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Carlos Monzón (August 7, 1942 – January 8, 1995) was an Argentine professional boxer who held the world middleweight title for 7 years, during which he successfully defended the title 14 times.

His glamorous and violent life was avidly followed by the media, culminating with his trial for the murder of his concubine and his death in a car crash soon thereafter. Argentinians adored Monzon throughout his career. He was, however, accused many times of domestic violence by his two wives and many mistresses, and of beating paparazzi. He toured all of Latin America and Europe with Argentine and Italian models and actresses. Accused of killing his wife Alicia Muniz, in Mar del Plata in 1988, the former champion was sentenced to 11 years in jail. He died in a car crash during a weekend furlough. He would have been let free in 2001.

Beginning

Monzón was born in the city of San Javier, Argentina, and moved to the capital of Santa Fe Province. As a youngster, he showed interest in boxing.

World Middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti had long had a distinguished career that included championships in 2 divisions and 2 wins in 3 bouts vs all-time great Emile Griffith. He had lost the year before to American Tom Bethea in Australia, but in a title rematch in Yugoslavia, he avenged that loss.

Nobody expected Monzón to beat Benvenuti in their title match (very few knew of him). Yet Monzón applied pressure from the start, and in the 12th, a right hand landed perfectly on Benvenuti's chin, and the title changed hands. Monzón also beat Benevenuti in a rematch, this time in only three rounds in Monte Carlo when his seconds threw in the towel.

Champion

In 1971 Monzón became only the second man to stop former three-time world champion Emile Griffith in 14 rounds, and later out-pointed him over 15 in a close fight (before the fight Monzón had to spar three rounds and run three miles in order to make the weight). Monzón then scored a win over tough Philadelphian Bennie Briscoe, over-coming a shakey 9th round, in which Briscoe almost scored a knockout; a knockout in five rounds over European champion Tom Bogs, a knockout in seven rounds over Mexican José Mantequilla Nápoles in Paris, France and a 10 round knockout of tough Tony Licata of New Orleans at the Madison Square Garden, in what would turn out to be Monzón's only fight in the United States.

However, a darker side of Monzón would soon begin to emerge. In 1973, Monzón was shot in the leg by his wife, requiring 7 hours of surgery to remove the bullet. In 1975, he began a very publicized romance with the famous actress and vedette Susana Giménez; they had previously met in the 1974 thriller La Mary, directed by Daniel Tinayre, where the two played husband and wife. Monzón hated paparazzi who detailed his affairs. He went to Italy with Giménez to participate in a movie, and started increasingly traveling with her to locations in Brazil and the rest of Latin America, letting himself be seen with her, though still married.

Soon the beatings he gave his concubine became public knowledge. Monzón was detained by the police repeatedly. Giménez also began wearing sunglasses more often, presumably to hide her bruises, and many times, paparazzi had to be hospitalized from the beatings suffered at the hands of Monzón, who had unpredictable violent outbreaks. During this period, Monzón divorced his wife, and later re-married another Argentine woman.

Monzón's Middleweight championship title was lifted in 1975 by the WBC for not defending it against mandatory challenger Rodrigo Valdez. Valdez, a Colombian, then won the WBC's title, while Monzón kept the WBA's championship. So in 1976, they finally met, this time, world champion vs. world champion.

Valdez's brother had been shot to death one week prior to the fight and he did not feel like fighting. Still, they were under contract and so the fight took place in Monte Carlo and Monzón handed an uninterested Valdez a beating, winning a 15 round unanimous decision and unifying the world title once again. Because of the special circumstances under which Valdez performed, an immediate rematch was ordered, once again in Monte Carlo.

This time, Valdez came out roaring. In the second round, right cross to the chin put Monzón down for the only time in his career. Valdez built a lead through the first half of the fight. Monzón, however, mounted a brilliant comeback and outboxed Valdez for the last 8 rounds, winning a unanimous decision to retain the title and score his 14th title defense.

Retirement

Monzón retired after this defense and kept a low public profile through most of the late 1970s and the 1980s. Susana Giménez left him in 1980. After the breakup, Monzón's private life was finally closed to the public, but the beatings continued, this time with his second concubine, Alicia Muñiz.

In 1988, while vacationing in the resort city of Mar del Plata, he allegedly beat Muñiz so many times that she was scarred and bloody; ran to the balcony of their second floor apartment and presumably jumped. According to the investigation performed later, he followed her there, grabbed her by the neck, and then picked her up and pushed her off the balcony, to her death, after which he followed her in the fall injuring a shoulder.

In 1995, Monzón was given a weekend furlough to visit his family and children. Upon returning to jail after the weekend, he died instantly when his vehicle rolled over.

His record stands at 87 wins, only three losses, nine draws, and one no contest. Of his wins, 59 came by knockout. His only losses were by points and early in his career. In 2003, he was named by the Ring Magazine as one of the 100 greatest punchers of all time. On the independent computer-based ranking of boxrec.com he is listed as the third best middleweight boxer of all time, after Marvin Hagler and Sugar Ray Robinson.

A monument to him stands in Santa Fe, Argentina.

Wikipedia.org

Carlos Monzon: A glamorous but tragic life

By Michael Rosenthal - RingTV.craveonline.com

November 19, 2010

Sergio Martinez blanched when someone compared him to countryman and fellow middleweight champion Carlos Monzon recently. The current champ, who fights Paul Williams on Saturday, took it as a compliment but wanted to make something clear.

“Carlos Monzon,” he said through a translator, “is at a different level.”

Amen. Monzon is the greatest fighter ever produced in Argentina and one of the greatest middleweights of all time, perhaps second only to the great Sugar Ray Robinson.

Monzon also is one of boxing’s most-tragic stories: A poor child grows up to be the toast of the boxing world only to end up in prison for murder and then dead as the result of a car accident.

