Carlos Monzon Vs Hearns - Is This The Worst, Fight At Middle For Tommy?

Who did Monzon beat that had Hearns's combination of speed, reach, and punching power? Various guys has one or two of those things, but not all of them. I don't think Monzon would have an easy time with Hearns at all.

 

I’ve always liked Rodrigo to beat SRL at MW. I like SRL but there was too much lead in Valdez fists - though not as fast as Ray - tough to match for any fighter, Valdez had excellent hand speed and was reasonably mobile. I feel that several opps will present for Rocky to land significantly and when he does it will too much for Ray.

The KO in Valdez-Briscoe II? I could watch that over and over till hell freezes over.

As to Monzon’s power - somewhat deceptive IMO, perhaps due in part to the fluid and even manner in which he punched without any change in pace or effort - but every punch very hard all the same.

Facial damage isn’t always a fail safe testament but holy sh*t, I personally think poor Valdez’s face after their second fight told the story of how hard he was getting hit - Rocky himself an incredibly durable and brave fighter:-

[url]http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/valdez-r.htm[/url]

 

You must be thinking of Charlie “White Lightning” Brown in that H2H matchup with Roberto. A toss-up really.

 

Who did Tommy Hearns beat that would have been competition for Carlos Monzon? Eddie Gazo? Saensak Muangsurin? Pipino Cuevas? No one ever said that Carlos would just walk over Hearns like a stroll in the park. It would have been competitive early on, but Hearns does run out of gas as the big fights usually progress, in the later championship rounds, also his stamina and chin are suspect. Carlos had no need to move up in weight like Hearns had to. Carlos for a pack of day smoker during training and a party life with attractive women, had tremendous stamina in the ring and an iron chin. These hypothetical fights that we have opinions on are pure speculations as these fighters will never fight each other, it is just for fun. But you have laid out your opinion, I have laid out mine. In my opinion, Carlos takes out Tommy late, TKO 14. Monzon had 61 KO's on his record in a career that began in 1963 and ended with him retaining his belt for the 14th time in 1977.

 

There were entirely too many "Charlie Browns" aound at that time.

 

How did some promoter not put Philly lightweight Choo Choo in with Illinois lightweight White Lightning?

Loser has to change his name to Linus.

 

No money in it. Two fighters would have been paid Peanuts.

 

I definitely agree that Hearns never beat anyone at Monzon's level, especially at 160. But, he is a unique physical and style challenge, and at 160 or less (and maybe even at 168 to some extent), he's a somewhat unique challenge for anyone. Approximately two inches taller than Monzon, faster, and with power, if he were able to maintain distance and work from outside Monzon's range, it would be something Monzon hadn't faced before. I wouldn't bet money on this fight, for sure.

 

"Charlie Brown - Gitcho ass outta town....this town ain't big enough fo' the two of us..."

 

Hearns might well take an early lead but he get's stopped around the 8th.

 

That's about the fairest you can be on this topic.

It would be folly to dismiss Monzon's record at middleweight, as it would be folly to overlook the fact that Tommy's various stints at middleweight were not outstanding. Monzon ruled the division for seven years while Tommy didn't make a single successful defence.

But Tommy did have speed, reach and power advantages over Monzon that would have been new to Carlos, as they would have been to pretty much anyone. Only Robinson had anything like that blend of speed, power and reach at the weight.

Tommy could be taken out of his game but it tended to be when an opponent went balls to the wall - Leonard in 81, Hagler in 85 and Barkley in 88. Stylistically, that wasn't how Monzon tended to operate, as other posters are pointing out. Tommy's game plan of jabbing, staying at distance and dropping in the odd right hand or hook to the ribs would have come a lot more naturally to him than Carlos' strategy for Hearns would have come to him ie full on sustained pressure, not to be mistaken with the steady methodical pressure he habitually applied.

Beating Hearns would have meant Monzon fighting in a way that he didn't ever need to do in his other fights so while both fighters' respective records at middleweight would indicate Monzon should be heavily favoured, there are aspects to the fight in terms of the fighters' styles that would make me very reluctant to confidently pick a winner. The Tommy Hearns that Marvin Hagler faced would have been Monzon's best win in my personal opinion.

 

Your posts get better and better. Maybe my memory is dimmed but you go into far more depth than you used to. Good stuff.

 

Yea I think styles might favor Hearns though I could envision Hearns wearing down if Carlos can keep the pressure on him. Monzon has to take Hearns punch as well.
The rightcross that Tommy Hearns landed on Hagler in the opening seconds of their fight would have knocked out a Steer.

 

So true but Carlos Monzon did have an iron chin, he got right back up when Rodrigo Valdes landed that right hand bomb on his in round 2 of Monzon's last title defense on July 30 1977, Carlos won on points, then retired as champion. Carlos does have better stamina than Tommy Hearns.

 

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So your sayin there's a chance this could happen?. I like the way you think.