Monzon = Genius. Discuss.

Not a single true MW Hagler faced was as good as Benvenuti, Valdez or Briscoe, name them if you think so. And no, Duran was most certainly not better than Griffith or Napoles at higher weights. They were just as good at WW as Duran(much better in terms of consistency), and Griffith was naturally bigger and better fit for MW.

As far as the Middleweights they faced, the best Hagler faced were an old Bennie Briscoe(whereas Monzon beat a prime Briscoe twice), Antuofermo, Hamsho, Roldan, and I'll throw Hearns in there because he fought at higher weights.

Compare that to Benvenuti twice(better than any of the above), prime Briscoe twice, Valdez twice, as well as Griffith. All better, aside from Griffith at MW, than any of Hagler's MW conquests.

 

Cool, no problems here. But watch the Hamani fight, one of my faves of Hagler, no matter how short. Boxes early, feels him out, and as soon as he unleashes the first big punch in the second round, he catches Hamani perfectly and lands every single follow up blow clean on the way to knocking Hamani out of the ring and out for the count.

He also showed very good movement to go along with his counter-punching in certain fights. Will talk later, out for now.

 

Stoppages yes, not quite so quick. The picks are too extreme.

That said I have confict with myself right now. I am beginning to think Calzaghe TKOs Hopkin within 4, possibly the 2nd round. Would such a pick be nuthugging, or am I just being biased against my own biases and worrying about nothing?

 

Maybe he'll even catch Hopkins cold in the first.

I can't see **** all Hopkins can do besides immitate the Manfredo turtle.

 

THE fighter of the 70's. a very deceptive fighter on film, but very subtle on his approach to fighting. imo had underrated power, especially in his right hand. some of the best timing ever, which is more impressive considering his mediocre handspeed. one of the physically strongest MW champs, see how he just gets full grown MW off him in the clinches and positioning them to his advantage (on benvenutti 2 he just overpowers poor benvenutti). iron chinned and very rugged. a lot consider monzon to be a stand up boxer-puncher sometimes, but he could also be a very effective pressure fighter. not in your face pressure ala duran, but the never-stop-coming-forward-behind-a-jab-and-a-strong-right hand type of pressure fighter.

here's the finish to the licata fight posted earlier.

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monzon just laced the guy with accurate punching, and see the physical strength i was talking about in close quarters.

amsterdam does'nt he remind you of a bigger version of mijares without the volume punching? deadeye accuracy, pumping jab, steady pressure......

 

Watch this highlight of Hagler here. Brilliant. It focuses on his brawling at times, but focuses a lot more on his boxing skills than most Hagler highlights do. Watch at certain points in the vid where he shows excellent movement, slipping, and counter-punching, such as around :42 to :45, around 2:07 to 2:13 especially and all in between.

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That's just samplings of his movement. I'm working on getting a Hagler career set, so I'll get a little more in-depth than just being able to post a Youtube highlight to show you. But fights with Hamani show his accuracy and the rematch with Monroe for example show the difference in his overall movement and athleticism than in later days.

 

I see Robinson, Hagler, and Roy Jones all getting wins over Monzon.

 

I think Robinson is too naturally small to beat Monzon at MW. Hagler vs Monzon would be a great fight, but if I had to favor, I'd take Monzon. Jones is a good possibility, maybe the only favorite.

I'll go ahead and make the decision not to bring Greb into this due to lack of footage.