Monzon without as much trouble as some people might think. Monzon absolutely would not stand for inside fighting. He'd just grab you if you got too close. Fights with him were strictly on his terms. And he was such a big and strong damn middle-weight that it's hard to imagine anyone breaking his clinch except the referee which was exactly what he intended to happen so he could resume circling you with his peppering 1-2 that eventually would hypnotize you and the next thing you know you're either knocked out or have lost a lop-sided decision.
This is a bad match up stylistically for LaMotta because he like to chase you down, use his vastly underrated jab to get inside and then pound you to the body. This worked against Robinson so well because Robinson liked to move as it was and because Robinson was so eager to trade with LaMotta when they got close... it worked against a lot of very good fighters the Bull fought but it wouldnt work against Monzon because Monzon always dealt very well with pressure and outjabbing him was extraordinarily difficult (and would be doubly so for the shorter and slower LaMotta) ... I can see Jake working hard for the first half of the fight trying to get clsoe so he can go to the body and make it more of a phonebooth fight, but Monzon was too good at keeping his cool, jabbing and then simply holding whenever a guy got close until the ref seperated him and his foe and he could resume the long range session. In the second half of the fight, LaMotta tries to change things up and make Monzon come to him, either by just walking away or playing possum... but the unflappable Argentinian remains focused and won't fall into his traps... Monzon is content to jab for the remainder of the fight and win a comprehensive and dull decision... you need more speed and more of a repertoire of punches than LaMotta had in order to beat Monzon MONZON W15 in a bit of a stinker
Agreed. I think it's a fight where even if people didn't care about either fighter beforehand ,they'd be cheering for Lamotta as the fight was unfolding. Jake would be trying as hard as he could to come forward and get something done but he just doesn't have enough tools to penetrate Monzon's tedious but effective style.
exactly and begrugdingly, we would all have to admit that monzon deserved the decision when it was over
Well...all of us except Double L...who would have insisted that Monzon be disqualified because of his style.
Look we get the rules, but according to you, every great fighter should have been frickin DQ'd....ridiculous.
LaMotta vs. an actual middleweight with decent skills. I can think of one time he did that...and he had the shit beaten out of him. Similar thoughts here. Monzon by late KO
Yeah, but he, like LaMotta, was filmed in black and white so he must suck. Don't you know that all champs who were filmed in black and white would barely be good enough to be sparring partners for today's fighters??
it's not a stylistic attribute when a fighter holds on the inside. it's straight up illegal. if you knew the rules of boxing you wouldn't snipe me like this all the time. Monzon beat Griffith the same way he would've beaten LaMotta. Like everyone said, he'd keep the fight outside and hold LaMotta if he got inside. Like I said, it's not a question of Monzon's style. It's a question of breaking the rules which Monzon did in just about every fight he had because on the inside he surrendered just about every advantage he enjoyed, and other than holding his opponent, couldn't defend himself very well there.
i agree that at some point every fighter holds. but not every fighter holds strategically and repeatedly throughout the fight in response to a particular move on the part of his opponent, and that's what i object to and cannot stand to watch. for example, some fighters who would prefer to fight outside, let's say PBF, use foot-work to step aside and move away when their opponent tries to fight them inside (not that PBF isn't skilled at fighting inside - it depends on the opponent whether he will use movement or stand in there and using his defense, fight inside). or Cotto, for example, the only time he's ever held is if he's been hurt. and that's smart, even if it's technically illegal. more often than not, he'll use defense on the inside and find openings at close distance if his opponent obliges him inside. so it's not holding in general that makes for boring fights and that indicates a fighter's defensive liabilities. it's incessant holding that is used strategically to control the pace and the distance of the fight. this is what fighters like Monzon, Hopkins, and Hatton are known for. and it's why for the most part their fights are unwatchable.
