Oscar Bonavena
Encyclopedia
Oscar Natalio "Ringo" Bonavena (September 25, 1942 – May 22, 1976) was a 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
. He is most famous for giving both Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali tough battles.
, Bonavena began his early career in New York State under the management of World War II hero and dentist, Marvin Goldberg. Known as "The Argentine Strong-Boy".
His pro debut was on 2/1/1964. He soon racked up a quick string of early knockouts, but was overmatched early, sometimes fighting twice a month, and lost by a decision in February 1965 to then highly-rated Zora Folley
. Bonavena was in only his 15th contest and was far too inexperienced to then really tackle a top veteran like Folley. But three years later he won their rematch by decision.
After that, he returned to Argentina, where his winning and knockout streak continued. But in mid 1966 he was enticed back to New York for a match with rugged contender 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 before Frazier rallied to win the 10rd decision.
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. After defeating European champion Karl Mildenberger
by a decision in Frankfurt
, West Germany
, he was knocked down twice by eventual tournament winner Jimmy Ellis
in the semi-finals in Louisville
, and lost by unanimous decision in an upset.
, 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. But he did leave with a seriously battered face photographed in the Ring magazine. However, he had won respect.
In 1969 he got a draw in a rematch with talented Gregorio Peralta
, who'd outpointed him four years earlier, and won his three other contests by knock out.
. Bonavena fought intermittently for the next few years. A gregarious party man he enjoyed life fully.
Eventually Losses to Floyd Patterson
in 1972 and Ron Lyle
in 1974 effectively put him to lower ranking contender status. Although he did well enough in both these matches. In the Patterson fight he broke his left hand early, possibly after decking Patterson in the fourth, and remained an advancing threat to the final bell.
in Reno.
, owner of the Mustang Ranch
brothel
near Reno, Nevada
, brought Bonavena to Reno in 1975 to promote a series of fights and to train on the 440 acres (1.8 km²) property. Bonavena became friendly with Conforte's wife Sally Burgess, 26 years Bonavena's senior, and the two flirted openly. A later investigation concluded that they began an affair. He signed a contract making the former madam his manager, although she had never managed a fighter before. He gained weight and his condition deteriorated.
Conforte banished the pair from the ranch two days later. They were warned to stay away, and guards were ordered to stop them if they tried to re-enter. Conforte moved out of the family house in town he shared with Sally and into the Blue Room.
Willard Ross Brymer, Conforte's ex-convict personal bodyguard and security guard at the ranch, was recalled from a trip.
Brymer cleaned out Bonavena's trailer and burned his papers and clothes in the street.
At the family house, Sally was plagued by utility shutoffs and other harassment.
On May 19, Sally and Bonavena complained to the county sheriff about the harassment and drove to San Francisco (about 230 miles) to replace Bonavena's burned passport. They stayed overnight, taking adjoining rooms, and returned to Reno the next day.
At 6:00 a.m. on Saturday May 22, Bonavena drove up to the locked gate at the Mustang Ranch and rang the bell.
He exchanged words with an unarmed guard
and demanded to see Conforte. Brymer stepped through the kitchen door with a high-powered rifle. The guard at the gate told Bonavena to leave.
As Bonavena stepped behind his car, someone said "freeze" and
Bonavena was shot through the heart, either by Brymer or from a rear guard tower.
A snub-nosed .38 revolver was found in his boot.
Four days later, Sally returned to the ranch and took over, firing the armed guards and the ex-convicts.
An investigation concluded that Bonavena was having an affair with Sally and had bragged about taking over the Mustang Ranch,
and that guards had orders to shoot Bonavena if he showed up.
Originally charged with murder, Brymer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served 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. He is buried in the La Chacarita Cemetery
in Buenos Aires.
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
professional boxer
Professional Boxing
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided among the fighters and promoters as determined by contract...
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
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
haircut, and enjoyed professional success in both Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He is most famous for giving both Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali tough battles.
Life and pro career
Born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Bonavena began his early career in New York State under the management of World War II hero and dentist, Marvin Goldberg. Known as "The Argentine Strong-Boy".
His pro debut was on 2/1/1964. He soon racked up a quick string of early knockouts, but was overmatched early, sometimes fighting twice a month, and lost by a decision in February 1965 to then highly-rated Zora Folley
Zora Folley
Zora Folley was an American heavyweight boxer. He was well skilled with a good defence and also a punch to go with it....
. Bonavena was in only his 15th contest and was far too inexperienced to then really tackle a top veteran like Folley. But three years later he won their rematch by decision.
After that, he returned to Argentina, where his winning and knockout streak continued. But in mid 1966 he was enticed back to New York for a match with rugged contender George Chuvalo.
