Vernon Forrest vs. Wilfred Benítez

Tough fight for both fighters.

Forrest frustrates Benitez by tying up or smothering, He uses his height and jab well enough to win a ugly Decision.

 

Close one, this may be slightly controversial, but I think Benitez has the stylistic advantage here. I can see Forrest catching air all night, I'm just hesitant whether Benitez lands enough back to make it indisputable.

 

I'm leaning toward Benitez bc of the Quartey and Mora fights.

 

Benitez beats Forrest via El Radar...he was too gifted for Forrest.

 

Not sure why. Neither was during his prime.

I think very highly of both men and I think this is a very interesting match-up. Kudos, sir.

Personally, I favor Forrest. He had the stuff to be an all-time great, in my opinion. The way he handled Mosley in comparison to De La Hoya told me that. I think he fights Benitez similarly to Hearns by jabbing and being aggressive, but he commits less to single power shots and that helps him land a bit more and he scores a UD.

 

Both highly-skilled fighters but I think this is a bad style/skill matchup for Benitez. I see Forrest being able to outscore him from the outside pretty comfortably.

BTW, the contrast between Forrest and Benitez' early careers is pretty funny. One became the youngest champion of all time, the other might have had the slowest, most drawn out career start for a top contender ever.

 

Leaning towards Benitez, but it could go either way.

 

Nice post

I think Benitez would win a close decision. He'd make Forrest lead, then counter, probably off the ropes quite a bit. Benitez had major problems with Hearns but Forrest didn't quite have the height and reach of Hearns, and was less powerful.

 

Jesus Christ, Vernon Forrest is being SOOO overrated here.

This fight would not have been close. Benitez would have TOTALLY outclassed Forrest. Pretty one sided fight.

 

Why? Can you please explain what we're missing?

 

Benitez easily

 

Vernon Forrest was simply not in Benitez's league, nor did he have the style to give Benitez problems.

Forrest was a GOOD fighter who had the perfect style to beat Mosley. That's all he was.

Benitez was not Mosley. If we're talking about the Benitez that beat Palimino, then this would not be a close fight. Benitez would be a step ahead all night long, and would keep Forrest honest with his right hand leads.

You can reference the Leonard fight, or the Hearns fight, but Vernon Forrest was simply not remotely CLOSE to the level of Leonard and Hearns, especially not in the handspeed category, which is a huge reason why Benitez was so ineffective against those two.

So once again, Benitez beats Forrest by a mile.

 

You don't need to be nearly as good as Leonard or Hearns to beat Benitez (ask Bruce Curry). And I'm a fair guy so I won't hold the Moore fight against him.

 

Vernon was special, but Wilfred defined special. Benitez over Forrest by wide UD.