At the turn of 46 calendars it is worth mentioning that in a hundred fights as a professional Carlos Monzón only once went to a ring in the United States, that of the old Madison Square Garden in New York, as part of a mega evening in the one that for the first time two Argentines disputed a world title (Víctor Galíndez and Jorge Ahumada) and in distant Kuala Lumpur, Muhammad Alí himself defended his heavyweight title against Joe Bugner.
It was Tony Licata, an Italian-American who arrived with a record of 49 victories in 53 rented outings, although without prominent names, who failed in his attempt to end a reign that the Santa Fe had held since November 1970 after knocking out Nino Benvenuti in the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome.
Close to his 33rd birthday and with 97 fights under his belt, Monzón was already considered one of the best middleweight players of all time, had a generous bank account and was attracted to the possibility of making a decisive leap to the cinema, to the television, to the show itself.
He was already living an ardent romance with Susana Giménez and in fact the diva was that night of Monday, June 30, 1975 at Madison: she showed up at 20, in a long, black dress, and a red wig.
Monzón arrived at “The city that never sleeps” a couple of weeks before the big evening and stayed in a hotel in front of Central Park as the main attraction of a large delegation that included his coach Amílcar Brusa, promoter Juan Carlos “Tito” Lectoure and another of his clients, Víctor Emilio Galíndez, world heavyweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA).
Both champions born in Argentina complied with the formalities of posing together for the rigorous photographs and occasionally one witnessed the other’s training, but nevertheless the inference that they were suspicious of each other always hovered.
Galíndez had been champion since December 1974 when he beat Len Hutchins, coming off his first defense against the South African Pierre Fourie (on April 7 at Ellis Park Rugby Stadium) and was preparing to face an old acquaintance.
With the Mendoza “Aconcagua” Ahumada he had measured himself four times, with three wins by knockout and one loss by points, but once established in the United States, the challenger had experienced a gigantic quality jump.
On June 30, 1975, Galíndez and Ahumada gave a great 15-round show, with a unanimous decision in favor of the champion, in a stadium with gaps greater than 50 percent.
There was only a climate of great event when the time of the Monsoon fight approached whose fame, macerated in Europe, promoted diverse interests: Palito Ortega, actor Jean Paul Belmondo, actress Laura Antonelli, his former rival Jean Claude Bouttier and even Ray Sugar Robinson himself, considered the greatest middleweight of all time.
Licata had in his corner a celebrity with whom he shared the status of Italian-American, Willie Pep (Gugliermo Papaleo, notable featherweight world champion), but even far from his best version, Monzón dominated at will, knocked him down seven times and won by knockout technician on the 10th lap to reach his 84th success in 97 appearances.
A couple of hours after Galíndez-Ahumada and Monzón-Licata, the main dish of the legendary promoter Don King’s venture took place in a Malaysian ring: without disheveled, Alí (ex Cassius Clay) gave an easy account of Joe Bugner, born in Hungary, a British national and a professional in the ring until the age of 49.
Three would be the combats that would round off the exceptional Monzón campaign; one with the Tunisian Gratien Tonna, in Paris, in December 1975, and two with the Colombian Rodrigo Valdez, in June 1976 and in July 1977. (Télam)
–
