Zora Folley vs. Oscar Natalio Bonavena (1st meeting)

Zora Folley 215 lbs beat Oscar Bonavena 203 lbs by UD in round 10 of 10

• Date: 1965-02-26
• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
• Referee: Mark Conn 9-1
• Judge: Frank Forbes 9-1
• Judge: Nick Gamboli 10-0.01

"Zora Folley punctured the Oscar Bonavena balloon Friday night by soundly drubbing the previously unbeaten Argentinean heavyweight in a one-sided 10 rounder at MSG. Folley floored the bull-necked youngster in the 8th round, staggering him in two other rounds, and won from here to Buenos Aires." -Associated Press

• Unofficial AP scorecard - 9-1 Folley
• Purses: Both fighters received app. $7,000
• Although Bonavena received his 2/3 share of his purse immediately, his manager's 1/3 share was held up by the NYSAC while they investigated the distribution of the shares in a syndicate that handled Bonavena.

Post fight comments

• "I goofed. I thought Folley was all washed up. I thought Folley would tire and Oscar would be able to nail him. It's my fault. Oscar's not ready yet. I guess it's back to lesser opposition for a while." -Marv Goldberg, Bonavena's manager

• "I'd like to fight Patterson next. I know Patterson wants to fight once more while waiting for the outcome of the Clay-Liston fight. I'm more than willing. The winner could get the title fight next." -Zora Folley

• "We're going to see Patterson and see if we can make it. We've got a May 10th date open and with closed-circuit television it could go over real big." -Teddy Brenner, MSG matchmaker