intermittently for the next few years. A gregarious party man, he enjoyed life fully, at the cost of his professional boxing career. 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. It was around 1973 a possible match with a then on the rise Ken Norton was being planned but, unfortunately for fans, it never materialised. 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. Death On 22 May 1976 Bonavena was shot dead at the age of 33 by a security guard at the Mustang Ranch near Reno, Nevada, after having become involved in a conflict with its owner. His body was returned to Argentina to lie in state at the Luna Park sports arena in Buenos Aires, where 150,000 people filed by, afterwards being buried in La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. Professional boxing record | style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|58 Wins (44 Knockouts), 9 Defeats, 1 Draw |- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Res. | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location | style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes |- align=center |Win |58-9-1 |align=left| Billy Joiner | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |57-9-1 |align=left| Reinaldo Gorosito | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |56-9-1 |align=left| Mani Vaka | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |55-9-1 |align=left| Oliver Wright | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |54-9-1 |align=left| Bob Mashburn | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |53-9-1 |align=left| Larry Renaud | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |52-9-1 |align=left| Larry Middleton | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |51-9-1 |align=left| Ron Lyle | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |51-8-1 |align=left| Terry Sorrell | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |50-8-1 |align=left| Lou Bailey | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |49-8-1 |align=left| Roy Wallace | | | |align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |48-8-1 |align=left| Leroy