The Muhammad Ali-Oscar Bonavena fight.

Is Lord Tywin calling the slip by Ali at the beginning of round 9 a knockdown ...:blood and red cobra is supporting this view? ...
Now..you see there.. your bigotry is exposed. Ali slips throwing for a knockout counterpunch and you want it ruled as a knockdown for Ringo..

When is the last time you two actually watched that fight?

 

Exactly right Stevie:thumbsup

 

hey, maybe I'd make a terrible referee..

 

Anyone consider the fact that Ali may have sealed his own fate in the FOTC when, after the tough Oscar scrap, he ignored his camp's pleadings and stepped in against JOE only three months later?
IMO had he waited until early summer...we might have had a different result.

 

I would have to rewatch round 9 to see, its been awhile. Ali is a guy we never talk about being a dirty fighter, but in every match he holds behind the head, and often uses the ropes for leverage, grabbing with one hand for support. Underrated in his ability to fight a rough fight if you know what I mean.

 

Xtremely underrated .

 

If we never counted knockdowns when a guy "slipped" after getting hit by a punch we wouldnt have any knockdowns at all.

Any ref worth his salt will tell you that if you go down at the end of a punch, whether you are off balance, slipping, or what-not, it is supposed to be ruled a knockdown.

Frankly, Im not even convinced it was any part of a slip. Ali didnt "slip" until Bonavena landed that punch and thats pretty much the definition of a knockdown.

Unfortunately a lot of people dont want to hear that Ali (who I think is the greatest HW champion ever) had any black marks on his career. Sorry for all those people but he was human...

 

I wont entertain any sort of victory for Ringo in a fight that he was knocked-out in, besides the fact he went the distance. :verysad

 

I always thought so. Look at his timing through 11 or 12 rounds. It's quite plainly awful. He was beating Bonavena on ability and being strong enough not to be overwhelmed by a rough and tumble brute of a fighter.

I recall in round 13, Ali starts to land better, and his jab is less off target. In the 14th, he actually times a couple decent shot. And then, he knocks Oscar all but dead with a perfect left hook. He was shaking off ring rust the entire fight.

My two cents: Not a knockdown. Just watched that part 3 times. Slip.

And absolutely, Ali should have been made to stand in a neutral corner, and Oscar should have been given the seconds needed to make him to recover. Fight still ends in a knockout, however, as Oscar was all but completely out from that one left hook.

 

Really its ah underrated win like that time that Mike Tyson flung Alex Stewart around the ring in like 3.2 seconds. But Bonavena was always worse off against quick fisted guys. Didn't Jimmy Ellis almost take him out?

 

No Stevie, I don't recall any jail sentence hanging over his head at the time. He fought Quarry and he had his December scrap with Oscar. I was there and never heard ANYTHING about a pending jail sentence or a revoke of his boxing license.
What I did hear was that he argued with Angie and Brown, and refused to wait until a few months later, stepping in with Joe a scant 90 days later which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea...

 

Ali was so arrogant. Fighting 15 rounds against bruisers 90 days apart is just a shitty idea.

Frazier made him pay for his hubris. I don't know that he wouldn't still have lost had he waited another 90 days, but he'd have taken less damage and dished a bit more out. Frazier probably still wins, but only by a round or two.

I had FOTC 9-6 for Frazier.

 

Ali did have a jail sentence hanging over his head.

And anyone whose screen name is "Ali" need not be taken as an impartial voice when commenting on an Ali thread...