Carlos Monzon... Educate Me

good fighter
woman beater
technical wizard for his time

good?

 

fixed.

 

Top 35 of all time. 2nd greatest middle IMO

 

Hey, Mariti, what do you think?

 

Stay our itrymariti!

 

Just kidding, a very effective ring general who was great at imposing himself and dominating the ring. Had good timing and used himself physically very well to thwart attacks, rather than using fine technique imo.

And a mean man who would **** you up with oranges from his balcony.

 

Greatest middle post WW2.

 

- How good was he?

The best MW for 7years, with a record 14 lineal defenses of his MW title (Hopkins has the record total title defenses). Overrated by many here though, technically not the best, not that quick, not the biggest hitter, not the best defense. But he was a good all rounder and an excellent ring general with very good timing. And he always found a way to win against the men he fought

- What style did he bring to the ring?

Excellent as a ring general, focused on finding the best range to get 1-2 off, which he'd use constantly to time and control the fight, his constant accuracy with well timed, if he did come inside he'd throw 'straight hooks' to the body.

1 thing Monzon does superbly is relax in the ring, most fighters are naturally tense and tire themselves out, Monzon relaxes doesn't tire himself out just goes about his job in a very efficient economical manner. This efficiency and relaxation is something I feel he has in common with Mayweather, very few fighters can do it well, it means you perform at a high level for longer and make the right decisions in the fight

- What competition did he beat?

His best wins are:

Griffith - Griffith is a great champion at WW, LMW and MW, he was quite a bit past prime at 33/34 and smaller but had excellent skills. Best win for Monzon

Benvenuti - the champion and a quick skillfull 1 at that but he had lost 2 times in 18months prior to their battle and was likely past prime at 32

Napoles - Monzon fans shout about this win but Napoles was fighting as a 137lber at the age of 28, he is naturally a smaller man than Roberto Duran. Napoles would only fight this 1 fight about 147lbs in his career. Impressive domination but Napoles had no business at MW

Valdez - strong, big puncher, good shot slipper, but not too quick and pretty slow footwork

Briscoe - big hitting contender, with some very nice skills, but another 1 who had slow footwork

I'm considered a 'hater' of Monzon when I bring up the negatives, others overrate him. I believe Your best going to youtube, typing in Monzon and viewing for yourself. Compare him to Ray Robinson, Hagler, Hopkins, Jones Jr, James Toney and decide who you think the best Middleweights are

 

That's not Monzon hating, that's a fair post. I broke his style down in fewer words though

 

Wheres our resident Monzon expert Irtyimariti?

 

Sorry I'm late lads. I know you've been licking your lips in anticipation of this one.

Overall, I think PP's analysis was pretty solid. Ring generalship is key for this guy. Monzon didn't have all that much in terms of athleticism, and he did actually have some technical issues, especially defensively and on the inside. But what he did brilliantly was converting what advantages he had into a W, using size, strength, good jab. He was great at keeping smaller guys away from him, constantly keeping range and fighting off the back foot. Against taller guys he used his rough-house tactics on the inside and physical strength to boss the action. He had a good, but not great chin.

His main flaws are a lack of technical defensive ability, some average physical attributes and lack of depth of skillset offensively and defensively.

Some of his wins are over-rated for my money. I think guys like Benvenuti and Briscoe were never that great - Benvenuti there for the taking against somebody who fought hard and Briscoe could be a plodding punching bag at times. Griffith and Valdez were good, solid wins. Napoles was by far the best p4p fighter Monzon ever fought, and despite being totally unproven at the weight was actually showing up Monzon's lack of skills in the opening exchanges. However, Monzon did well to start timing him even if he was lucky to open up the cut which saved the day. There are a lot of good wins on his record, but no truly stand-out great wins. His claim to fame is based on the longevity and consistency of his record 14-title-defence reign.

I would say Monzon was a great fighter. For me he's comparable to Larry Holmes in terms of ability and achievements.

He is very over-rated on here. People often rate him in the Top 25 OAT, above decisively superior fighters like Hearns, Whitaker, Chavez and record greats like Canzoneri, which I think is just absurd. He'd probably be around 50 for me.

 

Nice post. Agree with most of it. Don't think Monzon is overrated though. I'd add Sal Sanchez to the list of fighters with cyborg-like cool in the ring. Monzon and Hagler suffer from not having a 168 lb division (Hagler did at the end of his career but it was inconsequential at the time). They both could've moved up and ruled there too. 175 was a bridge too far for both. I don't fault either for not making that jump. Some do.
Whether Monzon was slow or not, he always seemed to find the target. Supreme timing and distance control.

 

I think Monzon would have been too small for 168.