Carlos Monzón

Carlos Roque Monzón was born into abject poverty in San Javier, Santa Fe Province, Argentina, of Mocoví indigenous descent. Forced to leave school in third grade, Monzón shined shoes and sold newspapers to help his family survive. Turning to boxing in Santa Fe under trainer Amílcar Brusa, Monzón developed an economical, menacing style: utilizing his long 76-inch reach, he kept opponents at the end of a stiff, punishing jab before executing bone-crushing straight right hands.

After losing only three early bouts on points, Monzón embarked on an incredible 80-fight unbeaten streak spanning thirteen years. In November 1970, Monzón traveled to Rome to challenge Italy's beloved world middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti. Silencing the hostile crowd, Monzón knocked Benvenuti out cold in the twelfth round to capture the undisputed world middleweight championship.

Monzón dominated the middleweight division throughout the 1970s, turning back world-class challenges from Benvenuti (KO 3), Emile Griffith (TKO 14 and UD 15), Bennie Briscoe, Jean-Claude Bouttier, and welterweight king José Nápoles. In July 1977, after surviving a second-round knockdown to defeat Rodrigo Valdez in Monte Carlo, Monzón retired on his own terms as undisputed world champion. Although his post-boxing life was plagued by violent domestic turmoil and prison, in the ring he remains revered as one of the greatest middleweights in history.