Tommy Hearns vs Carlos Monzon. 160 pounds

To be fair, Hagler probably could have walked through a German tank division that night. Never seen anyone so forceful of will as Marvin that night.

 

Hearns power at 160 and even 154 for a time was a tad camouflaged by hand trouble. He had some injuries in there and lost confidence a couple of times that his right hand would hold up. He also faced a few pretty durable fighters.

Hearns best bet would be to win via stoppage, probably pretty early. Monzon would never have faced anyone like Hearns (as with almost all his opponents, he was quie unique) with his reach, speed and power. His offense was immense.

On the flipside Monzon had some height and reach to offset Tommy's and was very unorthodox and awkward to fight.

It's not impossible Hearns could stop Monzon, tho quite unlikely. The longer it goes the harder it would be as Monzon had superb stamina and often got better as a bout progressed.

A likely scenario might be Monzon weathering an early storm, possibly getting hurt and even going down. He would likely have more success as the fight wore on and eventually wear Thomas down, certainly in a 15 round event.

 

Reviewing some of Monzon's fight tapes indicates he had a great rabbit punch to the back of his opponent's head....as the last punch in his combination.

And of course the referee seldom warned Monzon about it.

 

How about Doug Dewitt?

 

Monzon defended his title 14 times, only three of which defences were on his home soil and he often fought in his challengers back yard,eg Bouttier Paris,Licata NY,Tonna Paris,Bogs Copenhagen. As he was defending both the WBC and WBA titles he had to accept the officials appointed by the two separate organizations,so I don't see much lee- way for favours/special treatment for him.

 

Whatever the reasons for him only managing to stop 2 of the 5 middleweights he fought the fact is he not only didn't stop the other three he was stopped himself in 2 of the other fights. Bottomline ,he ain't koing Monzon ,and he ain't surviving 15rds with him either. No one put Monzon on the back foot for more than a brief moment and Tommy wouldn't either his speed and jab would give him early rounds but Monzon eventually bossed every fight he was in once he had reached his prime.
He takes Tommy's right hand but Tommy would not take his. Monzon is far more proven against punchers,has much better stamina,and I'd say he was significantly stronger too .In a nut shell he is an ATG middleweight and Hearns is not.

 

Monzon late TKO.

 

You're not comparing Virgil Hill to Carlos Monzon by any chance, are you? Based on what actually happened while Tommy was at middleweight, Carlos Monzon knocks him out. I completely agree with McVey. And just for the record, Carlos Monzon had a great chin.

 

I have nothing but respect for Tommy, but he seemed to be a bit vulnerable, especially at 160. He's a master boxer due to his marvelous physicality and skills, not his boxing IQ and technical nous. If Carlos lets Tommy do so, Tommy outboxes him. I don't see that happening as I see Carlos imposing himself over 15 (or less).

 

He was stopped by Hagler and Leonard , why do you think he can beat Monzon? It's illogical .
Hill's record is packed with dross.

 

Hearns lacks the physical strength to keep it all together. Monzon would sense that at the first bell. He would apply subtle aggression and not have to lunge into Tommy like Marvin but rather offset his boxing with that hard to read, long jab. He'd make the less durable fighter burn up energy and then clobber him on the inside with rabbit punches.

Tommy might be able to unload a dynamite cross on the slower champion of the late '70s - a memorable moment in a losing battle. The younger Monzon chews him up.

 

We know Monzon has more than enough power to get Hearns out of there, we also know Monzon had a great chin and Hearns did not.Given Hearns record at 160lbs how can he be picked against an ATG at middleweight?