Had these 2 great M/W champs moved up

2 of the greatest middleweight champions Monzon and Haglar truely dominated their era's. It must be said however, that their best wins came up against opponents moving up in weight.

What would be the outcome had Monzon moved up to Light heavy to face Bob Foster?

2 tall men, great reach and both seasoned vets at that time.

And what would be the outcome had Haglar stepped up to face Spinks.

2 great fights to sink you're teeth into.

I think the light heavyweights win.

As Haz said- this would be a jump in weight of 15 pounds- and against ATG LHWs. Can't see a good arguement for either Monzon or Haglar coming away with a win, though both would be credible in defeat.

I think it'd take a minor miracle for Monzon to beat Foster, personally, if we're talking about a peak Foster, which was probably up until that absolute thrashing he took from Ali in 1972. After that, with Foster getting a bit long in the tooth, Monzon would have had a better chance.

But peak for peak, it's hard to see Monzon winning. I think his upright style and lack of out and out speed / movement puts him at a big disadvantage as he's essentially trying to outjab, outmuscle and outbrawl someone who's taller and rangier, naturally bigger and a much, much harder hitter than him.

Even allowing for Monzon's granite chin, I could see him getting taken out pretty early here. Just a horrible match up for him, from a styles point of view.

Hagler against Spinks might be a little more interesting if Hagler turns up with that bleak single-mindedness he displayed against Minter and Hearns. If he starts drifting in and out of the fight and starts thinking that he's some masterful back-foot boxer, then forget it.

Qawi showed that Spinks could be a little vulnerable if you could get right inside on him and push him back, as did Johnson, who smothered a lot of Spinks' best work and forced him to cover up a fair bit before Spinks pulled one of the most beautiful and stunning left 'hookercuts' (half hook, half uppercut!) you'll ever see out of nowhere to end the fight right then and there (fantastic knockout, well worth a look for anyone who hasn't seen it).

That being said, Spinks found a way around both of those problems, and probably would have had fifteen rounds to do so had they met when they were both absolutely smack bang in the middle of their primes. He was smarter than Marvin and, considering that he has height, reach, size and speed on his side here, I think it's just too tall a mountain for Marvin to climb.

If Marvin is at his absolute best, then I can see him keeping it close or maybe even having the upper hand until about the tenth round or so before Spinks pulls clear to nick a very close one. If Hagler turns up with that indecisiveness and doziness that he was sometimes plagued by, then I think Spinks decisions him pretty handily.

Agree with you on Monzon v Foster Chris

For me he gets koed mid to late but I think Haglar switch hitting and determined as you stated could upset Spinks to a points win.

Have to disagree with the prevailing consensus here; it's not that I think that Monzon has much chance against Foster, just that I think Hagler has even less against Spinks. Monzon at least looked as though he could fill a light-heavyweight's frame and with a year or two of the right modern-day training methods and right diet (some hope with the chain-smoking Carlos), it's not impossible that he could have matured into an outstanding fighter at 175. Still would have been up against it with Sheriff Bob coming at him, but I could see him causing Foster plenty of aggravation before succumbing.

Not so Marvin, who wasn't a particularly big middleweight. I could see Mike tattooing Marvin with a variety of punches from range all night long without ever having to expose himself to that much danger. He could also hit far harder than any opposition that Marvin ever faced, just to keep him honest, and I find it hard to believe that Hagler could set him problems that Spinks couldn't solve, in the same way as he did against Qawi, for example. Dead set landslide points win for Spinks.

Monzon and Hagler were both great Middleweights and in almost any era could have gone up and beat the light heavyweight champions, however in both their eras the L/Heavy champs happen to be greats as well. I could see both fights being competitive for a while but the extra size, power and strength of Foster and Spinks would eventually tell and you would probably see late stoppages in both fights.

Have to go with consensus here. Moving up in weight really was moving up in those days. And both LHW champs were high quality.

Hagler suffers his 1st kayo loss...........After being badly outboxed by Michael...the Spinks jinx lands around the 10th.......

Foster's left hook catches Monzon sooner or later.........

No hope these two........Then again they are fighting two of the top 3 175ers.......