Life otherwise
However, the free-swinging Bonavena soon ran into trouble outside the ring with remarks such as calling Muhammad Ali a black kangaroo and even a chicken for draft dodging. Ali was furious. Oscar's one of the few to at times upstage Ali in pre-fight press conferences. When he much later saw Ali seated ringside at the Foreman-Norton fight he went over and started a big slanging match. In his pre-fight press conference with Frazier he needled effectively by implying 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 trainers soon discovered.Big name contests, Chuvalo & Frazier
Bonavena first came to wide public attention after a fine performance defeating rated contender and Canadian champion George ChuvaloGeorge Chuvalo
George Louis Chuvalo, CM is a retired Canadian heavyweight boxer who was never knocked down in ninety-three professional fights between 1956 and 1979. He is often considered to have had the greatest chin in the history of boxing and to be one of its most durable fighters...
, boxing technically better than expected and later going the distance against the young hard-hitting great Joe Frazier
Joe Frazier
Joseph William "Joe" Frazier , also known as Smokin' Joe, was an Olympic and Undisputed World Heavyweight boxing champion, whose professional career lasted from 1965 to 1976, with a one-fight comeback in 1981....
. In this their first fight, Bonavena had the future champion down twice in the second round before Frazier rallied to win the 10rd decision.
WBA elimination contests
In 1967, after the World Boxing AssociationWorld Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association is a boxing organization that sanctions official matches, and awards the WBA world championship title at the professional level. It was previously known as the National Boxing Association before changing its name in 1962...
stripped Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
of the title for refusing to be inducted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
into the U.S. military, Bonavena participated in that sanctioning body's 1967 tournament to crown a new heavyweight champion. After defeating European champion Karl Mildenberger
Karl Mildenberger
Karl Mildenberger is a retired German heavyweight boxer. He was the European Heavyweight Champion from 1964 to 1968...
by a decision in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, he was knocked down twice by eventual tournament winner Jimmy Ellis
Jimmy Ellis
James Albert "Jimmy" Ellis is a retired boxer from Louisville, Kentucky. He fought in what some consider to be the greatest heavyweight era of all-time, which included Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Oscar Bonavena, Earnie Shavers and George Chuvalo among...
in the semi-finals in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, and lost by unanimous decision in an upset.
World Title shot, the Frazier rematch
The following year, in 1968,after outpointing Leotis MartinLeotis Martin
Leotis Martin was an American boxer, the first ever NABF heavyweight champion and best known for his victory over former heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Martin was a good puncher and a fairly skilled heavyweight who fought from 1962 to 1969...
, 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. But he did leave with a seriously battered face photographed in the Ring magazine. However, he had won respect.
In 1969 he got a draw in a rematch with talented Gregorio Peralta
Gregorio Peralta
Gregorio Manuel Peralta , better known as Gregorio "Goyo" Peralta, was a top Argentine boxer. Peralta enjoyed success as a both a light heavyweight and a heavyweight, one of a select group Latin American Heavyweights to attain world-class status...
, who'd outpointed him four years earlier, and won his three other contests by knock out.
Versus Ali
In December 1970, he fought Ali, in the former champ's second bout after his three-year layoff, at Madison Square Garden. Bonavena absorbed punishment throughout but fought well, getting through with various head and body punches. In round nine, Bonavena connected with a left hook to the jaw that seriously stunned Ali in the very round in which Ali had predicted his own KO victory. But in the 15th however, Ali caught Oscar rushing in and decked him with a perfectly placed left hook. Bonavena got up but was clearly not fully recovered. Ali decked him twice more to automatically stop the fight under the three knockdown rule. The ending was somewhat controversial, as Ali stood over Bonavena as he was getting up, never going to a neutral corner as the rules of boxing require, which allowed him to quickly knockdown Bonavena twice more and automatically end the fight under the three knockdown rule.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YhofAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wqYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2537,871414http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ySyW0rfYPisC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=ali+bonavena+%22neutral+corner%22&source=bl&ots=51Bj39Iw2q&sig=3kiPcP1JXLBYon31QTo9Dgm-_z0&hl=en&ei=Qzh9TpTZMqTT0QXn7dAD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage The knockout by Ali was the only time in Bonavena's career he was ever stopped.Other matches
After the loss to Ali in 1970 he had a brutally tough match with underrated Alvin LewisAlvin Lewis (boxer)
Alvin Lewis, also known as Al Lewis, is a professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division under the alias "Al "Blue" Lewis"....
. Bonavena fought intermittently for the next few years. A gregarious party man he enjoyed life fully.
