Both were the biggest/best in their division, heavily reliant on the 1-2, and both used unconventional tactics for defense. With all their similarities though, they were also stylistic opposites, with Monzon being relaxed and fluid, while Wlad was stiff and robotic. Who was better?
“Stiff and robotic” sure did damn good ruling the HW division for over a decade. Lol! Also had ATG power and was a master at using his range. Wladimir
Monzon was the much better fighter pound for pound. Monzon is second only to Hagler for me, whereas there are about 10 or 12 names I'd put ahead of Wlad at HW. Both great, but Monzon was more complete.
Better at what? Winning? Demonstrating the best technique? Most dominant? You really need to be a bit more specific.
Monzon. He ranks higher P4P, and he ranks higher at middleweight than Wlad does at heavyweight. But these types of questions tend to be inherently unfair to heavyweights, Louis and Ali aside.
I actually find Monzon and Wlad to be technically quite similar fighters. The question is interesting. I think Wlad at his best had an extremely refined technique which allowed him to beat even the toughest opponents with contemptuous ease. But on the other hand Monzon feels like a much scrappier, more durable guy who was less likely to get upset by some hard shots to the chin. I'm going with Monzon and this is largely because he didn't have the dimensional advantages Wlad had over his opponents. Wlad was freaking huge, knew how to use his size and most of his opponents were smaller. Monzon was always only 160 even though he was a lanky guy at the weight.
just comes down to whos opponents you rate higher. do you have nino benvenuti, jose napoles, benny briscoe etc over povetkin, byrd, haye, etc
Monzon. But for a HW, Wlad was exceptional for his size, where other factors come into play. When comparing top heavyweights with top middleweights, the middleweights should be better because they have much less weight to carry, blood to pump through their muscles, can get out of range easier. etc.
Carlos..its worth noting that that Wlad who I actually like, was also a cheater who could have been dq numerous times but he was getting home cooking in the best ways
