Carlos Monzon would win by late round stoppage, TKO 13. In a 15 round title bout, Monzon, the taller middleweight would keep Gennady Golovkin at bay with his long left jab and countering him after he missed, knowing that GGG possesses power , Monzon would not engage in a firefight early, and Monzon having the threat of his paralyzing right hand that has produced 61 KO's in his career would have the respect of GGG. Monzon uses the whole ring to box GGG as he had in his title defense against another power puncher Bennie Briscoe on Nov 11 1972, Monzon boxed his way to a unanimous 15 round decision despite taking a Briscoe right hand Bomb in round 9 that visibly hurt him, Monzon survived and won on points to defend his title. Monzon defeats GGG as fatigue starts to set in during the 13th round, the referee rescues a tired Golovkin, who is too fatigued to defend himself.
I firmly believe that there hasn't been and will never be another fighter at the poundage who could equal a prime Monzon. He is the closest thing to an unbeatable fighter as I have ever seen. His versatility as a boxer, a counterpuncher, a pressure fighter, and a brawler are unmatched by any other middleweight imo, no-one was as versatile or multi-dimensional as Monzon was. I love Golovkin but I don't think he gets past that jab, Monzon controlled the distance too well and would have GGG walking into right hand counters all night.
Agree w/ consensus so far. The other thing Monzon was great at was the ability to nullify what the opponent did best. Nullify. Now if King Carlos subtracts the thing GGG does best----what does that leave Gennady left at his disposal to defeat a guy like Monzon?
I don't think any fighter who weighs in at 160 or less on the day of the fight beats Monzon. I don't know what GGG weighed when he entered a ring, but would guess 170-75? In his true weight class, 160, same day weigh in, I'd pick Monzon. If the weigh in is the day before, who knows? I've never seen Monzon vs. a guy who out weighs him 10-15 pounds. Monzon never moved up to Light Heavy and it was probably for a reason. On the other hand, could GGG make 160 on a same day weigh in? Just because fighters are called Middleweights does not mean they are the same size. If one weighed 160 on a same day weigh in and the other weighed 160 on a day before weigh in, they might be 15-20 pounds different in weight.
He probably could, at least before his 30s. I have seen his fight night weight listed as low as 168. Monzon's ability to cut water despite weighing in on the same day was a huge boon. One thing I immediately notice while watching 70s and 80s fights is the lack of muscularity of boxers. Michael Spinks looked rail thin against Eddie Davis. Spinks weighed in a measly 172 on the scales! This guy later went on to weigh as high as 210 at HW. Yet we are to believe no PEDs were involved.
A great fighter knows his own limitations, King Carlos Monzon had no reason to move up to light heavyweight when he could clean out his division, now that's a legacy, and to retire as World Middleweight Champion after a 7 year reign as champion, 14 title defenses, an 82 bout unbeaten streak dating back to Oct 9 1964. How many middleweight greats retired as champion as Carlos Monzon did on August 29 1977?
