What was Carlos Monzons best skill as a boxer?

No, Hearns at lower weights was far better at using his reach, no way could Monzon have out-boxed Ray Leonard despite Tommy eventually getting stopped in that first fight, he had a far better jab than Monzon had which landed less at 160 admittedly.

 

It is not a single skill, but I think his general strength was, that he hardly had any weaknesses (maybe mediocre handspeed). All of his qualities as a boxer (physical attributes, power, killer instinct, jab, footwork, sense of distance, chin, defense, endurance, durability, mental strength, ring generalship, etc...) were at least good or excellent for a world class fighter.
I think, all that combined made him so good.

 

Distance control and a great jab. His style is quite similar to Wlad Klitschko in some aspects.

 

I love this post.

 

The first Benvenuti fight. Classic example. Cracking observation by the way.

 

This maybe wasn't his best skill, but the one I thought was most unique to Monzon was his ability to control his opponents inside with just the use of his head and shoulders. He wasn't the only one, Duran was also very proficient at that, but it's a rare skill.

 

It was a collection of things for mine - he was the sum of his parts. He was one of these tall skinny fighters who still had great durability so all the height and reach advantages didn't come at a cost. He has a superb jab and great sense of range but he could also handle someone breaching his length even if it looked awkward at times. Average speed was offset by great timing and accuracy and he had nice pop in the right hand. Absolutely he had great ring generalship but this was aided by many other attributes. He also had fantastic stamina which let him dominate or fend off late challenges.

 

I wonder what happened to the morlocks

 

He's free to post i believe.

 

Carlos had a lot that made him one of the greatest, strength, timing, endurance despite being a big smoker, a decent chin and the ability to recover when hurt, but to me his skill at keeping his opponents at the end of his punches made it all work.

 

Now there is a thought.

 

Have you seen pictures of the skinny bugger? There's no way possible he could drop another pound!

 

Nobody fought as tall, that is, utilized their height and reach as well and as effectively as Monzon.

 

Middleweight was Monzon's ideal division..his ideal weight range. Regardless of how intemperate and out of control he was outside the ring...in the the ring he had the wisdom to know that "if it ain't broken, don't try to fix it"...