Eventually Losses to Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson
Floyd Patterson was an American heavyweight boxer and former undisputed heavyweight champion. At 21, Patterson became the youngest man to win the world heavyweight title. He was also the first heavyweight boxer to regain the title. He had a record of 55 wins 8 losses and 1 draw, with 40 wins by...
in 1972 and Ron Lyle
Ron Lyle
Ron Lyle was an American professional boxer in the heavyweight division. He is considered to have been one of the best contenders of his era. He was a crowd-pleasing power puncher.-Early life:...
in 1974 effectively put him to lower ranking contender status. Although he did well enough in both these matches. In the Patterson fight he broke his left hand early, possibly after decking Patterson in the fourth, and remained an advancing threat to the final bell.
Last contest
On February 26, 1976, overweight and sluggish Bonavena fought what would be his last fight, winning a ten-round decision over the unranked Billy JoinerBilly Joiner
-Amateur career:Joiner was the 1962 National Golden Gloves and National AAU Light-Heavyweight Champion and compiled an Amateur record of 86-6 . Joiner won the National Golden Gloves with a win over Gerald McClure of Toledo, Ohio. Joiner also fought Muhammed Ali twice as an amateur...
in Reno.
Reno
Joe ConforteJoe Conforte
Joe Conforte was the owner of the Mustang Ranch, a Nevada brothel that was the first legal brothel in the United States. The brothel was closed by the Internal Revenue Service in 1999, but is now reopened under new management...
, owner of the Mustang Ranch
Mustang Ranch
The Mustang Ranch, originally known as the Mustang Bridge Ranch, is a brothel in Storey County, Nevada, about fifteen miles east of Reno. It is currently located at 1011 Wild Horse Canyon Dr Sparks, NV 89434....
brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
near Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, brought Bonavena to Reno in 1975 to promote a series of fights and to train on the 440 acres (1.8 km²) property. Bonavena became friendly with Conforte's wife Sally Burgess, 26 years Bonavena's senior, and the two flirted openly. A later investigation concluded that they began an affair. He signed a contract making the former madam his manager, although she had never managed a fighter before. He gained weight and his condition deteriorated.
Death
The ranch was burned down by apparent arson some months earlier, and had been rebuilt, with over 100 bedrooms and fancy suites that included a "Blue Room". Joe Conforte was not present at the grand reopening in early May 1976, but Bonavena circulated among the 4000 guests, smoking big cigars and greeting some with "How you like my new joint?"Conforte banished the pair from the ranch two days later. They were warned to stay away, and guards were ordered to stop them if they tried to re-enter. Conforte moved out of the family house in town he shared with Sally and into the Blue Room.
Willard Ross Brymer, Conforte's ex-convict personal bodyguard and security guard at the ranch, was recalled from a trip.
Brymer cleaned out Bonavena's trailer and burned his papers and clothes in the street.
At the family house, Sally was plagued by utility shutoffs and other harassment.
On May 19, Sally and Bonavena complained to the county sheriff about the harassment and drove to San Francisco (about 230 miles) to replace Bonavena's burned passport. They stayed overnight, taking adjoining rooms, and returned to Reno the next day.
At 6:00 a.m. on Saturday May 22, Bonavena drove up to the locked gate at the Mustang Ranch and rang the bell.
He exchanged words with an unarmed guard
and demanded to see Conforte. Brymer stepped through the kitchen door with a high-powered rifle. The guard at the gate told Bonavena to leave.
As Bonavena stepped behind his car, someone said "freeze" and
Bonavena was shot through the heart, either by Brymer or from a rear guard tower.
A snub-nosed .38 revolver was found in his boot.
Four days later, Sally returned to the ranch and took over, firing the armed guards and the ex-convicts.
An investigation concluded that Bonavena was having an affair with Sally and had bragged about taking over the Mustang Ranch,
and that guards had orders to shoot Bonavena if he showed up.
Originally charged with murder, Brymer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served 15 months in prison.
Bonavena's body was returned to Argentina to lie in state at the Luna Park
Luna Park, Buenos Aires
For any of the amusement parks of the same name, see Luna Park; for any other use of the term, see Luna Park Luna Park is an 8,000-seat arena, located on the corner of Corrientes and Bouchard Avenues, in the barrio of San Nicolás, east Buenos Aires city and near Puerto Madero...
sports arena in Buenos Aires, where 150,000 people filed by. He is buried in the La Chacarita Cemetery
La Chacarita Cemetery
Cementerio de la Chacarita in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is known as the National Cemetery and is the largest in Argentina.-Location:The cemetery is in the barrio or district of Chacarita, in the northern part of Buenos Aires...
in Buenos Aires.