What fighters were stylistically like Monzon? Any weight class...

Lennox Lewis is the only other fighter besides Vitali whose style I would liken to Monzon's, and would be the version of Lewis who fought Holyfield the first time, and possibly the versions that fought McCall the second time and against Tyson. He could be a cautious, conservative, defensive minded
"tall" fighter who utilized ring smarts and his reach to it's maximum. This also points to another subject than Monzon, and that's how good Lewis was as a fighter. He wasn't just a bomber, but he could be also a calculating "chess player" as well. Lennox was one of the best, in my opinion, and would have, if he used a combination of his two styles, would have proved quite a problem for Ali.

 

And both, I might add, were light years ahead of their opposition, proving that great fighters do not always have to pander to the crowd an be "entertainers".

 

Emile Griffith was a blown up welter? True, he was the welter champion, but he grew quite well into the middleweight division, and, if you'll recall decisioned a ten pounds heavier Dick Tiger, and competed quite well for the remainder of his career in the middleweight division. Bennie Briscoe, Nino Benvenuti, and Rodrigo Valdez were blown up welters as well? Are you an Ali fan? Well, he beat up many guys who were considerably smaller than he was, at least by the poundage difference that exists between middle and welter. Monzon fought every deserving challenger and won them all, and was never ko'd in his 101 bout career. As for Lewis, if he was more careful and as serious in his two ko losses, he would have easily beaten those two guys, as he proved, if you'll remember, in the rematches.

 

I'm going to throw one out there that is really quite an ordinary shout, but just goes to show how hard it is to match Monzon up stylistically.

Alexis Arguello - both tall rangy fighters. Both had solid and well used left jabs and textpoint right crosses. Both were also a little slow of hand and foot comparative to the best of their peers. Both liked to come forward and both certainly got stronger and more dominant as the fight wore on. Real late round champions.

Of course Arguello was a bit more of a counter puncher, hit far harder, had a much more dominant left hook. Monzon's chin was impenetrable, Arguello's was very strong but maybe not quite in Monzon's class, tho weight jumping must be taken into account. Arguello was also a bit more textbook and orthodox overall.

That's about as good as i can come up with, and still not even close.

 

Oh, and Arguello was much more of a body puncher too.

 

I don't really see how Arguello hit "far" harder than Monzon. Monzon stopped more than his share of top fighters, and some of them early. He was a hard hitter to be sure. Granted, not on Arguello's level, but I don't think it was leagues below, either.

Come come, here. Arguello was stopped four times and down in at least three other fights over a 90-fight career. He was certainly not a weak-chinned fighter, but he doesn't stack up at all with Monzon, who was never stopped in 100 professional fights and was floored in only two bouts(one very early in his career, one very late and for a two-count against crushing hitter Valdez).

 

Arguello IMO is one of the very hardest hitters in history. A true one punch man with either wing. Monzon had a very solid right hand but i really do see him as well below Alexis in the power stakes. Monzon's pure class and stamina stopped people more than sheer power, Holmes was similar.

Well that's not far from what i said. Lets not underrate the Arguello whisker either. His quality of opponent is possibly above Monzons and Monzon also stayed in the one division, Alexis rose 3. Two of his stoppages come at 140 vs maybe the best 140 in history in fights over 15.

I agree the Monzon chin is absolute top shelf and beyond reproach tho.

 

There were some physical similarities for sure between Monzon and Arguello, but only a superficial and minor similarity in their respective styles. First of all, Arguello front lined his power more than Monzon did, and that served to make him a devastating puncher, for sure, but also made him more vulnerable to his opponents power, and to an extent, his opponent's speed. Arguello's chin, while somewhat sturdy, was not in Monzon's class, and Monzon, again, in pulling his power somewhat, and at least holding in reserve, or rationing it, was not as dependent on his power, as was Arguello, and was more resourceful and subtle in finding other ways to win. Monzon was more of a lay back and wait, patient calculating type of fighter, with a coldly effective way of shutting down an opponent through various means, whereas, Arguello's strategy was much simpler, again, depending on clocking his opponent, and hence, being more aggresive. The end result was, after both men's careers were over, that Arguello was ultimately ko'd twice, by Pryor, after being successful as a multidivision champion, and Monzon, in just over 100 bouts total, retired as champion, and was NEVER ko'd. This is one reason why I rate Monzon as among the elite of the elite, in that, after all those fights in his career, he was never ko'd, and that speaks as much about his defensive abilities, ring generalship and over all ability to out think his opponents as it does about his chin.

 

Enjoyed reading that mate, and a couple of questions.

Where do you rate both Monzon and Arguello P4P?

Do you think Monzon would have escaped knockdowns and stoppages if he fought half his career at 175, bearing in mind he would have fought the likes of Bob Foster?

 

Monzon, like Hagler in the eighties, had the sense to realize that he was physically best suited for competition in the middleweight division, and stayed exclusively there. I don't think he would have been as successful at lightheavy, although there would have been a few guys he would have had an even shot at. He was very strong for that wiry, slim frame of his, and who knows, if he could have bulked up a bit how he would have done, but against a guy like Bob Foster, it would have been a hell of a gamble. Foster would have had the edge in both height and reach, as well as being a natural at that weight. Again, like Hagler, he must have realized that he was perfect for the middleweight division, and besides, the middleweight division has always had more glamour and prestige than the lightheavyweight class.

 

ChrisPontius, I think that were it not for a couple of flukes, that Lewis would have, and should have been an undefeated champion. In other words, there was really not one guy that he ever fought that had any business even thinking that they could beat him. Of the only two guys that he never fought that mattered, Riddick Bowe, and Wlad Klitschko, neither one of them would have had a chance. I think that Lewis, when on his game, was right at the top of all heavyweight champions.

 

Fair post, tho i'm not saying Arguello's chin is as brilliant as Monzon's i'm just pointing out he was up against more adversity. If he fought his career at say 130, mirroring Monzon, it's almost definite his chin would be rated quite a bit higher, not that it's under scrutiny.

 

Arguello was one of my favorites at the time, so I'm not knocking him at all, but he placed himself in greater adversity by leaning on his punches more and not concentrating on defense as much as Monzon. Monzon fought killers like Bennie Briscoe and Rodrigo Valdez and was a bit more cagey in dealing with them than Aguello was against comparable fighters. You don't fight 101 fights without a ko defeat without having both an effective defense as well as a great chin.