Absolutely. I think the fact that he was not American, didn't speak English and had his big fights outside the US causes people to view his career and accomplishments as more remote and less significant. Marvin Hagler, for example, fought squarely in the middle of the United States limelight and had his big matches hyped up into megafights by the media, and as a consequence is much better known and more appreciated in many circles, even though Monzon was even more dominant and accomplished than he was.
Yes ,the extra exposure would probably have made him the undoubted pick as no 1 middle of ATG ,at least among Americans.
Many of Monzon's best wins were against non-Americans too and Benvenuti, Griffith (to a far kesser extent as he was based in US for much of his life) and Valdez are also underrated at 160. Hearns and leonard were great fighters but I'd pick the version of Valdez that Monzon beat to win over the versions of Tommy and Ray that Hagler fought.
Of course, and he would have beaten all middleweight challengers here as well, IMO. Monzon is, strangely, on of the most overlooked and underestimated GREAT fighters that I've ever heard of. The fact that he was from "over there" is one reason, plus not speaking English, and without that warm and charming personality that guys like Duran had. Monzon was cold and aloof with the press, and he definitely wasn't "warm and fuzzy", or even likeable as a personality.
Yeah, he's definitely one of my favorite fighters, especially of the seventies. He never let me down, won all his fights and I admired his cool style, a mix of power and patient skill.
Red Cobra, or anyone else, what would you say was Monzon's peak fight(s)? Was he a little bit past his prime in the Valdez fights? I just watched the second Benvenuti fight and he looked tremendous. What's the signature Monzon fight?
His prime was in the earlier days of his reign. The 2nd Benvenuti fight is a good choice, as is the 1st Griffith fight. Around that time. He was a better athlete, better to watch on film, more impressive to the casual eye.
Thanks. That was my perception based on what I could see from Youtube. I actually watched his fights in reverse chronological order (just by accident). The Valdez fights were certainly impressive enough, but he looked devastating in the second Benvenuti fight. I haven't seen the first Griffith fight in it's entirety. Great, great fighter.
p.s. I see he already had about 75 fights by the time of the second Benvenuti fight. So that makes a little more sense of it being his prime. He would've been big in the U.S., but the Heavyweights dominated the 70's, so who knows. A young Charles Bronson certainly should've have played him if they made a movie.
Some would say that the Briscoe title defense in '72 was his best. Don Majeski reported the fight for Boxing Illustrated, and the way he described it, it was somewhat like Ali-Frazier 3 in terms of action, but it was from what I've read, a kind of a defensive master-stroke from Monzon as to how he coped with Briscoe's offense. He was nearly ko'd in the 10th, and then dominated the rest of the fight, in rounds 11-thru-15, nearly stopping or at least decking Bennie a few times in 14 and 15. Majeski wrote that Monzon went from a good champion to a great one in those last 5 rounds because he fought Briscoe head on and came out on top for the decision.