Who was greater? SRL 147 or Monzon 160

I'm going with Leonard. Both are ridiculous. During his 147 pound peak, at the time he retired, i'd only favor SRR over him. There's not many i like over Monzon either tho.

 

Monzon imo. I have Monzon as a lock for top 3 middles of all time and on some days I have him as the middleweight GOAT. Leonard is more like a top 5-6 welter for me. I've got Armstrong and Robinson solidly above him, aswell as Napoles and Gavilan. Couldn't really see a case for him being the goat of 147 unlike Monzon at 160. Leonard has the better top wins but lacks the longevity and depth.

 

Both #2 in all time in these divisions, imo. Monzon has more dominance and longevity at the weight, SRL the best individual wins.

If they'd have been an equal option, I'd have voted.

 

Yes, same here.Cant really split em.

 

So difficult to separate them, it's as close to a 50/50 as you're going to get. Great question, really. Somebody could probably write a book on it and still not come up with a definitive answer. We're looking at arguably two fighters who both sit within the top 10 P4P of all time. If I had to choose, I'd say Leonard, but by the finest of margins.

 

Leonard beat four prime or close to it boxers who are considered ATG'S in Duran, Benitez, Hearns, and Hagler, plus he beat a bunch of very goods in there primes like Kalule, and Lalonde among others
Monzon's best skilled opponents were past prime former welterweights in Griffith and Napoles.
He gets a lot of love for his victories over Briscoe, ( who never won a big fight..... Other than when he fought Monzon in his native Argentina, where even most Argentinan's present thought Briscoe won)
And of course Rodrigo Valdes, who was Monzon's best championship opponent, but he gets most of his rep from how well he fought Monzon and his out of the blue Ko of Briscoe.
Leonard was the better fighter, and was greater , though he had a much shorter career than Monzon.

 

Monzon, for his dominance. Ray was great ,but it was brief.

 

Does the post not say 160 ? At 160 Monzon. How many fights did Leonard have at middle weight? P4P is a different debate.

 

It says SRL @ 147 or Monzon @ 160.

 

Sorry my mistake. Too close for me. Both got arguments either way.

 

Let's be real here. Leonard's style appeals more to me as I am partial to street fighting but how are you going to compete with 14 straight defenses.

Leonard has his nice 3 wins but Monzon has his big wins as well. Benvenuti, Griffith, Valdez, with rematches within a couple of years, not the end of the decade.

A prime that supposedly last 2 years vs Monzon who lasted at least 7

 

Hi Mark.
Not sure what you mean when you say " street fighting " and applying the style to Leonard, but anyway, as a devout Monzon fan, I have to say Flash, made some very pertinent observations, of which I in the main agree with, as to Monzons big wins, Benvenuti had a long and illustrious career by the time he fought Monzon, Griffith was fairly old, and smaller, but he took Monzon to a close decision in their first, and stayed around until the 14th in the rematch, so all things considered I am going to rate Leonard above Monzon, it pains me to do so, but the fights and facts don't lie, but have no gribe with posters having the opposite stance.
stay safe buddy, chat soon.
Mike.

 

Close but Monzon for me.. Monzon had MANY more fights. Activity counts. And SRL lost to Duran who moved up..

 

Leonard is a more accomplished fighter overall, he went through the weights and defeated many greats, but when you specifically compare Leonard’s 147lbs career to Monzon’s, Monzon stayed at 160lbs his whole career, beat literally everyone who was around and then went back to rematch some of them.

Obviously the division wasn’t as packed as Leonard’s 147lbs, but Monzon reigned for a very long time, never lost his title in the ring and beat literally everyone in his era, and it’s not his fault it wasn’t as strong.

He reigned longer, beat more people, beat all the names in the division, and never lost his title in the ring, held it until he retired.