How do we best remember former middleweight king Carlos Monzon? The Argentine ring warrior was a great, great fighter, for sure. Unfortunately, Monzon was also a murderer, a man with an extreme violent side, especially when he was drinking, which was far too often. A genuine hero to millions in Argentina before he threw his wife off a balcony, this after having strangled her to death during a vicious, alcohol-fuelled argument, Monzon went from hero to zero practically overnight.
Jailed in Santa Fe, Monzon would only ever experience glimpses of freedom, these coming during the furloughs he was permitted due to good behaviour. It was on this day 30 years ago when Monzon, aged 52, died in a car crash whilst on his way back from one such furlough. Footage of the wreck shows how fast Monzon must have been driving. At the time, Monzon was close to a parole hearing, and we will never know if he would have been released, this after having served five years of his 11-year sentence.
But Monzon the fighter was truly special, as tough, as cunning, as ferocious as they come. The great Angelo Dundee once called Monzon a “complete fighter,” who could “box and could think.” Monzon, with deceptively long arms, a rock of a chin, a high ring IQ, and a hunger that was forged during his tough and lean teenage years, was never once stopped in a fight, and the three losses he did suffer were all avenged. Monzon made 14 world title retentions, and he retired with a 87-3-9(59) record, with all of the losses and most of the draws coming early in his pro career.
And Monzon, trained by the masterful Amilcar Brusa, defeated some superb fighters – men like Nino Benvenuti, Emile Griffith, “Bad” Bennie Briscoe, Jose Napoles, and Rodrigo Valdez. And, like many great champions, Monzon fought and defeated a number of his most challenging foes twice. Monzon was, as Dundee said, all but perfect as a fighter, but as a human being he was deeply flawed. The dark side of Monzon’s nature eventually became public knowledge, and the one-time king was now a hated man.
Monzon still had his fans and supporters, but before he had an entire country on his side, his countrymen and women rooting for him with all their might each time he stepped into the ring. Monzon was to admit after the death of Alicia Muniz, who lost her life in February of 1998, that he had hit every single woman he had ever dated.
Monzon’s death came as a shock, and there were even suggestions he may have crashed the car deliberately so as to commit suicide. We will never know. When his funeral took place, on January 9th of 1995, thousands of people sang to the former world champion.
Today, plenty of fans, experts and historians rank Monzon, known as “Escopeta,” as the greatest middleweight of all-time. For sure, it makes for fascinating thinking, wondering how the peak Monzon would have done against fellow 160 pound greats like Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Robinson, Stanley Ketchel, Harry Greb, Jake LaMotta, and others.
Might King Carlos have beaten them all?
