What happened to Wilfred Benitez?

It's a shame what happened to Benitez. He was so great at such a young age. Did he pay the price for that? I don't know. But I do remember thinking he was still one of the best when he stepped into the ring with Hamsho. Like many, I thought Benitez would give Hamsho a boxing lesson. Benitez had nothing that day. He had nothing after that either. By the time he left the ring, he couldn't beat prelim kids.

 

Had no business fighting Hamsho or any top notch middleweight. Curry was dealing too much with Ray Leonard, I have a feeling in more ways than one.

 

I see Benitez and Curry as similar cases of fighting the wrong guys. With both they were not quite settled at the weights. They move up and fight in Curry's case the best guy at 154, and Benitez the worst style for him in Hamsho.. Picking fights for someone is an artform. In my mind. Everyone has an achilles and both guys were found. I never fought Curry had that McCallum fight won. Only a few rounds had gone by and his eye was swelling.

 

Honestly its a painful subject for me. Benitez was one of the fighters that helped me fall in love with the sport. The sport chewed him up and spit him out and his father was all too happy to watch it happen as long as the checks cashed. Just devastating story. It breaks my heart to see him in the state he is in today.

 

Hey Klompton2, I am glad you're back you J..k. You should be banned from this forum for making up, fabricating NY sportswriters columns on Davey Day, adding **** they did not write. I have the clippings of the sportswriters for verification. I have all the clippings of his fights , from fair and square NY sportswriters. I would be happy to email the clippings to the Forum, and you can read what they actually wrote, and determine the extent of lies that Klompton2 filled in.

 

Benitez lived in boxing gyms from the time he was a toddler. He was the Michael Jackson of boxing, and his dad was Joe.

 

It is an interesting point you make. One guy he is connected to Hearns was knocked out and hurt more than Benitez, but the one thing about Tommy was he looked for the exchanges more. Benitez tried to avoid them. And I don't recall Tommy landing anything really clean on Benitez. Benitez was amazing in a loss. Even his loss to Ray was a great fight. But Tommy could not hit Wilfred. He even missed with a body punch. Had Gregorio matched him smarter maybe he could have gotten another title out of Wilfred and a fight with Marvin. Wilfred at his best I don't think beats Marvin at middleweight but he could give him a good fight.

 

Benitez was far worse off than people realized. It was all downhill after the Hearns fight. But at the time, people were talking about Benitez vs. Hagler. Hamsho was the "opponent"...a "name" fighter as a tune-up for a fight vs. Hagler. If Benitez had won, he'd almost certainly have gotten a fight vs. Hagler. But he was already too damaged. He sounds bad talking in some interviews even before the Hearns fight, although his boxing skills were still there.

 

Taking punches to the dome from grown ass men when you're 14 will do that to you.

 

He was taking blows to the head as a 11/12 year old. His Dad threw him in with men. His condition was a delayed affect of taking punishment as his brain and skull were still developing.

 

I think he was autistic from the off. If you ever read the disgusting stories of when Jacobs bought his contract in the mid-70s and brought him to Dmatos. He would **** and **** right on the floor of his room and wipe his ass with the lady of the houses best clothe napkins. He was booted by the nut Cus. Just watch him talk like a child in every interview going back forever. He always was semi-******ed or autistic.

 

I only saw bits & pieces of his career as it was happening & didn’t know his long history. I remember an interview on ESPN with a guy who maybe managed Benetiz. It was around 1990 and he’s talking about matching Wilfred against Leonard, Duran, or Hearns. His argument was that Benetiz was the youngest of the group. Fighting as a teenager though is crazy.

 

I believe he didn't train much once he got some $. When a fighter takes punishment out of condition that is where the damage goes to another level. That is the case here. Other examples would be Ali late in his career, Riddick Bowe many fights but it was catching up to him after Golota. He could hardly talk much less fight anymore.
When a boxer is in top shape I believe they get hit less but also can throw off the effects of the punches much better.

 

There are lots of fighters who stayed in great condition and ended up the same way.