Carlos Monzon vs. Harry Greb

Lets say that we were to make a list of the ten best oponents that Greb beat, not pound for pound but in absolute terms head to head.

If we can then add Monzon to the group where would he rank?

 

In an absolute sense, he's still easily top 10.

Guys like Tunney and Loughran are the bigger fighters, but there are not 10 fighters of higher quality, even in a head to head sense, than Monzon. Guys like Gibbons, Walker, etc are on par. I'd favor Monzon over Walker.

 

OK so he breaks the top 10.

Now what about the top 5?

In order to secure a place he must go head to head with-

Gene Tunney

Tommy Loughran

Tommy Gibbons

Billy Miske

Jack Dillon

Mickey Walker

Maxie Rosenbloom

Kid Norfolk

Isnt going to be a walkover.

 

Good ol Maxie Rosenbloom who Greb beat.

Greb only was 242-19-17 when they fought.

This content is protected

This content is protected

+

This content is protected

+

This content is protected

= 298

Just a minor amount of boxing experience between the two
over their careers.

 

Hagler could do it too.

It's a hard call to decide who's the favorite here, but Hagler is impossible to KO and his workrate can get him the fight.

If he's too hesitant he would get tagged by Monzon. He must use his better speed, combination punching, underrated movement and southpaw stance to his advantage. He can go inside but not stay there too long. He must use his right jab and get in and out quickly. He must vary his approach because the rangy Monzon can launch missiles from outside when the opponent gets in carelessly.

Hagler's mobility would be the key here. Not many can hope to succeed by trying to rough up Carlos Monzon, one of the greatest 15 rounds badass ever. Hagler is on par with him on chin, durability and stamina. I think he's the better boxer of the two even if Monzon is slightly stronger, rangier and more of a powerful puncher. A prime Hagler is a pretty good defensive fighter and I think his active style would get him the nod over the slower but powerful Monzon. If I could avoid two middleweights that ever lived, I would duck those two frankly. You know you're up for a hellish night with any of 'em.

Two times ouf ot three, I choose Hagler by close decision.

 

Greb would win. I think the fighters of the 20's are just better than the fighters from the 70's. Monzon would be confused by Greb and my guess is that Greb would frequently back him up. And Hagler would also defeat Monzon because he's physically the more gifted of the two.

 

:roll:

 

We could debate at great length whether the 20s or the 70s were a better era but in the middleweight division the pro 20s crowd would have a stronger case than they would generaly.

It was prety deep division.

 

It's worth pointing out here that, while Greb did beat those guys, several of them also beat him. It isn't as though Greb tore through guys who were as good as/better than Monzon in a straight-up head-to-head sense. He went to war with them and won some and lost some.

 

Prepare to be called a boxrec hunter.

 

I was actually expecting a lot more peeps to be in here defending Monzon TBH. Maybe it's a good thing for some dinner has been a little busy i think

 

I'd liked to have seen this one. Never seen Greb in action. However, I know enough to come to the conclusion he would give Monzon hell. It's hard to predict with not having seen Greb fight.

 

This is a valid point.

Lets take a closer look.

For the purpouses of this analysis-

W =clear win for Greb
L = clear loss for Greb
Q = papers are split on who deserved the nod

Against Gene Tunney Greb is W2, L2, Q1 so even. this is remarkable given that many consider Tunney to be the greatest 175 pounder of all time and Greb is declining when the series starts.

With Tommy Loughran Greb is W2, L1, Q1. All the fights are close except for one of Grebs wins which is a shutout. Against a top ten all time light heavyweight this is nothing to sneeze at.

He is W2, L0, Q0 against an admitedly declining Jack Dillon. Dillon however was a pound for pound great in his own right.

He is W2, L2 against Tommy Gibbons but the Gibbons wins come while both fighters are developing while the Greb wins come while both are close to their peaks. Gibbons was the No2 heavyweight contender for a number of years.

Greb won his only fight with Mickey Walker decisivley.

Against Billy Miske he is W2, L0, Q1. Not bad given that Miske was holding Dempsey on even terms in some bouts.

Greb won his only fight against Maxie Rosenbloom who probably hadnt peaked yet.

Against Kid Norfolk Greb won the newspaper decision in one bout and lost the other by DQ. Norfolk should probably have been DQd instead because he fouled Greb repeatedly before Greb retaliated.

This is the fighter you are dealing with gentlemen.