Carlos Monzon vs. Bernard Hopkins

Monzon was the stronger man at 160....I think he would get the UD but Hopkins would be a tougher fight at 160 where he seems to be strong

 

I can't add much if anything that hasn't been said here. I don't think Hopkins would be able to stop Monzon from pumping that jab which would be the difference in the fight.

 

Nice post dpw147.

I think Monzon is the marginal favourite in this matchup vs Hopkins. The outcome would probably be decided on how well Hopkins can counter Monzon and his ability to land enough punches to win the fight. Monzon indeed was a very busy fighter and was one of the best at using the clinch to his advantage. Hopkins can be discouraged and it wouldn't surprise me to see Monzon frustrate him with his inside skills. Without a doubt, Hopkins cannot afford to sit back and wait for Monzon to make a mistake because he find might find himself playing catchup on the scorecards. B-Hop is more than capable of beating Monzon, especially if he drops him early in the fight like Valdez did and stays on top of him and boxes smartly.

 

Has anyone even seen prime Hopkins? Hopkins schools him, technically a far superior fighter, great defense, better angles, better movement, leads and counters Monzon to pieces. Monzon is getting dissected in a very clear win

Monzon was just the 70s version of Pavlik

 

Have you seen a prime Monzon? Monzon would box Pavlik's ear's off and give Hopkins one of his toughest fights aside from the Roy Jones fight in 1993. Your discrediting Monzon by saying he's the 70's version of Pavlik.

Kelly Pavlik would get his butt whupped by all the tough fighters that Monzon beat. Bad Bennie and Rodrigo Valdez would both take Pavlik to school. The Pre-Benny Paret version of Emile Griffith would hammer Pavlik into submission. In fact, Griffith gave Monzon a tough battle despite the notion that he didn't carry the same animal instincts after the Paret tragedy.

Like I said earlier, Bernard could find himself well behind in the scoring going into the late rounds if he sits and waits for Monzon to make a mistake, hoping to counter his attack. Monzon would tie him up coming in, while landing his jab and straight right on the way out of a clinch. Monzon was that good at nullifying the opponent's attack which a lot of people forget easily. He was hard to hit cleanly because he was very skilled with his arms and his hand positioning, properly using the clinch to his advantage.

Monzon getting dissected by Hopkins would never happen. Hopkins getting frustrated by Monzon and resorting to dirty tactics is the more likely scenario. If and when that happens in the fight, Carlos would be more than prepared to handle that.

 

The same prime Hopkins who took on the technical masters of their time in Trinidad, Joppy, Glenn Johnson and the feared Morrade Hakkar. :yep

Carlos may not have taken on someone as good as Hopkins...But Hopkins never took on anyone even close to Monzon.

Definition of a tossup for me...but I find the arguments for Monzon more compelling quite often.

 

Many won't agree with that.

Just look at their comparitive records for a start:

Pavik went undefeated for about 8 years, won titles late in the piece and hasn't managed that many successful defences. Many of his earlier fights in particular, were against nobodies with very limited records.

Monzon held world titles for about 7 years, retired still holding them and fought the best along the way - as outlined in earlier posts here. He went undefeated for something like 13 years, only ever lost 3 in 100 fights, and those were amongst his first 20 odd!

People forget quickly. Monzon OWNED the middleweight crown!

 

Here's the link to the article http://www.secondsout.com/columns/thomas-hauser/bernard-hopkins-history-in-the-making

 

I actually like Hp to frustrate Monzon like he did all of his opponents.

But Monzon's ramrod jab wins it in a close points decision.

 

Refreshing to hear a great fighter actually concede that a fighter from a previous era might actually trouble him and perhaps beat him - and pretty uncharactoristic of Hopkins.

Also supports the theory that Monzon was a very special talent.

 

:good