BraggingRightsCorner.com - "Vanda Scores Controversial Decision Against Veteran Sam Garr"... by Elisa Harrison

St. Paul Minnesota's prodigal son Matt Vanda has been getting a lot of press lately -both positive and negative- following his 10 rounds of fame against veteran Sam Garr, this past Friday, January 16th. Meanwhile, another Minnesota boxer Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante may be getting overlooked, a a mistake on the part of the press in Minnesota and elsewhere.

Anthony Bonsante, born in Shakopee, Minnesota, with a 25-3-3 (15 KO's) record, is the current IBA Middleweight champion. "The Bullet" wants to prove that he can step in the ring with the likes of Matt Vanda or any top contender from Jr. Middleweight to Middleweight and hold his own.

Bragging Rights Corner caught up with Tony Bonsante on the evening of Vanda's ESPN2 FNF's coming out party against Garr. Bonsante had lots to say...

BONSANTE: I sat ringside and watched the whole fight. Sam Garr... I mean he doesn't have the greatest power in the world but he out boxed Vanda eight out of ten rounds. Teddy Atlas gave him (Sam Garr) all ten rounds. Teddy Atlas was quoted in Minneapolis' Star Tribune saying that was the worst decision he's ever seen, a disgrace to boxing that it gives us a bad name and that he scored all ten rounds for Sam Garr. It's too bad Sam Garr didn't have any power in his right hand because he probably could have knocked him out. Vanda ate every jab. According to the punch stats on ESPN Sam Garr out landed Vanda by 110 punches. Now I don't know what fight the judges watched but of course the judges can be bought...

BRC: There seems to be issues between you and Team Vanda... Where did this rivalry start, and is it Matt Vanda, the Brunettes (Matt's trainer and manager) or both?

BONSANTE: It's not Matt Vanda. I've got nothing against Matt. Nothing at all against Matt. Matt's a pretty decent guy. He's got some potential. It's just we fought at Roy Wilkins Auditorium last January, we fought Gustavo Soto on T.V and Vanda fought Eric Jakubowski. And they (the Brunettes) stiffed me 2500 bucks.

BONSANTE: Yeah. And they've always had it in for me because I've beaten their guys before. Troy Lowry... I beat him twice as an amateur. And I know I can beat any of their fighters and they won't let me fight them. And it's nothing against Matt, it's too bad he's got to be in the middle because he's the one who's going to end up taking it all. Because if I ever do get the fight, I can't fight Tommy and Brian Brunette in the ring, but Poor Matt is going to have to take the beating...

BONSANTE: Yeah, I can make the weight, I just need about a four or five week time period before the fight so I can put my mind in the right state and my physical conditioning.

BRC: Wasn't part of you coming down to 154 was to prove to the Brunettes you could do it?

BONSANTE: Exactly, we were on WCCO (a Minneapolis/St. Paul radio station) back in August and Tommy (Brunette, Vanda's trainer/manager) called in drunk saying that I couldn't make the weight. And I was supposed to be at 160 for the fight at Canabury. I fought at Canabury Park and the fight called for 159 give or take a pound. On Monday Tommy said I couldn't make the weight and that's what was holding up the fight. So I decided right then and there, screw it, I'm going to make 154 even though I don't need to, just to prove to these people I can do it. And I did it.

BONSANTE: Well, actually we have one, we're in the negotiation progress with Kenny Ellis. He's a middleweight out of Tacoma, Washington, he's got 30 wins and I think five losses...

BONSANTE: Yeah Taylor is getting called out a lot right now. Ellis called out Jermain Taylor, he sent out a press release and put my name and Cleveland Porters name in there. So they called me and asked if I wanted to fight Kenny Ellis and I said sure. The fight would be up in Tacoma, in late February but were still negotiating a prize purse.

BONSANTE: They said there's no T.V. There seems to be some kind of discrepancy wether or not they can put it on ESPN or not...

BRC: There's also been talk of you fighting Jermain Taylor. Is there any truth in that?

BONSANTE: Yeah... we'd like to fight him. I mean he's fought some people that are not bad but they're like Vanda's opponents they're not that credible. His trainer is Pat Burns, out of Florida. We know him fairly well because we fought one of his guys in the '91 National Golden Gloves finals. He knows I can fight and they want to make the fight but they don't know when. All these guys are younger than I am. I mean I'm no spring chicken, I'm 33 years old. But I figure with heart and determination I've got about three or four years left. I don't know why these younger guys won't take me.

BRC: Out of all the fighters out there is Taylor the one you'd really want to get in the ring with right now?

BONSANTE: Yeah, he's at middleweight. Taylor is the up and comer right now. He's the guy who's supposed to take over for Hopkins. So we'll see... I can go anywhere from 154 to 160

BRC: Vanda stated in a recent interview that you and Scott Ledeux are jealous of him...

