Zora Folley Drops Oscar Bonavena

Feb. 26, 1965 - Oscar Bonavena, the brash young heavyweight from Argentina who had won all eight of his previous professional boxing matches, discovered defeat for the first time tonight in Madison Square Garden.

Before a crowd of 8,883, Bonavena found out that his youth and vigor were no match for the experience of Zora Folley of Chandler, Ariz. Folley, 32 and a seasoned campaigner of 79 bouts, toyed with the 22-year-old Bonavena in gaining a unanimous 10-round decision.

Bonavena felt the power in Folley’s right hand almost at the start. The Arizonan smashed Bonavena flush on the jaw in the first round. The blow sent the Argentine reeling across the ring, and he surely would have fallen if he had not bounced off the ropes.

With that punch, Folley established his right to the victory. The punch was so sudden, so powerful, and so accurate that Bonavena never had any doubts after that of the power he opposed. 

Folley, at the heaviest weight of his career, 215¾ pounds to Bonavena’s 203, used his bulk to good advantage in stopping the wild charges of his younger foe. 

Bonavena’s only successful round was the third. He moved forward constantly, winging long rights and hooks to the body and head. But Folley either blocked most of the blows or neatly sidestepped. Bonavena won the round solely on his aggressiveness, as Folley seemed content to coast. 

There was none of that in the fourth, however. Just before the bell to end the round, Folley smashed another hard right to Bonavena’s chin. The youngster’s knees buckled as the bell sounded. Folley put his hands under Bonavena’s elbows and held him up so he could wobble to his corner.

It will forever remain a question as to whether Bonavena could have got up under his own power after that punch. 

“I don’t know why I did that,” Folley said later. “It’s just that I heard the bell ring, so it seemed natural to help the man.”

Folley was not so kind-hearted in the eighth. Apparently irritated by Bonavena’s crowding tactics along the ropes, Folley cut loose with a barrage of blows. A left and a right to the chin knocked Bonavena into the lower ropes on his back. He rolled off the ropes to the floor and got to his feet at the count of six.

“I handled him well, I thought,” Folley said afterward, “but it was never easy. This is a very strong boy with very fast hands, and you have to respect that. And I’m 10 years older; you have to respect that, too. I realized all the way that this boy could take me out with one good punch. I figured I had to be careful.

“I might have done the boy some good. I might have taught him a lesson he needs.”

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