5 CARLOS MONZON 71-0-9, Santa Fe, Argentina

WHEN he first turned pro in 1963 there was little sign of the greatness to come as he trudged to 16-3 in his first 19 fights against modest opposition. He went 5-0-5 in his next 10 fights, but they marked the start of an unbeaten run that would end up totalling 80 bouts, during which he collected the WBA and WBC middleweight belts. The Argentine went 14-0 in world title contests, before retiring in 1977. He secured triumphs over such names as Jorge Fernandez, Nino Benvenuti (twice), Emile Griffith (twice), Denny Moyer, Jean Claude Bouttier, Tom Bogs, Bennie Briscoe, Jose Napoles, Tony Mundine, Tony Licata, Gratien Tonna and Rodrigo Valdez (twice) to effectively sweep aside every top middleweight of his era.