Marlon Starling vs Wilfred Benitez

I'm not sure Benitez would've done much better against Curry. I think Starling matched up better with him, to be honest. I think a fight between Moochie and El Radar would be very interesting indeed. Cliche as it may sound, it would depend on who shows up in better relative form, as neither man was renowned for their consistent efforts.

 

This fight would really come down to who is more aggressive. They both didn't like leading. I think Starling had a more effective jab, but Beitez was more naturally gifted. It's a tough matchup. Either guy could win.

 

Benitez. A slightly different level.

 

Starling had no worries leading, he always wanted to get inside and work.

Both fairly lazy fighters though.

 

If it comes down to that then Starling would surely win but I'm not sure if it would. Starling is not Maurice Hope to be fair but when Hope forced the issue against Benitez, he was absolutely crushed by Benitez who worked him over at close range.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHn1GP0gKAM[/ame]

 

Of course Starling lead more, but he was much more effective when he was counterpunching. Benitez was not one to engage very often.

 

You have to know that Starling would never go at Benitez the way Hope did. I love Benitez, but I think a guy like Starling would give him lots of problems, and vice versa. Benitez was a better fighter for most of his career, but this would be a tough fight for him.

 

I don't think that's accurate at all. He uses his mid-range counters to get inside and work his man over.

 

Benitez.

 

I like Benitez in this one. Benitez has seen more Starling types than Starling has seen Benitez types. I think this almost certainly goes the distance, I see Benitez frustrrating Starling, making him look a little one paced and pedestrian and winning a wider decision than most anticipate...say 10-5 in rounds in a 15 rounder.

Interesting match for the purists.

 

Me too. I just think that Wilfred at his best (of course) was a notch better than Starling.

 

If you hear the harry Carpenter commentary of that fight he could almost convince you Hope was winning the fight

 

Hope would've been lucky to win more than 2 or 3 rounds. I still rate Carpenter a better commentator than anyone today although he did shamelessly pull for his countrymen despite portraying himself as objective. Not that I blame the man.

Sometimes with a fighter like Benitez you'd think it's better just to leave him alone and not press the fight. Otherwise you might catch a beating like Hope as well as Palomino and Duran to a lesser extent.

Benitez did show impressive Napoles/DeJesus style aggression against Randy Shields but generally he'd be content on laying back and countering. In this particular match-up I do think Starling would bring the fight to Benitez and it would be fought mostly at close range. Don't see a whole lot of footwork utilized in this contest. Against Mayweather, Starling was on him constantly and gave no breathing room.

 

Of course when Starling Fought Floyd Sr. Mayweather had already had his leg half blown off by a shotgun blast.

 

Hope seemed to be doing quite well early behind the jab, don't know why he was so quick to abandon it as it was usually always his main top-notch weapon.

Aquino was another fight where Starling kept lots of pressure on and looked excellent.Lupe was a dangerous hard hitting combination puncher at that point too.