Oscar Natalio "Ringo" Bonavena (September 25, 1942 – May 22, 1976) was an Argentine heavyweight professional boxer with a career record of 58 wins, 9 losses and 1 draw. A rugged, wild-swinging puncher, he was nicknamed "Ringo" because of his Beatles haircut, and enjoyed professional success in both Argentina and the United States. Bonavena was shot dead at the age of 33 in Reno, Nevada. He is remembered for giving Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali hard-fought bouts.
Life and pro career Oscar Natalio Bonavena was born in Buenos Aires to Italian immigrants. He was a professional boxer, Argentine and South American champion. He also participated in several Argentine TV programs such as the Pepe Biondi Show.
Early career Bonavena began his early career in New York City under the management of World War II hero and dentist Marvin Goldberg.
Following his pro debut on February 1, 1964, he racked up a quick string of early knockouts. Sometimes fighting twice a month, he lost by decision in February 1965, in only his 15th contest, to the highly rated Zora Folley. Bonavena was far too inexperienced to take on a top veteran like Folley. Three years later he won their rematch by decision.actual fight video & commentary on Utube
Returning to Argentina, his winning and knockout streak continued. In mid-1966 he was enticed back to New York where the free-swinging Bonavena ran into trouble outside the ring. He called Muhammad Ali a black kangaroo, and a chicken for draft dodging. When, much later, he saw Ali seated ringside at the George Foreman–Ken Norton fight, he went over and started a big slanging match.
In his pre-fight press conference with Frazier, Bonavena needled effectively by implying that Frazier had a personal hygiene problem. He would start sniffing and grimace. Lawsuits were brought about by reporters with broken cameras; and other such "colorful" behavior. He was always volatile, as trainers soon discovered.Brunt, S., Facing Ali: The Opposition Weighs in,
Big name contests, Chuvalo and Frazier Bonavena first came to wide public attention after a fine performance: defeating rated contender and Canadian champion George Chuvalo, boxing technically better than expected, and later going the distance against the young hard-hitting great Joe Frazier. In this, their first fight, Bonavena had the future champion down twice in the second round.
WBA elimination contests In 1967, after the World Boxing Association stripped Muhammad Ali of the title for refusing to be inducted into the U.S. military, Bonavena participated in that sanctioning body's 1967 tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion. In a strong performance he floored favoured European champion Karl Mildenberger four times,Ring Mag & online boxing records winning by a decision in Frankfurt, West Germany. But he was himself knocked down twice and clearly outboxed by eventual tournament winner Jimmy Ellis in the semi-finals in Louisville, losing by unanimous decision in an upset. Many deemed it the best win of Ellis's career.Ring magazine
World Title shot, the Frazier rematch
The following year, in 1968, after outpointing Leotis Martin, he got a rematch with Frazier for the heavyweight title in Philadelphia. After a grueling fifteen rounds Bonavena lost the rematch by decision, fighting more defensively than previous. He left with a seriously battered face, as photographed in the Ring magazine. In 1969, he got a draw in a rematch with talented Gregorio Peralta, who he'd outpointed four years earlier for the Argentine title.
Versus Ali In December 1970, he fought Ali at Madison Square Garden, in the former champ's second bout after his three-year layoff. Bonavena absorbed punishment throughout but fought well, getting through with various head and body punches. With just under 1:30 left in the 15th and final round, Ali caught Oscar rushing in and floored him with a perfectly placed left hook. Bonavena got up, but was clearly not fully recovered. Ali knocked him down twice more, and the fight was automatically stopped under the three knockdown rule, giving Ali a TKO (technical knockout). The ending was somewhat controversial, as Ali stood over Bonavena as Bonavena was getting up, never going to a neutral corner as the rules of boxing require, which allowed Ali to quickly knockdown Bonavena twice more and automatically end the fight. After the second knockdown, the referee appears to be attempting to guide Ali to a neutral corner, but Ali brushes the referee's arm away and pursues a wobbly Bonavena.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YhofAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wqYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2537,871414
Other matches After the loss to Ali in 1970, he had a match against Alvin Lewis (heavyweight and longtime sparing partner of Ali), where Bonavera was hit hard multiple times but eventually won by disqualification. Bonavena fought intermittently for the next few years.
