What made Monzon so good?

Not to debate you because I am not a politician but Carlos Monzon retired as World Middleweight Champion. I give credit where credit is due. Sometimes like I said, Marvelous Marvin Hagler was his own worst enemy in the ring, he told everyone that he was going to take the title from Vito Antuofermo that night (Nov 30 1979) many of us thought so, but he instead chose to brawl with a brawler, the fight ended with a 15 round draw, Vito retained.. Carlos Monzon fought many good fighters during his 7 year reign as champion, Nino Benvenuti, Emile Griffith, Bennie Briscoe, that Nov 11 1972 title bout can be seen on You Tube, he destroyed a smaller champion in Jose Mantequilla Napoles, the World Welterweight Champion, Tony Licata, and those two bouts against Rodrigo Valdes. You mention Sugar Ray Leonard, all the reason that Hagler should have destroyed an out of circulation for over 3 years Sugar Ray Leonard. The difference was that Monzon was always in great fighting condition, could adapt and figure out his opponents, had over 100 pro bouts, when he had his opponent hurt, he did not let them off the hook like Hagler did against Antuofermo and Leonard. Monzon did not trash talk his opponents, he let his fists do all the talking, he fought the best in his era, he was not selective of his opponents, he was not made of the media. If you were financially set like Monzon and already making motion pictures in Argentina with gorgeous women, you would have had no reason to fight Leonard. I think that Hagler should have fought another opponent, then two more to break Monzon's record of 14 title defenses, then retired but he was baited into fighting Leonard. Sure big purses buy groceries but if you have a good manager who puts away most of your ring earnings, then you do not have to be hard up to take a fight for the big purse, risking a defeat. A lot of people like you say didn't consider Monzon special like yourself was that Monzon did not fight in the states, taxes were too high, a world champion should be seen in other venues, not just the U.S. He did not want to learn the English language, his style was not flashy, he did not trash talk his opponents, there was only one Muhammad Ali, Hagler looked intimidating with his bald head before it was stylish but sometimes he let his opponents off the hook creating some doubt in his big bouts.

 

He carried that confidence out of the ring too.

My mom's favorite Argentine singer, Cacho Castana, once said that he was talking to Susana Gimenez, Monzon's lover, one time during filming of a movie and here came Monzon, an ugly look on his otherwise handsome face, towards him. Cacho ran.

And he punched anyone who dared look at her, including Papparzzi. I mean what the heck he was famous and so is she (she is the Marilyn Monroe of Argentina, so to speak), what did he expect? She was one of four people considered instrumental to the golden era of Argentina's sex comedy films and is a show host and dancer and dramatic actress too, and someone who has made us Latins proud that she is one of us as well.

It's unfortunate his punches found the faces of many non boxers, and even more unfortunate that many of those were women who loved him and he supposedly loved but he was sick.

Inside the ring, Monzon was boring. I never found an all time great who s more boring to watch. He and his victim Nino Benvenuti too. Macho Camacho's fights sometimes looked like Arturo Gatti fights by comparison. (In fact I do have Camacho-Rosario among my all time action great fights)

But Monzon was simply unbeatable. He knew boxing and knew how to explode the opponent's weaknesses. And he was crafty. I bet when he was not beating people up outside the ring, he was practicing long , tedious hours in the gym or watching film of his opponents.

The best exponents are the ones who study their field. Jesus was the only one who did not have to study because (as many claim but this is another controversial topic) He was God so he knew humanity, but Freud, Einstein, Mozart, Bell, Darwin, De Niro, Lindberg, Tesla all studied their field deeply, and were among the best exponents. Monzon was one of those students of boxing.

I used to study film too a lot at home when I was into becoming a boxer and singer, as well as dances on music videos. Turns out I was more of a natural at dancing, through lol..

Curiously my sister is a great (amateur) dancer as well.

 

I think a key factor in his success was his outstanding one-two combo: hard jabs followed by a powerful right hand. This combo came so naturally and frequently.
Bottom line, he was simply able to land more clean punches than his opponents.
This, combined with a very strong chin, long reach and excellent range control, effective lean-back movement, intelligence and experience, made him an almost unbeatable package.

 

Carlos Monzón was a monster at middleweight. At 6’0” with that long reach, he was large for the division and knew how to use that size and strength perfectly – deceptively strong , hard to push back, and he leaned on guys when he wanted to. His jab was stiff and punishing, always setting up that right hand. He wasn’t flashy or fast, but his punches were heavy, accurate, and wore you down. Add in a granite chin, great stamina, and that cold, patient demeanor – he never rushed, never panicked, just imposed his will and broke opponents down over 15 rounds.

If you want to nitpick, he wasn’t a speedster, didn’t throw big combinations, and his style could look mechanical. He could be hit, but his chin and composure carried him through. Bottom line, he wasn’t about highlight reels – he was about control, and he was nearly impossible to outfight. Tremendous confidence.

 

Difficult to add much more than what has already been said here.

I’ve likened Monzon before to a top golfer who deferred to and was brilliant at course management.

As someone said, he wasn’t exactly a great source for a HL reel, no Eagles or Albatrosses but he consistently scored birdies and no worse than pars.

Notwithstanding his personal life, when he hit the gym for a fight, he trained assiduously by all accounts.

Also interesting is that it seems he kept actual sparring down to a minimum when he prepared for fights - lending itself to his long term preservation and conserving his venom for his opponents.

Not a puncher/KO artist per se but he still hit very hard and consistently so throughout a fight. His hands were always busy.

He kept himself harnessed within his core strategy until the right opportunities arrived to let his hands go more with badder intentions.

On the decline in his last fight vs Valdez but even though 34/35 yo as at the time and with a long career behind him, he still put on a hell of a performance.

Poor Rocky’s face was an absolute mess at the end of the fight.

 

It’s too bad there wasn’t a prime ATG to test Monzon at their best. Always felt he was somewhat overrated.