On July 30, 1977 at the Luis II stadium in Monaco, the great Argentinian champion, Carlos Monzon defeated by unanimous decision in 15 rounds the brave Colombian fighter Rodrigo “Rocky” Valdez, to retain once again his Middleweight tittle of the WBA. It was the last fight in the glorious career of the fighter native of the Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina. The great southern fighter thus left his record at 87 victories (59 by KO) 3 defeats and 9 draws.
That was Monzon’s 14th defense of the Middleweight World tittle of the WBA, (always with his trainer Amilcar Brussa by his corner) since he knocked –out Italian idol Nino Benvenuti on November 7, 1970, in 12 rounds at the Sports Palace of Rome. He had already fought with Valdez at the same venue a year prior, on June 26, 1976, a fight in which he also got the unanimous winning verdict of the judges. In this first battle, Monzon knocked down Rocky in the 14th round with a precise right blow and an elegant side step. It was Monzon who visited the canvas floor in round 2 of the second fight.
Before this last combat, Monzon had already announced his intention to leave boxing. This decision was apparently influenced by his then girlfriend and beautiful vedette, actress, model and tv personality, Susana Gimenez. Both characters were one of the most known celebrities of the time, parading their triumphant figures through the main capitals of the world. But this phase passed and the great champion faced bad times when on a dark night, on February 14, 1988 he caused the death of his second wife, Alicia Muñiz.
Monzon served several years in jail for that crime at a prison in the Provincia de Santa Fe . When he was on one of the supervised prison leaves, Monzon suffered a deadly car crash. It was January 8, 1995. Today, on the 40th anniversary of his last combat, we remember the great Carlos Monzon.
