Gil Clancy's Views of Carlos Monzon

ZL: Some of the best fights you ever worked…I want to get some quick impressions of them, things you recall. Monzon-Griffith? (Clancy trained Emile Griffith from his first amateur contest through his last—109th—pro fight.)

GC: Well, the second time they fought, I thought we had a perfect fight for him that night. And I thought Griffith won the fight, just by outworking Monzon. (Monzon was awarded a UD for the 15-rounder. Monzon also won their first encounter—TKO14.) As a matter of fact, Nino Benvenuti, who was a newspaperman for the fight…for a week, he wrote everyday how it was a disgrace, how Griffith really won the fight, and this and that. Again, Monzon pulled it out and won the fight.

ZL: I’m curious, where do you rate Monzon among the great middleweights?

GC: I never thought he was that great a fighter. I had (Rodrigo) Valdes fight him twice, too. Valdes had him on the deck, and that was also another decision that should have gone the other way. (Monzon by UD15 both times.)

 

This content is protected

 

Gil Clancy.

 

It was sour grapes from Clancy's viewpoint in my opinion.

 

Clancy too often felt the wrath of Monzon's steely determined gaze.

 

Unlikely since Clancy's had plenty of fighters go down to greats or purported greats and not complained (you don't hear him denigrating Duran - quite the opposite).

Clancy's bang on with this, just like he is with pretty much everything, though he's a bit past his prime now. Clancy and Dundee calling Duran/De Jesus III, or Clancy and Tompkins: dream commentary team.

 

He praises his physical attributes relative to a bloated up Lightweight. High praise indeed.

 

You're barking up the wrong tree.

 

His fighter got abused by Monzon but there was also something personal there. Anyone denying Monzon's greatness is either a) ignorant or b) promoting an agenda. A is not the case here. And i have heard Clancy denigrate Monzon on more than a few occassions.