Eventually losses to Floyd Patterson in 1972 and Ron Lyle in 1974 effectively relegated him to lower contender status, though he did well enough in both matches. In the Patterson fight he broke his left hand early, possibly after flooring Patterson in the fourth, and remained an advancing threat to the final bell. It was around 1973 that a match with a then rising Ken Norton was being planned but never materialized.on line boxing archives
On February 26, 1976, an overweight and sluggish Bonavena fought what would be his last fight, winning a ten-round decision over the unranked Billy Joiner in Reno.
Death On 22 May 1976 Bonavena was shot dead at the age of 33 by security guard Willard Ross Brymer at the Mustang Ranch brothel near Reno, Nevada, after having become involved in a conflict with its owner, Joe Conforte.Man who killed Oscar Bonavena dies , Las Vegas Review-Journal Following a conviction for manslaughter, Brymer spent 15 months in prison. Bonavena's body was returned to Argentina to lie in state at the Luna Park sports arena in Buenos Aires, where 150,000 people filed by.Associated Press newsreel film of Bonavena's funeral, 1 June 1976, published on Youtube 24 July 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6MUdiQ1Q8Y He was survived by a wife and two children.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes68Win58-9-1 Billy Joiner67Win57-9-1 Reinaldo Gorosito66Win56-9-1 Mani Vaka65Win55-9-1 Oliver Wright64Win54-9-1 Bob Mashburn63Win53-9-1 Larry Renaud62Win52-9-1 Larry Middleton61Loss51-9-1 Ron Lyle60Win51-8-1 Terry Sorrell59Win50-8-1 Lou Bailey58Win49-8-1 Roy Wallace57Win48-8-1 Leroy Caldwell56Loss47-8-1 Floyd Patterson55Win47-7-1 Alvin Lewis54Loss46-7-1 Muhammad Ali53Win46-6-1 Luis Pires52Win45-6-1 James J Woody51Win44-6-1 Manuel Ramos50Win43-6-1 José Menno49Win42-6-1 Santiago Lovell Jr.48Loss41-6-1 Miguel Angel Paez47Win41-5-1 Santiago Lovell Jr.46Draw40-5-1 Gregorio Peralta45Win40-5 Wilhelm Von Homburg44Win39-5 Luis Pires43Loss38-5 Joe Frazier42Win38-4 Jim Fletcher41Win37-4 Leotis Martin40Win36-4 Zora Folley39Win35-4 Roberto Davila38Win34-4 Lee Carr37Win33-4 Alberto Benassi36Win32-4 Felipe Pedro Marich35Loss31-4 Jimmy Ellis34Win31-3 Karl Mildenberger33Win30-3 Carlos Vazquez32Win29-3 Luis Pires31Win28-3 Pablo Sagrispanti30Win27-3 Hubert Hilton29Win26-3 Jose Giorgetti28Win25-3 Roberto Veliz27Win24-3 Alberto Benassi26Win23-3 Amos Johnson25Win22-3 Alberto Benassi24Loss21-3 Joe Frazier23Win21-2 George Chuvalo22Win20-2 Jose Giorgetti21Loss19-2 Jose Giorgetti20Win19-1 Bruno Segura19Win18-1 Billy Daniels18Win17-1 Hector Wilson17Win16-1 Pablo Sagrispanti16Win15-1 Gregorio Peralta15Win14-1 Alberto Gonzales14Win13-1 Eduardo Cartelli13Win12-1 Rodolfo Diaz12Win11-1 Rogelio Gregorutti11Win10-1 Carlos Vazquez10Win9-1 Rene Sosa9Loss8-1 Zora Folley8Win8-0 Billy Stephan7Win7-0 Dick Wipperman6Win6-0 Tom McNeeley5Win5-0 Byron Stoimenides4Win4-0 Leslie Borden3Win3-0 Wendell Newton2Win2-0 Everett Copeland1Win1-0 Lou Hicks
See also List of homicides in Nevada Luis Ángel Firpo José María Gatica Justo Suárez
References
Nevada's Most Infamous Brothel, Mustang Ranch, Back In Business , Fox News Woman Who Operated Mustang Ranch Dies, Spokesman-Review, September 9, 1992
External links