For all Wilfred Benitez fans

Benitez vs Curry one was similar Saad Muhummad vs Yaqui Lopez. Both fights would have been stopped today. Curry like Lopez punched themselves out. And the damage to both Benitez and Saad was done by fighting those extra rd after being concussed.

 

It is hard to say. Some fighters take punches for years and seem ok and others don't. Maybe it is just one punch out of 1000 which does the damage. Who knows.

 

Frankly, people were just not as aware or concerned about head trauma then.

I am of the belief that all of the damage is racked up during sparring. Apparently, His father had him spar 6-8 rounds DAILY at Gleason's in NYC with Esteban DeJesus at 13 years of age.

 

Benitez had been taking blows to the head since he was about five years old. His dad had him boxing for coins in the neighborhood almost from the time he could walk.

 

One of his brothers ended up brain damaged also. Benitez's dad had no regard whatsoever for his children's safety.

 

For all us Wilfredo Benitez fans, I met up with Louie (KO) Mateo last night (you may remember Louie from his fights with Randy Shields and Pipino Cuevas) and he told me he and his business partner went to Puerto Rico and found Benitez living in squalor. The mother had passed away a couple of years earlier and wasn't being looked after. So, Mateo and his partner arranged for Benitez to move in with Mateo and they arranged medical care through Northwestern hospital. And although he is bed-ridden and non-functioning, he is at least being looked after now and living in Chicago.

 

Jeez.

 

Thanks for the update, didn't know that. There's a special place in hell for Gregorio Benitez and I hope he rots there.

 

Myriad fights have gone on after one of the combatants recovered after being out on his feet.

I do think Benitez/Curry I should have been stopped. Benitez walked into a shot he didn't see while simultaneously trying to land his own shot. His legs were gone. He staggered around for a long time and although Curry didn't land another homerun shot, he landed some good blows. There was some NY home cooking there.

On the other hand, Saad recovered faster, despite being hit with more unanswered shots. Once he backed to the ropes, he slipped just about everything with his hands still high.

An example where I think a fight should have been stopped was Marvis Frazier v. Tillis. Frazier was backed against the ropes taking shots with his hands down. He was temporarily defenseless.

He got a standing 8 count that saved him

Saad, on the other hand, was never defenseless on the ropes, and showed awesome survival instincts to whether the storm and amazing recuperative powers to a fire back before the end of the round.

 

I saw and posted a video earlier this year where he was being cared for by his sister in Puerto Rico. Yes, he looked completely non-functional. It was sad.

 

Conversely, I said to Louie and his partner that they had secured their places in heaven for what they did for Wilfredo.

 

Better way to look at it. Agreed.

 

Career decline
Benitez's career went downwards after the fight with Hearns, as did his lifestyle. In 1983 he lost a unanimous decision to Mustafa Hamsho. In 1984, he tried a comeback under the hand of Yamil Chade, but this proved unsuccessful. On November 28, 1986, with his health declining, he went to Salta, Argentina to fight middleweight Carlos Herrera. Benitez was stopped in seven rounds. But to make matters worse, his money for the fight was stolen by the promoter, along with his documents and passport, and he was stranded in Argentina for a year. After much government huddling and talks, he was finally able to fly back home to Puerto Rico in 1988.

Two years later, Benitez moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he tried another comeback under the tutelage of Emanuel Steward, the Kronk trainer. This also proved unsuccessful, as he went 2-2 in his last four fights. His last bout took place in Winnipeg, Canada on September 18, 1990, six days after his 32nd birthday. He lost a ten-round decision against Scott Papasadora.

Loss 53–8 (1) Scott Papasodora UD 10 18/09/1990 Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Win 53–7 (1)

This content is protected

UD 10 24/08/1990 Regency Hotel, Denver, Colorado, United States 98-91, 99-90, 96-93.
Loss 52–7 Pat Lawlor PTS 10 23/05/1990 Tucson, Arizona, United States
Win 52–6 (1) Ariel Conde KO 7 08/03/1990 Americana Motel, Phoenix,

 

"I want to sell my son. I want to wash my hands of it".