Carlos Roque "Shotgun" Monzón vs. "Marvelous" Marvin Nathaniel Hagler - Definitive Classic Breakdown

Grateful to be invited and happy to have been able to contribute to the discussion.

 

I did vote via the poll a little while back. I checked and there is no longer an option for me to vote and I’m listed among those who picked Carlos via points. I haven’t yet made an actual comment to qualify my choice though. Cheers mate.

 

Just did a quick tally - 97 of the originally tagged usernames are yet to weigh in.

78 votes in the raw poll, of which a handful are ineligible to be counted officially due to low post count and/or recent join date.

Monzón with a healthy lead at the moment (44-34 in raw data) but that's a lot of still-outstanding arbiters. Fat lady's a long way from singing!

 

Grateful and a little astonished to have been included!! Thanks, Px

 

First, leave James Tony out of this.

Second, he’s not a lady!

 

Most of what can be said about a speculative Monzón–Hagler bout has already been excellently covered in many a fine post in this thread. Both were durable, strong, well-conditioned, and tactically versatile champions; each with a long reach and a cornerstone jab. This much is known. Thus, in abstract terms, there is little to separate them.

What perhaps matters more are the subtler dynamics. Hagler had the broader arsenal - southpaw stance, switch-hitting, Gazelle jab, and the ability to herd opponents in devastating fashion. He would almost certainly look like the winner through the first third of the fight, surprising Monzón with the speed and reach of his jab, his variety, and his forward motion.

Hagler, beyond being an offensive machine, was geared for capitalizing on the mistakes of his challengers and taking counterattacking opportunities. In particular, he thrived on moments of over-commitment by his opponents, demonstrating superb anticipation and timing.

However, Monzón rarely presented those kinds of openings, if he ever did, despite what I have come to think of as his 'ruse de guerre' --- looking slow, basic, even clumsy. Intentionally or otherwise, his outwardly awkward-looking appearance served as bait. Behind the facade and the staccato, off-beat rhythm, Monzón was picking clean shots, tying up inside, stepping back to reset, and countering on the back foot. His game was not to dominate exchanges but to let the other man believe he was gaining ground as they fed him the data he needed to assess and re-calibrate.

By the middle rounds, Hagler would be repeating tactics that yielded less and less return, while Monzón's timing, accuracy, and economy steadily increased over the course of the bout. The fifteen-round distance was Monzón's domain; and the fight would become a campaign of attrition in which he denies Hagler the clear scoring opportunities he requires.

And so, the pattern would hold. For Monzón, it is a case of *** "Will you walk into my parlor?" said the Spider to the Fly. *** Hagler obliges and looks stronger early, Monzón turns the tables mid-fight and makes it much clearer later on and down the stretch. And, when the scores are tallied, it is Monzón by that finest of margins.