What made Monzon so good?

His offense and his defense. All kidding aside, one of the best things Monzon did was control the distance in the fight. Guys had a hard time getting close to him long enough to put together combination.

 

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/what-was-carlos-monzons-best-skill-as-a-boxer.664379/

Something I find interesting is that Monzon seems to the ATG most can't understand what made him great on film. Maybe there's some ATG I'm forgetting.

Hope that other thread helps you

 

Thanks for posting the link. It was an interesting read and people brought up a lot of different reasons for Monzon's greatness. I think the variety of reasons is why he was so great and why no one single reason stands out.

 

Unpopular opinion: I definitely rated Monzon as pedestrian technically growing up watching his film. I stand by that when I view his fights. He didn't fight a title fight until he was 68 wins and 3 losses. His best wins are against 2 welterweights. He is not the best middleweight to me, nor my #2. He's the #2 Argentine middleweight of all time. And would probably get blown out by a fair number of men who touched the scale at 160 in their careers like Toney, Hopkins, Jones, McCallum, Golovkin and more. I think he would struggle with Eubank, Watson, Benn and I don't class him as much greater (if any) than them. Only in terms of resume, but not on film, nor really strength of schedule.

Referencing the linked thread:
What other all time great fighter has their observers baffled at how to properly describe what they were good at? Aside from some platitudes about being unflappable, there really isn't much meat on the bone to read there.

 

I suspect you’ll need your tin hat at hand here pal!

 

I deleted it, I figured it was in poor taste. I still don't understand the worship. I understand it's not apples-to-apples with Valero, but Monzon is really really rated, and I just don't see it. It was a down time for the division.

 

What made Carlos Monzon great was that in the ring, he was calm, cool, and collected. He had the confidence that he could not lose, not boastful confidence but confidence, nothing fazed him in the ring, he could not be intimidated by no one. He was a tall middleweight, 5"11, 159 lbs he had a 76 inch reach, he had a long stiff left jab, a paralyzing right hand, and countered to the head and body. During training he partied, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, but come fight time he was well prepared. Maybe he was not flashy in style but importantly he knew how to win, a consistent winner with an iron chin. He fought everyone that was put in the ring against him, he did not call out opponents like some who think that they are in the WWE. When he retired he was 89-3-9, 61 KO's. He had not lost a fight since Oct 9 1964, a winning streak of 82 consecutive wins, he defeated the 3 opponents who defeated him by decision, eight of the nine men whom he drew against. He won the World Middleweight Title with a KO 12 of Champion Nino Benvenuti in Rome, Italy on Nov 7 1970. He defended his title 14 times before retiring as champion on August 29 1977, a feat very few fighters have accomplished in history. He remained with his trainer Amilcar Brusa throughout his career. He was financially set, his very shrewd manager Tito Lectoure set aside most of his ring earnings, towards the end of his career, Carlos was already making western movies in his native Argentina, a very bright fighter who knew when to walk away and not return. I actually saw him in person in my hometown while attending the Sugar Ray Leonard vs Daniel Gonzalez bout on March 24 1979, we nodded up at each other in acknowledgement.

 

He looks better on film than Greb

 

Calm, collected 1-2-3 boxer essentialy, but with a lot of thought put into the cadence and rhythm of the combinations. Also an amazing jab and workrate.

 

When trying to comprehend the consistent effectiveness of non-flashy fighters like Monzon, rather than asking yourself what made them so great, a good place to start is to ask yourself how could they lose.

Monzon was a big MW. Both in terms of height and reach, as well being big at the weight in a general sense, he was a strong MW.

He may not have had flashy footwork, but it was functional, he was excellent at controlling range. He always remained beautifully balanced.

Carlos had an iron chin and relentless stamina. He didn't have explosive 1-punch knockout power, but he was a heavy handed, accurate puncher.

So how do you beat him?

With his height, reach, beautiful jab and excellent distance control, he was almost impossible to outbox at long distance.

Options are limited trying to close the distance too. Outmuscle him on the inside? Not many MWs from the same day weigh in era were as naturally big and strong as Monzon. Outwork him? Unlikely, Carlos had an almost unrivalled engine. Blast him out with power? He had an iron chin and again, was big at the weight. With his range and heavy handed, accurate power, anyone looking to take the fight to the inside, regardless of their intended strategy once there, would have to pay a hell of a price just to get there, too.

So, again, whilst he wasn't the fastest, flashiest or most explosive, how do you beat him? In reality, once he got close towards his prime, you quite simply didn't, as Richard explains in his post above, was evident from his career.

Of course, he wasn't unbeatable. A tall, rangy, fast MW who is very technically skilled in boxing at, and maintaining, long range, could theoretically outbox him at distance. But they would also need great stamina and durability as Monzon would adapt and take the fight to them. How many MWs in history simultaneously had all of those attributes?

 

excellent posts by mcgrain and gregprice99.

this reminds of the discussion about charles that was had a few days ago. when you are all round very very good but don't stand out at any 1 thing the film can be underwhelming.

 

HIs ability to control the pace of a fight.