Bonavena imitated his style, fought for important purses, although he failed to become world champion, and humiliated Ali in contact with the press prior to the fight between the two. At the cry of “Chicken” (Gallina), the disciple surpassed the teacher. In addition, before his tragic death, he left many other concepts, reflections and humor worth reviewing:
RELAX MY FRIEND, he told Ali before the fight. She also yelled chicken at him and called him Clay. That round, he won it by effort.
Name: Oscar NatalioRingo Bonavena
Birth: Buenos Aires, September 25, 1942.
Death: Reno, Nevada, May 22, 1976, assassinated by Williard Ross Brymer. He was 33 years old.
Professional record: 68 fights. He won 57, 13 by points and 44 by knocking out, and tied 1 (with Goyo Peralta). He lost 9, 6 by points, two by disqualification and only one before the limit (Muhammad Ali).
Professional debut: New York, January 3, 1964, GKO 1 to Lou Hicks.
Last fight: Reno, Nevada, February 26, 1976, GP 10 at Billy Joiner.
Undefeated loss: New York, February 28, 1965, PP 10 Zora Folley in her fight number 9.
Argentine Heavyweight Champion: Buenos Aires, Luna Park, September 4, 1965, GPP 12 to Gregorio Manuel Peralta.
World title dispute: Philadelphia, December 10, 1968, PP 15 with Joe Frazier.
Fight with Muhammad Ali: New York, Madison Square Garden, December 7, 1970, PKOT15 after suffering three falls.
“God made me a boxer. Well, I say God how can I say my mom. I do not know God, I do know my old lady and she is the greatest thing there is.”
“From repeating so much, I almost married the teacher” (he dropped out in sixth grade of elementary school).
“-How many brothers are there? (An American journalist once consulted him) -Eight alive and I, who am the only one who works”.
“The street revives one. No one is a bad boy, but I can’t sell it to him in exchange by telling him that he was a saint, that he did his homework well, that he didn’t smoke secretly under the bridge and that he went to mass on Sundays. Everyone in the neighborhood sang it to me: you’re going to be a boxer, and by dint of repeating it to me, I believed it”.
“I don’t like modern women. The house or the life”.
“I am the Argentine macho, but I also represent him in every sense, ability, mischief and strength.”
“People don’t understand that my path through life has a script. It’s like any movie: there’s the bad guy and the good guy. I, by natural characteristics, I always play bad, apparently. That attracts, irritates but attracts. That’s why I keep doing it.”
“After all, what is twine? The twine has no owner and passes from hand to hand. For me it is a fundamental issue until the contract is signed. Then the money is over and all I care about is fighting in such a way that I can never be ashamed of myself.”
“The two Bonavenas are real. One looks for publicity, noise in order to survive. The other, known only to a few friends, lives like any common man. That is to say, he drinks mate, gives the old woman a kiss, raises the children and drives. I cannot say that the showman is less than the other, because the situations in which they move are different”.
“I want to tell everyone that I lost because I wanted to win” (after falling with Ali).
“In Argentina I can keep winning fights, keep turning people over, and in the end I would get bored with the happiness of those victories.”
“We are from the neighborhood, from the Quema neighborhood, we are from the Ringo Bonavena neighborhood,” the popular Huracán sang to her, a club of which she is a fan.
“Although it may not seem like it, I am a very conscientious guy.”
“Every morning, around seven o’clock, this same scene is repeated before my eyes full of sleep: Professor López Aguirre’s bald head tells me that I must get up. I have decided to forgive him because he already calls me champion.”
“Better to lose the macho than win the cowardly.”
“In the United States they know me as the great Ringo and I have to assume that role. It took me many years to earn a place. Now it’s good that I pick something up.”
“I suffered the worst things that misery gives you.”
“Each rival is a latent danger. Each combat is a new onslaught that life throws at us. Each triumph is one more step towards what one has proposed. In short, boxing and boxers are not easy at all.”
“Now I see that the accommodations even have swimming pools; I say: what do they want women for, to make love to them or to bathe them?
“One always has something pibe. I see the little ones kicking a ball or flying a kite, and I lose my hands. And that’s the best.”
“Being born in Patricios, a neighborhood of humble workers, and reaching what I reached, is not for everyone.”
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“That I could have ended up standing with Ali? It may be, but that was my real dream and, logically, dreams also sometimes end badly. It was my fight, even though I was defeated.”
“What will it be like to have a conflict with oneself?”
“I always wear an American university shirt for training for two reasons: I love Americans very much and, furthermore, I am a doctor at the University of Pineapples.”
“In the street I am able to smoke more than anyone and whatever they want: blacks, cigars, anything; but in the gym, I kick anyone who smokes…”
“Do you want to know what is the only thing I feel in front of the fight? Pride. If someone has to be afraid, it’s the black man” (before the fight with Ali). “You have to be in a bad way to know who the people are. Of course, I realize that it is difficult to be with a loser.”
“I cannot be a ladder for anyone. I can’t let them use me. I have to use others.”
“I always stop by the neighborhood cafe. There are the usual boys, those I know from when I was nobody and they are still the same selfless guys.
“The world champion always discovers the good things; the bad ones are for the losers. Why can’t I be world champion? Sure, they’re going to tell me because I’m a disaster. Well, let me try”.
“I left thinking that Oscar Bonavena was nothing more than a famous guy, but I came back knowing that a wonderful audience had stayed here waiting for me” (after fighting with Ali).
“My left hand is a shotgun. That will suffice. The only thing I would like is to annul the clause that requires the termination of the fight if either of them falls three times in the same round” (before the fight with Ali, in which he would fall three times in the last round).
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“I’m like mummies, you see? A little hard, but nobody stops me. And when I grab them by the neck, bye, forget it”.
“Experience is a comb that they give you when you get bald.”
“They are all very close friends, but you go up to the ring, the bell rings and they even take you out on the bench.”
“General, with my twine and his looks, he knows the things we could do together” (to then President Alejandro Lanusse).
“In life you have to do good… That’s why I have a lot of real estate.”
“In this country there are so many blackmailers that there is no more plastic… they spent it all making cards.”
“I am me. What I have I did… I do what I want with people and I fill Luna Park. And besides, I sing because I like it and I do theater because I like it. I did Ringo Bonavena. It is not like before. They looked at boxers like crazy, morons, drunks. We are no longer gladiators. We are artists.”
“Laughter is the reflection of the generosity of the soul.”
“If I were a soccer player, I would play for Huracán and for ´fulbá center´, well in the middle of the area, even if I am left-handed. He would be a kind of libero. I would like to face off against big guys. First, avoid the pipe, then the feint, after it happens to me, and if all that fails me, I run it and give it a pineapple. That way, the strikers wouldn’t score goals.”
Source: The Graphic
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
