His BoxRec profile says orthodox stance, however, he switched stances, was left-handed, and had a rather unorthodox style of fighting. Much of the boxing footage of Bonavena I've seen illustrates his effectiveness with his right hand. So is it fair to say: Bonavena was an unorthodox slugger with a d...

Sally Conforte's history as a pro boxing manager: Oscar Bonavena, 1976, contract transferred from Joe Conforte to Sally around Feb. 1976; contract ended due to death of Bonavena on 5/22/76; records not available Bernardo Mercado, contract transferred from Joe Conforte to Sally Conforte on 6/24/81 an...

I believe Jahid Kareem is a misspelling and this boxer's real name is Jihad Karriem. Newspaper articles and a former trainer confirm this.

No. The reference to Mercado knocking down Ali four times comes from the book by Joseph Conforte and David Toll, "Breaks, Brains & Balls;" self-published. I don't believe Conforte, but I can't refute his statement. Possibly I should contact the Bogota newspaper and talk to an archivist?

I can't say I've heard anything, probably Conforte trying to drum up interest in a fight that was talked about between them. Do you have a link to the "a marvelous show of mastery and boxing intelligence" quote? Nevada State Journal, Sports Section, Page 14, "As usual, Ali in spotlig...

November 13, 1977, Bernardo Mercado fought Muhammad Ali in a five round exhibition in Bogota, Columbia to support the Roosevelt Children's Hospital. The match was described as "a marvelous show of mastery and boxing intelligence". Joe Conforte said that Mercado knocked Ali down four times,...

My condolences...

Cool. Do you know why the fight was stalled then? Ali next fought Larry Holmes instead on October 2, 1980. How did your dad's big shot at Ali slip away?

Thanks. :P

June 6, 1980, The Daily Intelligencer, page 18: Ali comeback slated for Aug. 11 this time Retired heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali will launch his comeback compaign for a forth title with an Aug. 11 bout against Bernardo Mercado, according to Mercado's manager. "It could happen, but it's still...

In Buenos Aires there is a statue of Oscar Bonavena, his picture hanging in the Club Huracan gym, and he has a contemporary mausoleum built for him. Rumor has it that Sally Conforte may have had a hand in one or more of those tributes to Oscar. Does anyone have any learned opinion or knowledge of wh...

Thanks for the article, however, it does little to explain the alleged death threat, or issues of Mafia influence, and so on. I do know that Joe Conforte gave Bonavena a death threat and possibly that why the Buenos Aires tabloids said the Mafia was invloved, see below, because they believed Confort...

Here is a link to a recent documentary short about the life and death of Oscar Bonavena. It includes rare and previously little seen footage of him. (running time 14 minutes in length ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGIo7nI56qY Hey osc1360,did you check out the link to the first documentary? It sh...

Here is a link to another 2010 Documentary about Bonavena (with many rarely before seen photographs not yet seen out of Argentina) running time approx. 17 minutes Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gafarc7xFrQ Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sAn8sTIIIQ Thanks for the posts. I checked them...

Brutu wrote:Were you able to locate Bonavena's wife that he had met at the Mustang and married just a few Months before he was killed?
She would be about 54 years old now.

That girl was Ceryl Rebideaux and she has died.

Another person whom you may perhaps want to locate is veteran cornerman/trainer Manny Sciaca,Sr of Puerto Rico ,who was Mercado's manager in 1982,when Mercado left the Conforte's and went to fight for Don King. Last time I had heard Sciaca was training John Ruiz a few years ago. Yes! Manny is a per...

What about the 2 posters over at the Boxers of the Past forum at this site? Who claim to be Mercado's grown children? They say he is living in Colombia and has diabetes. I saw Karla's post looking for the belt and have sent her a PM. I did not know that Bernie was in Columbia. That would make it ha...

Hey osc1360,are you writing a book or something? If you ever visit Argentina in South America,maybe you should also visit Colombia and try and locate Bernardo Mercado, for a in-depth Playboy magazine type interview with him about his career. From what I understand his English still isn't very good,...

Thanks!

When Oscar Bonavena died, he had recently committed to fight Henry Clark in Paris, and was about to sign with Howard Smith for a bout in Uniondale, New York only a few weeks away.

The Argentines tell it differently. They say that Bonavena had signed a contract to fight Spaniard Jose Manuel Urtain on his way to secure a rematch with Ali. With the odds at 10 to 1 in Ringo’s favor, he supposedly got a call from the mob and was told to take a dive in the fifth or else he would b...

There was another book published about 10 years ago that may shed more light on Ringo's death I think it was written by the sheriff of Washoe County NV,or someone involved with Law enforcement in either Lockwood or Reno. I think it was locally published and not a lot of copies published. I have tha...

As to why Bernardo Mercado seems to have drifted off to Reno and soon managed by Joe and Sally Conforte, when apparently Mercado had only been managed and trained by Bo Belinsky and Willie Ketchum since 1975, I had read were Mercado had been knocked out in a gym workout by Eddie"the Animal&quo...

Brutu wrote:Joe Conforte the owner and manager of the olde Mustang Ranch near Lockwood Nevada,had is autobiography
published just this week as an E-Book,entitled BREAKS,BRAINS & BALLS,perhaps some answers are in that book.

That book is total dribble. Thanks anyway.

I think I remember reading in a newspaper article a few Days after Bonavena was killed,were it said that Joe Conforte had met Bonavena in either Italy or Argentina sometime earlier,and invited him to come to Reno NV. Anyway was Bernardo Mercado signed before Bonavena by the Conforte's? I believe Be...

What I like to know is how much time did Bonavena spend in Reno Nevada before he was killed in May 1976. Was he a long time customer of the Mustang Ranch for a few years before Joe and Sally Conforte became his managers in early 1976? Oscar's fight with Gorosito was in Argentina, likely it was on N...