The ref did Nino a favor and exempted him from a major ass whipping...it may have been premature but Monzon seemed likely to break Nino in half, and in much quicker time than in heir 1st bout.
I just rewatched. yeah, the towel was definitely premature, but i guess if his corner didn't believe, i don't blame the ref. Monzon looked razor sharp. This might be his best effort. I think this is before the gunplay left a slug in his shoulder.
Benvenuti had been on the decline even before Monzon - Nino Fight No. 1. Nino wouldn't even fight an old Curtis Cokes when the opportunity was there. Nino was ready to be taken when Monzon got to him....and got his buttt whipped twice.
I felt that after the Griffith fights that Nino was pretty much finished. He did win some including a come from behind KO of Rodriguez. But the skills were eroded from his earlier fights. Could he have beaten Monzon around 1967 is a good question. Perhaps.
benvenuti fought one of his best fights in ages against Monzon the first time around.I think it was more his lifestyle that had eroded his consistency, but he still seemed at a stage where he could be elite if he put in the training. The corner ****ed up in the Monzon rematch.Big deal if you he was going to lose anyway, so do i...that's beside the point(same with the dodgy Moyer stoppage where i reckon Denny had some tough rounds ahead) and he was in no way taking a beating. I don't need to see the guy go out on his shield, but they took away his chance to maybe rally\recover and have a more dignified exit from boxing.
Nino, to me, was never much more than a junor middleweight anyway (size wise) Once he slammed into a true big MW....it was all over but the cryin'.
Happened upon this odd fight tonight. Had never seen it but vaguely knew there was some fuss about it and … wow. I’d say this one looks more suspicious than Ali-Liston II. Not that Nino was going to win, but everything about it smells fishy. Benvenuti did well in the first round and in the second it started getting a little more physical. Late in the second, Monzon landed a left hook or uppercut that jarred Nino and he kind of stumbled off to his right and Carlos threw a right hand over his shoulder and he fell into the ropes — definitely a knockdown but Benvenuti didn’t seem out of sorts. The third, Benvenuti gets shoved down. The ref is waving his hands — seems to be indicating no knockdown. Then Nino’s corner throws in the towel and … it’s over! Nino kicks the towel back to the corner and protests, wanting to continue and doesn’t seem hurt or dazed in any way. But that’s it. It’s fishy because Arthur Mercante was supposed to ref and Monzon’s people protested, wanting a ref from Argentina (the fight was in Monte Carlo). Arthur says the commission (or maybe it was WBA/WBC types) put both names in a hat and drew the Argentinian’s name and they made Mercante a judge. Nino is apoplectic afterward but won’t challenge or question or call out his manager, Bruno Amaduzzi, who threw in the towel. He seems to just be saying the ref shouldn’t have stopped it, although he clearly did so because of the towel. You’d expect him to be irritated or outright angry at his corner stopping a world title fight when he’s not hurt, right? I can’t help but think some money exchanged hands somewhere, and I’m the sort who hardly ever jumps to ‘fixed’ as a conclusion. Maybe there was an under/over in rounds and Nino’s corner (or the mob?) bet heavily on the under? Maybe Monzon‘s folks made Bruno an offer he couldn’t refuse (Nino seemed unlikely to pull off the upset and was near the sunset of his career even if he won, so a nice cashout could have been tempting?) I’d like to hear the thoughts of others who saw this and what they make of the fishy ending.
