Yes. Some have argued that Ali was slipping when the punch landed but in a long shot it looks like the punch causes the slip. That argument is immaterial anyway because referees are told that if a fighter goes down on the end of a punch, whether his balance is compromised or not, it must be scored a knockdown. Bonavena knocked both Ali, and Chuvalo down and didnt get credit for either.
Yeah I just watched this fight a couple of days ago. I read Klompton's statement about the kd in another thread so I wanted to see it. If you're following the rules about if the fighter goes down as the result of a punch or at the end of a punch, off-balance or not, it looked like a knockdown. Ali did trip/slip. He missed a punch and Bonavena hit him in the chest and he went down. Not a legitimate knockdown in the sense we'd like to see knockdowns, but a scorable knockdown.
The famous photo looked like it could have been doctored. Wepner landed a wild punch that landed near Ali's arm pit / chest. This give me an idea for a new Ali thread.
