VIDEO: ANTHONY BONSANTE vs. TONY AYALA, 2003
Anthony “The Bullet” Bonsante (then 22-3-3, 12 KO’s) picked up what is arguably the biggest win of his career against Tony Ayala Jr. (then 31-1, 27 KO’s) who was on the comeback trail. Bonsante-Ayala took place on April 25, 2003 at the Thunderbird Wild West Casino in Norman, Oklahoma and was televised on ESPN.
The 32 year old Bonsante stopped Ayala by TKO in round 11 of a scheduled 12 round super middleweight bout despite being a surprising 12-1 underdog heading in. The win secured the vacant IBA super middleweight title as the Minnesota boxing hall of famer Bonsante turned in a complete and dominant performance. The fight lead to his famed time on The Contender reality television series a year later. From there, Bonsante cemented his legacy against world class opponents and local rivals Matt Vanda, Troy Lowry, and Andy Kolle.
“It was in Oklahoma which is about an hour from San Antonio where he (Ayala) was from. So he was considered the hometown kid” Bonsante told Minnesotaboxing.com in 2004.
– Anthony Bonsate, MinnesotaBoxing.com 2004.
Bonsante continued “We went in there with a game plan. We knew he was 40 years old and couldn’t go the 12 rounds. I knocked him down early in the second round and knew I had him from that point on because my jab was just sticking him. I won about the first five or six rounds and gave one away I think in the tenth. I took that round off and forgot to tell my corner. So they say to me “What the hell are you doing?” I told them I took the round off! So in the eleventh round he gained some momentum from the previous round. I hit him with a short little uppercut that dazed him and I took him into the corner and knew that if I poured it on that he wasn’t going to be able to go. I even had him earlier in the fight but I knew that I couldn’t spend too much energy because I knew he was tough. So we got him into the eleventh round and I put it to him and the ref stopped it. I told the ref your lucky you stopped it because I would still be punching him!”
Aside from being called “Bullet”, Bonsante was also known as “#1 Daddy” for much of his career. He says the moniker began after wearing a hat given to him by his kids with the title displayed. The name took off after the world watched Bonsante with his family on The Contender series. With father’s day upon us today we felt it appropriate to show Minnesota boxing’s Original #1 Daddy in the fight which propelled him to stardom.
Minnesota Boxing Video On Demand: Anthony Bonsante and Tony Ayala Jr.