Ok, most posters recognize Monzon as #1 or 1A. He is 6 ft tall, long reach, granite chin, and considers himself the baddest middleweight in the world. Why is he so tough to beat? Design the ideal middleweight who could beat him.
Hard Rock? I had forgotten all about him. Good response.....was Lou Duva involved with him, or maybe one of his fighters fought Hard Rock?
I'll take Ray Robinson over Monzon in H2H match-up...Hagler gives Monzon a tough fight...Greb and Walker would give Monzon hard fights...Mike McCallum gives a good account of himself against Carlos...as does a motivated Toney...Eubank might be interesting...Not to mention Roy Jones at middle...Don't get me wrong, I think very highly of Monzon, he should be rated among the very top of the middleweights with his title reign accomplishments and undefeated run...but the middles are very deep, with alot of great talent.
I like SRR at his finest for starters. I think Hopkins would be tough too. Jones as well. As for composites, Hearns with Grebs stamina and chin would be ok. Hagler with SRL's canniness, adaptability and poise in big fights would be hard. Jones with LaMotta's chin, LaMotta with Jacksons/Hearns/McClellans power and speed. You can go a lot of ways, so much to choose from.
Somebody with great straight right cross (over the jab) and fast left hook (as Monzon's right glove jerked down and backward whenever he threw a jab).
No. It's what always comes to mind when I'm watching Monzon's fights, it seems so obvious, yet nobody really tried to exploit these technical flaws against him.
Sometimes we can see flaws in fighters but actually taking advantage of these flaws may be hard. Eg,calzaghe sometimes rushes in square on and throws wide punches which leave him open down the middle,yet not many take full advantage of this (partly because of his speed and workrate.) ,and none has decoded joe enough to beat him because of this fault. Its the entire fighters package which is more relevant generally than a fault or two. I think monzons pressure,size,ring smarts and punching would discourage or make taking advantages of his 'faults' tough. Just as taking advantage of prime jones' unorthodox style was hard because of his speed and reflexes.
Monzon was too mechanical in his work, unlike Calzaghe (he adjusted somewhat to what Hopkins was doing to him in early rounds) or Jones (who was never mechanical). A motivated focused fighter, possessing those two punches could put up a boxing clinic against Monzon, in my opinion, possibly even win all rounds against him, and Carlos wouldn't be able to find an antidote.
I disagree,especially the monzon of the early seventies who seemed faster and more powerful than the later version. Carlos also seemed to always be the one who dictated the pace to his opponents. (like calzaghe.) Julio c chavez seemed mechanical even in his prime yet dismantled fluid guys like camacho and taylor. I remember steward and hearns saying duran had a fault in that he lowered his right when parrying a jab. (also folks said he kept his left low and stood up too straight v taller opponents.) Yet only the frightening mixture of speed,power,skill and size that was prime 154 tommy combined with a slower fatter roberto actually 'exposed' these flaws,the other great opponents roberto faced never did this,or even came close. If we nit pick these faults then every great fighter can be reduced to nothing,i mean hagler sometimes looked very tentative when facing speed or cute moves,yet not every fancy boxer could beat him. For the record,WHO do you figure in the history of the middles who has the attributes you mention that could befuddle carlos?
Of course, just possessing those two punches wouldn't be enough, you'll also have to have very good defense against jab, fast hands to deliver first, and footwork to create angles and control the distance, plus you gotta be able to deal with Monzon's physical strength in close. I only know one middleweight who possessed all these qualities.
.......................Drum roll........................... And that middle is????????????????????????? ( bets the house on roy. :good :hey .)
Mind you, I'm talking about putting a boxing clinic here, not about just beating him. Just beating him doesn't require all of those qualities. I think Ketchel could beat Monzon, as could Greb, probably Robinson as well. Hopkins too.