Drop Chuvalo ? ( twice )

Ive always thought so. A rare case of Mercante blowing the call. I believe even Ring or Boxing Illustrated counted one or both as legitimate knockdowns.

 

I love the Ringo song at the beginning. Chuvalo looks carved from marble. I think ref got it right he is clearly pushed up high and loses balance. The punch was good and on the button but with out the push I don't think the glove would touch down. Very close though.

 

I wouldnt say he lacks rhythm more a case of him having an odd rhythm or herky jerky style. Its one of the things that made him so hard to fight, especially for orthodox fighters and counterpunchers.

 

I'd seen the bout years ago, just watched it again.
Surely a push in the 2nd but, in the 4th I think the ropes saved George from going down but, even then, that would have been a flash KD and George would have been up in a heartbeat. My $0.02

 

Another ref might have called both knockdowns. The first reminded me of Buchanan landing a flurry against Duran in the 1st and Roberto tripped a bit down onto the ropes and it wasn't called a down, then Buchanan had the same happen with his gloves touching the canvas like George and it was called one so its the angle the ref see's things at. In the golden gloves I had one guy sitting on the bottom ropes twice and it wasn't called a knockdown so who knows. (By the way it was suprising to see Ringo Wille Peping George there a few times!).

 

My fault, I thought you were talking about Bonavena. I misread the original post. Yes, I think one of Chuvalo's biggest achilles heels was his lack of rythmn and timing. It made him a plodding, unimaginative, and predictable fighter.

 

I watched this carefully and I don't think that Bonavena drooped George either time. Also, that was one of the closest fights ever.

 

The first one was clearly a two handed push.

The second one was the result of a punch. But George bounces off the ropes without grounding anything other than his feet.

 

If the ropes keep you up its a KD. Chuvalo was clearly off balance and on his way down, BEFORE Ringo "pushed" him, as the result of that right/left that landed. IMO most referees would have called that.

 

There is a case for the 2nd one. But not the 1st one IMO.

 

Although George doesn't hit the canvas in either case, I thought both were flash near-knockdowns. In the 1st clip, he was hit cleanly with a right although aided a by a left hand punch-push combo.

I think the 2nd instance, George was saved from hitting the deck by the ropes.

A classic fight though. Both men were masses of muscle and looked strong as hell.

 

One man's opinion:

http://www.boxingforum24.com/showthread.php?t=483705

 

Excellent writing by you IB...enjoyed every word of it. This fight has always intriqued me....I think both trips to the canvas were fueled to some degree by the blunt force of Bonavena punches. The first could have been a real kd if a punch followed instead of a push...and the second WAS a kd in by opinion...as Chuvalo can clearly thank the ropes from stopping him from landing on his ass. Overall, I think Bonavena was a bit too tricky and unpredictable for George...and I really dig how Ringo would schlep along...improvising in Gene Fullmer type of defensive style that he adopted for this fight. In this fight along with Oscar's other celebrated 1966 appearance, vs Frazier, he displayed ring smarts...especially in his use of distance and angles.

 

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