But 40 years after his greatest triumph -– the day he stopped Nino Benvenuti to win the title on Nov. 7, 1970 –- his legend lives.

“Monzon’s image as a champion continues to grow,” said boxing writer and RING contributor Carlos Irusta, who knew Monzon well and chronicled his career.

Monzon was typical of many fighters, born into a dirt-poor family in a forbidding neighborhood. His God-forsaken town was San Javier, in the province of Santa Fe, north of Buenos Aires. And, like so many future champions, he took up boxing at a young age and used it as a way out of his dire circumstances. He turned pro in 1963, at 20, and compiled a record of 16-3 in his first 19 fights.

Monzon (87-3-9, 59 knockouts) would never lose again, one of the greatest streaks in the history of boxing.

Dub Huntley, the trainer of Daniel Ponce de Leon and others, traveled to Buenos Aires in August 1968 to fight the then-rising contender. Huntley, stopped in four rounds, remembers his impressions of the future champion vividly.

“First, I think he trained very hard,” Huntley said. “I could see he was in very good condition. And he was smart, very smart. He had the height (6 feet; 183cm) and reach (76 inches; 193cm) too. He knew how to use that to his advantage.

“I didn’t think he was so special at the time but I think he was still developing. He just got better and better and better until he became a great fighter.”

Monzon was known in Argentina by 1970 as a tough, accomplished boxer with legitimate title hopes but, according to Irusta, he was hardly a superstar.

Until he faced Benvenuti that year in Rome. Monzon dominated the Italian playboy before stopping him in the 12th round of RING’s Fight of the Year to become the 160-pound champion as his countrymen gathered around televisions back home in Argentina.

He became a star overnight, a dashing figure who would hold his title until he retired in 1977 and become an enormous cultural figure in his country and beyond.

Monzon traveled in social circles he could never have imagined as a child, partying with movie stars in Paris and the upper crust back in Buenos Aires. He acted in movies and became a regular guest on television. His romance with glamorous Argentine actress Susana Gimenez captivated the masses.

And he was rich. He drove the most-expensive cars and dressed in fine suits, giving him a look that fit his new-found status.

“When I became champion I was 28,” Monzon said, according to Nigel Collins’ fascinating book Boxing Babylon. “I was not a boy. It was a big change for me because I started to get big money. I could buy the biggest car. I learned to take care of my clothes.

“To become middleweight champion of the world is very important in any part of the globe, including my country. I know Argentinians were proud of me.”

That they were. Irusta said Monzon’s fights, whether overseas or in Argentina, were huge events among his countrymen after he beat Benvenuti. Everything stopped for the duration of the action regardless of the time of day.

And he never disappointed his fans in the ring, beating the likes of Benvenuti (again), Bennie Briscoe, Emile Griffith (twice), Jose Napoles and Rodrigo Valdez (twice) before calling it quits when he was convinced he was beginning to decline at 35.

Outside the ring was a different story.

Monzon’s life changed radically because of his success in boxing but he retained elements of his difficult youth, including an inner rage and a tendency toward violence.

His temper often got the better of him. He was known to be physically abusive to women. He did some jail time early in his career after a brawl. And he was shot twice -– in the arm and shoulder blade -- by his equally ill-tempered wife in 1973 but recovered to continue fighting.

However, two lives were destroyed by an incident that took place in 1988.

Monzon and his supposedly estranged second wife, Alicia Muniz, with whom he had a stormy but passionate relationship, were together in a second-story apartment in the beach resort of Mar del Plata in Argentina when they apparently began to fight.

The details will always be disputed but one thing is certain: Muniz ended up falling from the balcony and was found dead. Monzon was arrested, setting off an O.J. Simpson-like trial and media frenzy that had Argentina riveted.

Irusta remembers his countrymen glued to their televisions and radios during trial, devouring every bit of information available, as they once were glued to their TVs when he fought.

Monzon maintained his innocence but an autopsy indicated that Muniz had been strangled before she went over the balcony. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The hero of Argentina had become an inmate.

“Me and my bad temper are the ones responsible for this,” Monzon said, obviously taking some of the blame. “Yes, me and my bad temper.”

Irusta visited Monzon in prison several times and found a broken man. He turned to religion, Irusta said, and became very withdrawn.

The former champ continued to maintain his innocence in spite of his comments about his temper, even recalling to Irusta happy days he spent with Alicia, and often asked to see the son they had together, Maximiliano.

Irusta was deeply saddened.

“He was another man,” Irusta said. “When he was champion, he was like a king or a lion. He used to walk in a way that made him look important. In jail, he was nothing. The man who used to give orders to people was now a man who said, ‘Yes sir, yes sir.’

“Yes, it’s a sad story.”

And it became even sadder.

Monzon, due to be released soon, was driving back to prison after a weekend furlough when he drove off a road and his car overturned not far from his home in Santa Fe. Monzon, 52, and a passenger were killed.

So ended the life of one of Argentina’s greatest sports and cultural figures, lying on the side of a road “looking up at the Santa Fe sky,” as Irusta put it.

Memories of him are complicated. Those from Santa Fe, obviously forgiving, remember him as a local hero who conquered the boxing world. Irusta said his people chanted his name at his funeral. Those from Buenos Aires, the capital, remember a great fighter but one who took the life of an innocent young woman.

“Many people won’t pardon him,” Irusta said. “It’s a very difficult, sad story. I suppose that night he was drunk or under the affects of drugs. He lost his mind. And I suppose he used to love Alicia Muniz. …”

Irusta’s voice trailed off.

“… Many years have passed now. There has never another champion like Monzon. He’s the No. 1 boxing champion in our history. I think now that’s what people want to remember. I think there are other things they want to forget."