Did these knockdowns happen or not?

Nah, Cooper had Holyfield down. He spun around, held onto the ropes... That alone should of gotten him a standing eight count, as he was half down AND the only thing holding him up were the ropes.

 

You'd think it'd be the other way since it was Coop's hometown.

 

I thought the referee DID give Holyfield a count ?

 

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Part 2 is also there.

Bonavena lands a looping right hand (glancing blow by the looks of it) and then a flush left hook that Chuvalo never saw coming which seem to buckle his legs or at least surprise him enough to be off balance, at which point Bonavena pushes him down. I think it could be called a knockdown, because he got in that off-balance position by the shock of the punch. The push afterwards happens more often, for instance, after Lewis landed the final right hand on Tyson, he pushed Tyson down sort of, but i wouldn't question the knockdown (out). Same thing with the first knockdown of Holmes by Tyson.
Chuvalo didn't really seem hurt though.

 

Regarding Foreman-Wepner, I have two accounts of the fight. One from the AP and the other from the UPI. The AP doesn't even mention it but the UPI does mention how Foreman took control after an embarrassing slip in the 1st round which brought the crowd to it's feet momentarily.

Scartissue

 

It would certainly be quite the interesting claim to fame to have scored flukish flash knockdowns over two legendary heavyweight champions!

 

Thanks Chris. I would score the first one a kd as George's glove touched the canvas .Couldn't see if George's knee touched down in the second one.Flat footed Chuvalo made the lumbering Bonavena look like Billy Conn in there,it seemed to be a good brawl,pity they don't show it on ESPN.

 

It seems Wepner is the only fighter in history to see both Ali and Foreman fall before him.

Last night I rewatched Ali-Wepner and, for the first time, it seemed to me that, however harmless, Wepner may have scored a true knockdown of Ali. For some reason, Ali's legs seemed to simply freeze immediately upon absorbing that unexpected clumsy right to the flank. Just maybe.

 

To me, the first "knockdown" in Chuvalo-Bonavena is not a knockdown because Oscar clearly pushed him.

The 2nd "knockdown" I am less sure about. Chuvalo was clearly falling backwards and down, but the ropes saved him from making contact with the canvas. In some people's view, that is still considered a knockdown, to me, I'm unsure.

 

Many thanks to you ChrisPontius for posting that vid of Chuvalo-Bonavena! I thought I'd never see it, and it was very interesting, in that Bonavena actually looked like a boxer compared to Chuvalo, who nevertheless kept it mighty close. I think the first "slip' was actually a knockdown, whereas the second on was IMO Chuvalo just being off balance. The left Bonavena threw after that right hand I think would have put Chuvalo down without the push, which I think was really insignificant. Thumbs up again for posting it!:thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup