How good was Oscar Bonavena?

Probably the greatest argentinian boxer of all time. He gave Ali a tough fight.

 

Better than Monzon, Perez, Locche, Galindez and Castro? I think you mean greatest Argentinian heavyweight boxer of all time.

 

I think you made a mistake

 

Oscar was very strong, tough, had a very solid chin and a hard puncher .. he was a very awkward fight and his style made for ugly, grueling fights .. I don't know how he'd do today when his advantages in strength would be nullified by many bigger men .. he was a very tough contender in his day ..

 

He seems to have a reputation for toe-to-toe slugging, but in fact that seemed to stem from the Frazier fights, and of course it was Smoking Joe who forced that Toe-to-Toe on Oscar, if left to his own devices Oscar was a 'Bull-Rush' merchant, he would stand off, sometimes walkoff to the side, rather ungainly...Before the Bull-rush Charge, it was during these aggressive moments he could be very dangerous with his Uncultured industrial approach, his Intermittant Bull-rushes gave Folly ist time round, and Ellis time to Map him and out finesse him,

Oscar could perhaps of won these fights with a bit more of the Frazier consistancy of Attack, he was very Strong and hard hitting, but had Balance issues propelling that Barrel chested Trunk, and changing directions, were not his forte, Strong and Dangerous but handled with circumspect care he could be wrong-footed to defeat, I gather later in his career Al Blue Lewis was giving him a very difficult night, and got disq rather unfairly protested the Blue camp. He was fun to have around, ( But ultimately perhaps not everyone thought so )

 

Tough guy, strong, had heart, short stocky, but he was also slow and predictable, and that kept him from achieving elite status..

If he was fighting today he would be a Cruiser, if he tried Heavy he would get crushed, just too small..:-(

He was murdered in Nevada 1976.

 

Actually, the only thing predictable about Ringo was his unpredictability. He was a shortish, thickly built, uncommonly strong and awkward fighter, and his punching power depended greatly on him securing leverage, and he didn't always efficiently do that. I think the evidence shows that he was a real handle and a half for anybody, and just review the fights he had with Frazier and Ali. He was, in a Gene Fullmerish way, a somewhat clever fighter, and the bout with Chuvalo proves that.
He also had a certain amount of ring smarts in dealing with Joe Frazier in terms of judging distance, defending his jaw and stamina in both their bouts...finishing stonger on both occasions with Joe. A "predictable" fighter would be George Chuvalo, whereas Bonavena was anything but. Today, I think he'd do quite well with the present crop of poor heavies. I think he'd be a nightmare for most of them, including Fury and Wilder. I think he would have lost to WK, but the bout would have easily gone 15 with Oscar providing the champ with a gruelling evening.
You see, Oscar had no style, no rythym,....he just schlepped along, doing what ever worked at the time. He was a very tough man.

 

Yes, many years ago I read that he had been having an affair with the wife of a new business partner, or something on those lines, and he was shot by a security guard when Ringo had been told to keep away.

 

About how I see it.

 

You goin' after Hugo Corro again??????
nono:yikes

 

The wife of mob boss Joe Comforte as a matter of fact.

 

Predictable?? He was probably the most unpredictable HW I can think of.

 

That's the one. I couldn't think of a name. :good

 

Folley-Bonavena 1 is on YouTube

What a performance by Folley. Guy is a master master boxer