BONSANTE: Why would I be jealous of him? I'm the current IBA Middleweight champion of the world. What do I have to be Jealous of Matt for? I've got no jealousy against Matt at all. He can say he'll take on anybody anytime, but Tommy and Brian Brunette won't let him. Matt's the puppet, Tommy and Brian are the puppeteers; they're the ones pulling the strings. He can say whatever the hell he wants, but Tommy and Brian ultimately tell him to say no. So how much power does Matt really have in his career? None.

BONSANTE: Oh Christ! I told Sugar Ray Leonard... I said you want to break the all time attendance record set between Duane Bobick and Scott Ledeux back at the Met Center back in 1977? You put me and Matt Vanda at the Target Center and I guarantee you'll break it.

BRC: I think Sugar Ray Leonard realizes that and I hope he can get everyone together and make this fight happen...

BONSANTE: I don't think he'll ever put Vanda on again unless it's with me... I mean from what I've heard through the internet and through my coach and a bunch of people around the boxing business after Friday's fight Sugar Ray Leonard is pretty disappointed.

BONSANTE: I started when I was ten and I just kept going. I took about four years off to get married back when I was about 20 years old. And when I was about 26 I was watching ESPN one night and I saw a couple of guys I knew that I fought as an amateur, and I beat those guys as amateurs, and I said shit if they can do it I can do it. And granted I got a late start at a pro career but now I'm a professional; I have 25 wins, 3 losses, 3 draws and 15 knockouts.

BONSANTE: If I take care of myself and don't get hurt I think I have at least three years left to make a run at some kind of big money fight.

BRC: Do you have any plans after your boxing career is over to be a trainer?

BONSANTE: Possibly... I want to get into boxing as a trainer or I'm considering aspirations about politics.

BRC: Politics really? I like that idea. Not too many boxers go that route...

BONSANTE: Yeah, exactly. They're all to damn dumb. I mean, I hate to say that but that's like I talked to some of these people at the fights Friday night and I somewhat still have a brain left in my head and I can articulate half way correctly. I've been in the game for about 23 years now and I'm really intrigued by politics especially in the state of Minnesota... I can't just stop at what I am at now you always have to have goals. But I have two young kids I've got a ten year old daughter and a six year old son that I just adore. I'm divorced and I help raise them, a lot of my plans are geared toward them, so they don't have to work as hard in the future.

BONSANTE: As far as mentally and physically getting prepared, it would have been the Ayala fight. I was a huge underdog in that fight, a ten to one underdog. I was supposed to be the opponent. But my coach and I knew that Tommy and Brian Brunette tried to set that one up before at Roy Wilkins Auditorium but they wouldn't let Ayala out of the state of Texas because of legal reasons, and they finally made the fight in Oklahoma. Sugar Ray Leonard promoted it and it was for the IBA middleweight championship. We knew that Ayala had gotten wind that I would stand and go toe to toe with him, that I would punch and I couldn't box. So what we did was we ran our ass off. I mean I trained harder and longer than I've ever trained for a fight. And we worked strictly on our boxing, lateral movement, because Ayala does have a lot of power still at the age of 40 he can knock people out. And we knew that if we boxed him and took him into the later rounds he'd be tired and we'd take him. And the plan worked like a charm and in the second round I knocked him down twice, and he just took me for granted. It worked perfectly. We were pretty happy with that one.

BONSANTE: Yeah but it seems I haven't gotten any fights out of it. I mean now people, I'm right on the bubble where people that are good like Taylor or Daniel Santos who is the WBO Jr. Middleweight champ or Bert Schenk or Felix Sturm the WBO middleweight champ they're good but I'm good enough where I might spoil their record and guys not that good are just not going to fight me.

BONSANTE: Yeah I guess. Unfortunately that's how a lot of fighters' promoters and trainers think. Take Taylor... He's good, he's got a lot of potential but he really hasn't fought anybody. I mean he's got some good names on his record kind of like Vanda but all of Vanda's last seven guys are over the hill. Sam Garr just retired and he beat the piss out of him for ten rounds. I mean fight somebody. They claim he's the best fighter in the state of Minnesota, they've got a fictitious state title which we don't even have a commission for. Why won't they fight me? Because there scared.

BONSANTE: I'd like to thank all my fans for sticking by me. There's bigger and better things coming in the next year. We've got a couple things in the works right now. I'd like to thanks Bragging Rights Corner for giving me the opportunity to give my side of the story and I look forward to working with you guys in the future.

As I reflected on all that Tony Bonsante had to say, I came to the conclusion that I would love to see a fight between crosstown rivals Bonsante and Vanda. Heck, it would be Minnesota's version of Johnny Tapia versus Danny Romero!
Bragging Rights Corner wishes to thank Tony Bonsante for sharing his story and we sincerely wish him the best in all future ventures.

1-19-04