Carlos Monzon vs Gerald McClellan At MW

Excellent matchup. I'll have to think about this.
Most obviously would heavily favour Monzon.
Is it over 15 or 12?

 

Whom did Mccllean fight that was even close to
Monzon's level? Personally I don't consider
Monzon the greatest Middleweight in history (Top 2-3 so Monzon
fans don't jump off the top floor!) But he wouldn't have much
of a problem with the SERVERLY overrated Mccllean.
Monzon figures out the one dimensional McCllean after
the 1st two or three rds, Ko's him around the 8th.

 

G Man lacked defense. Monzon could keep him at bay for a decision. G might get a knock down.

 

Yeah, he tended to be overzealous.

What I find interesting about this one is that Monzon was usually (if not always) the bigger, rangier fighter.
Here, he's not. McClellan is a bit taller and overall a lot bigger. He was a massive middleweight and come fight time, would be over 170 pounds.
Monzon was a truly natural middleweight.
It's unfair really, because of the different rule sets that applied in each fighters day, because in reality you've got a middleweight against a light heavyweight. And a monstrous punching light heavyweight at that.

Monzon has it all over McClellan in terms of experience, poise and application of techniques, but the size difference must surely be at least something for people to consider.

 

Gerald is a tough outing for anyone with all that talent, power, range and speed.

Having said that he was a little unpolished and not overly patient. He relied on raw talent more so than taking his time and setting up his big power. He never gained much experience however and just didn't fight that many good opponents at all. Basically he has about 3 wins even worth talking about and they lasted about 6 rounds total.

I think Monzon would grind him down cautiously and weather the odd storm along the way. He'd be patient and and cautious and drag him into the later rounds where he'd eventually wilt.

 

although I lack the age of the other posters here, my wisdom is beyond my years and I have seen quite a bit in my relatively short life

I lived through the Michael Jackson - Van Halen collaboration of 1983 where black met white head on and indeed, made beautiful music together.

With that said, I see this as a distance fight with Monzon leaving Gerald in frustration throughout, giving young Gerald a boxing lesson and winning a lopsided decision.

 

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That's the fight we associate with The GMan

 

Fans' dream. I so wish I could come up with this stuff. The first four rounds would be almost like Hagler -Hearns, McLellan wading in, throwing bombs, and with his macho personality, no way is Monzon backing out.
The thing is, by the time Monzon was Champion, he'd ha around 70 pro fights. In full on attack mode, Gerald had as many cons as pros. Slow, anchored feet, (For power), no defence at all.
McLellan can't do anything Carlos hasn't seen before so, after four rounds of apparent mayhem, Monzon systematically breaks a blown out McLellan down with every hard, countering jab, every sickening right to the body and every confidence sapping step he takes backwards.
Great match up but if I was the Ref, I'd be sending poor old Gerald back to his corner around the eighth.

 

Who is Gilbert Baptist? I know who he is but he was never impressive and he in no way shape or form fought anything like or had a quarter of the ability of Monzon.

 

I am not sure about Gerald's true ring size- However Manny Steward has said Gerald actually had a very hard time putting on weight and struggled to be a legit SMW.

 

Was this before or after their spat, haha?

 

I can't personally see this being like Hagler-Hearns at all. I don't see how this would suit Monzon.
I'd imagine Monzon would be content to back off and counter, giving ground to McClellan and conserving as much stamina as possible for the later rounds, being defensively responsible, attempting to pick his spots and score on the counter where he can.
An action-packed barnburner plays to McClellan's strengths far more than is does Monzon's (Unless I'm taking what you said too literally.)

Monzon isn't going to take unnecessary risks, because the danger is too great. That's not to say he'd suddenly become a shrinking violet and let McClellan be the boss, but just that any experienced pro would recognise the obvious danger and attempt to drag the less experienced fighter into deep waters, which is where Monzon tended to shine.

 

Yeah, the huge disparity in experience is something you just can't ignore. As you say, McClellan ended things so quickly that it's really difficult to gain a full picture of the type of fighter he was, or wasn't.
The quality of his opponents to the title run is lacking.
Only Sanderline Williams had any kind of pedigree to speak of (though still not much) but then again that's the case with most young fighters. Monzon's own record is littered with nobodies early days. But he had so many fights.

A reasonable man would bet on Monzon. McClellan was still a developing fighter and not yet the finished article when his career was cut short.
But clearly he's a threat. Arguably the most physically intimidating and hardest-hitting opponent Monzon ever would have faced, with a good overall skillset and a fighter who was not a headhunter, and a fighter carrying a marked weight advantage into the fight.
That's the intrigue for me, since Monzon usually enjoyed a size and often strength advantage, but here, his opponent does.

 

Totally agree there are very interesting intangibles. Monzon agaisnt guys sporting his own range like Gerald and Hopkins open up a a different set of scenario's.