- Oscar Bonavena
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Oscar Bonavena 
Statistics Real name Oscar Natalio Bonavena Nickname(s) Ringo Rated at Heavyweight Height 5 ft 10 1⁄2 in (1.79 m) Reach 73 in (185 cm) Nationality 
ArgentineBorn September 25, 1942
Buenos Aires, ArgentinaDied May 22, 1976 (aged 33) Stance Orthodox Boxing record Total fights 68 Wins 58 Wins by KO 44 Losses 9 (1 KO) Draws 1 No contests 0 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.
Contents
Life and pro career
Born in Buenos Aires, 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.
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.[1][2]
Big name contests, Chuvalo & 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 before Frazier rallied to win the 10rd decision.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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.[1][2] 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 Lewis. 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.
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 Joiner in Reno.[3]
Reno
Joe Conforte, 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-acre (1.8 km2) property. Bonavena became friendly with Conforte's wife Sally Burgess, 26 years Bonavena's senior, and the two flirted openly.[3] A later investigation concluded that they began an affair.[4] 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?"[3]
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.[3]
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.[3]
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.[3][5][6] 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.[3]
An investigation concluded that Bonavena was having an affair with Sally and had bragged about taking over the Mustang Ranch,[4] and that guards had orders to shoot Bonavena if he showed up.[7] Originally charged with murder, Brymer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and served 15 months in prison.[7]
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.
See also
- Luis Ángel Firpo
- José María Gatica
- Justo Suárez
References
- ^ Brunt, S., Facing Ali: The Opposition Weighs in, ISBN 0676973515
- ^ Sport: Two Down, One to Go, Time
- ^ a b c d e f g Farrell, Barry (July 26, 1976). "The Killing At the Notorious Mustang Ranch". New York. pp. 41–49. http://books.google.com/books?id=b-MCAAAAMBAJ. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
- ^ a b Joe Conforte's Legal Tangles, Los Angeles Times
- ^ Rogers, Thomas (May 23, 1976). "Bonavena Is Slain; A Top Heavyweight". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B1FFA3E5B177B8EDDAA0A94DD405B868BF1D3. Retrieved 2009-06-11. "Oscar Bonavena of Argentina, once a serious contender for the heavyweight boxing championship, was shot to death yesterday at a brothel a few miles east of Reno, Nev. He was 33 years old."
- ^ Bonavena Fatally Shot Outside Nevada Brothel
- ^ a b Man who killed Oscar Bonavena dies, Las Vegas Review-Journal
- 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
- Professional boxing record for Oscar Bonavena from BoxRec
Categories:- 1942 births
- 1976 deaths
- Argentine boxers
- Heavyweight boxers
- Sportspeople from Buenos Aires
- Argentine expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Argentine people of Italian descent
- Murdered boxers
- Argentine people murdered abroad
- People murdered in Nevada
- Deaths by firearm in Nevada
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