The best fighter Oscar Bonavena could beat?

Prime Mike Tyson

 

Rocky Marciano

 

In actuality he beat George Chuvalo and an aged Zora Folley. He managed to take a peaking Joe Frazier 15 rounds in a title fight but I don’t think he won many rounds. He was also beaten by an aged Patterson and Jimmy Ellis. With all over the board results like this it’s hard to gauge who his best win might come against in a hypothetical situation. I suppose his crowding style, durability and relentless attacks might have given a 1985 Michael Spinks some trouble but I’m not ready to say that he’d beat him. It’s a tough question.

 

Max Baer is a good possibility. I can see those two getting tangled in a brawl of wills which could end either way.

 

Suppose Bonavena had been trained in a Philadelphia gym like Joe Frazier or he had been an amateur in the U.S. like Ali and had access to the best tournaments and training. If Bonavena had good boxing fundamentals to go with his strength and toughness...he gave Ali and Frazier some of their toughest fights as a mostly unskilled, face first, clumsy brawler with bad footwork. If Bonavena had grown up in Philly or NYC and had been trained in a good gym by someone who had gotten his balance/fundamentals right, would Ali or Frazier have beaten him?

I remember watching the first Bonavena - Frazier fight for a Fight of the Week on this board and thinking, if Frazier had Argentinian training and Bonavena had been trained in Philly, would it even be close?

 

Frazier had only like 8 pro fights in that first meeting though. And in fairness a lot of good fighters have come out of Argentina

 

Yeah a fella by the name of Carlos Monzon springs to mind.

 

Idk. A Max Baer who came to fight might be too much

 

Would have loved for Spinks to fight Tony Tucker

 

You're not a fan of Bonavena, I see.

 

Yep. And Pascual Perez, Victor Galindez, Sergio Martinez, Marcos Maidana and a whole bunch others.

 

I would want to see Bonavena fight Joe Louis circa 1935-1948. Entertaining while it lasts.

 

I think Bonavena would be a game challenger. But the beating he was take from Louis is spine chilling