Carlos Monzon. An examination of his resume reveals

I want to start out by saying I think Carlos Monzon is among the ten best middleweights of all time. I admire his stamina, punch output, durability and consistency, but I find him lacking stand out traits in terms of speed, and one punch power.

I also think Monzon was born at the right time, and he hardly fought quality natural middleweights.

Looking over his resume of big wins two things stand out in general.


1 ) He's the natural middle and often beat much smaller men who moved up in weight during their career.

2 ) He sometimes had an age advantage. Monzon retired in 1977 at age 34 and won almost all of his legacy name fights at age 32 or younger.


I'll list what could be viewed as Monzon's 5 best opponents.

Monzon UD's Valdez. But Valdez started out at 135 pounds, and stood but 5'9" 1/2, with a very limited 69" reach.

Napoles TKO6. Napoles started out at 125 pounds. He stood but 5'7 1/2 and had a 72 " reach.

Griffith UD, and TKO 14. Griffith was 35 years old and stood but 5'7" 1/2 with a 72-inch reach. He fluctuated between welter and jr middle for most of his career.

Briscoe. UD 15 5'8" tall. 71" reach. Often lost to lesser talents.

Benvenuti. TKO 12 and TKO 3. Benvenuti was 5'11" tall 75" reach. A normal sized middle, and quite possibly Monzon's best win from a size and age perspective. But I'd struggle to find a time where Benvenuti would be a tenured middleweight champion.

 

Monzon UD's Valdez. But Valdez started out at 135 pounds, and stood but 5'9" 1/2, with a very limited 69" reach.

Napoles TKO6. Napoles started out at 125 pounds. He stood but 5'7 1/2 and had a 72 " reach.

Griffith UD, and TKO 14. Griffith was 35 years old and stood but 5'7" 1/2 with a 72-inch reach. He fluctuated between welter and jr middle for most of his career.

Briscoe. UD 15 5'8" tall. 71" reach. Often lost to lesser talents.

Benvenuti. TKO 12 and TKO 3. Benvenuti was 5'11" tall 75" reach. A normal sized middle, and quite possibly Monzon's best win from a size and age perspective. But I'd struggle to find a time where Benvenuti would be a tenured middleweight champion.

Wrong again. At least three of the five were significantly smaller. Adding body fat % does not make you bigger. It only makes you fatter. Monzon fought at his ideal fighting weight. His opponents in many cases did not.

Monzon was a natural middle. He was 5'11" 1/2 inched tall with a 76" reach.

The size disparity is above to read, and those with a non-bigoted brain will have to acknowledge the points are correct.

PS: You really like defending these 5'7 to 5'8" types, but I won't point out the obvious reason why.

 

Yes, however Sugar Ray was middleweight champion up until 1960.

During the 1960's the title changed hands often. Curiously enough many of them were smaller too. Monzon won it in 1970.

Paul Pender (1960-1961)

Terry Downes (1961-1962)

Paul Pender (1962-1963, retired)

Di@k Tiger (1963)

Joey Giardello (1963-1965)

Di@k Tiger (1965-1966)

Emile Griffith(1966-1967)

Nino Benvenuti (1967)

Emile Griffith (1967)

Nino Benvenuti (1968-1970)

 

Yes, and no!

Yes because Canelo is small, and middleweight imposter. He needs to fight at 160! I can't stand this hiding behind the 155 pound like ****.

No, because Monzon often took smaller men the distance or took them out late. GGG, I think gets the job done in a more explosive fashion.

 

I would say quite a few without researching it.

 

Okay, I'll list a few. The following lineal middleweight champions did not make their mark beating much shorter opponents or lighter opponents who moved up in weight to the middle weight division.

In other words, they were not short in stature and reach like many of Monzon's best name wins were. While there are some exceptions, they are not a frequent in comparison to those Monzon fought

Fitzsimmons
Ketchel
Greb
Lamotta
Hagler
Nunn
Hopkins

 

^^^ The truth.

I was unaware Monzon also ducked fighters, or waiting until others were injured. Could you list some names and dates for the forum?

 

Your an@logy needs some work. Valdes started boxing at 135 pounds. A lightweight, who had a 69" reach. Can you show me one decent middleweight who started out at 135 pounds with a 69" reach? I see none!

By the way, if you really want to hit the bottom end of the scale, I suggest you use the pin weight division.