Even at nearly 40 years old, he still could have won it. At the very least, he would have demolished most of the people in that tournament. Liston was still a hulking 6'1 225lb powerful old crafty veteran with a telephone pole jab.
Former champ Sonny Liston was not invited to the party and neither were rugged Canadian George Chuvalo nor unbeaten Buster Mathis. A Liston vs Bonavena fight would have been interesting. more: http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=11773&more=1
Can't believe that there were no comments for that article. Yes Liston would surely have been a force to contend with..and I agree that a Liston-Bonavena fight would have been very interesting..and not a onesided bludgeoning like so many other the other matchups would have been.
Liston in 1967 would have ****ed up Bonavena..You cannot walk into Liston and trade punches with him.
Then I'll make one That Ellis knockdown was not, as the article contends, the first in Bonavena's career. Zora Folley turned the trick 2 years earlier when a green Bonavena was tossed in against him (a move his management was roundly criticized for).
This content is protected ...I.have.nothing.to.counter.this.:sad2 ...Next.time,Suz....NEXT.TIME.:fire
Excuses. Bonavena was a bit green, but he was also a young hunry fighter who nearly beat Joe Frazier a year later. Folley shut him out. Also, Folley was aging at the time of their fight. I can't see any version of Bonavena beating a prime Zora Folley. Folley was too slick.
What excuses? I don't think Bonavena beats a prime Folley either. Prime for prime it's a good fight, but Zora takes it. I was stating a fact. Bonavena's braintrust were criticized for tossing him in there at that stage of his development. He was not ready and it showed.
It would have been nice to have him in it. I just don't think he comes out at the top when it's over. Mainly because he's fighting A list fighters back to back to back. He'll slip up or be flat and that level of competition for an old guy is much different than the C grade and maybe B graders he was fighting then. Just no margin for error in tournaments and he's consistently going in against youth and reflexes.
