Would a crafty boxer like wilfred benitez present any problems for Hagler?

If he was born a division bigger i.e. was as comfortable at 160 as 154 he would have given Marvin a tough night for sure. Hearns and Leonard brought some assets to the table that helped greatly against Benitez that Hagler wouldn't have had. Leonard had immense speed and slashing combinations allied to elite skill, Hearns had massive physical advantages, one punch KO power and great speed himself.

Marvin would have had to heavily invest in his excellent jab and back it up with controlled aggression and try to bully Benitez at points. If he was losing the outside game Hagler would have to go after him.

As he existed tho, middleweight might have been a division too far for Benitez. Perhaps if he moved there earlier he may have been more impressive. His peak performance for me was his schooling of Duran. It's a great example of a very proactive Benitez really getting **** done. He was brilliant that night.

 

Wilfredo failed miserably at middleweight . Mustafa Hamsho manhandled him. He wasn’t strong enough

 

Hi John.
Agree the boxing lesson he dished out to the formidable Duran was an art form, but I view his dismantling of Hope as his finest hour, he moved up into Hopes domain, a natural 154 fighter, who was strong and resolute, and a southpaw to boot, didn't faze Benitez a jot, gave the brave and stoic Hope a prolonged beat down, with a severe body beating along the way, and a one punch KO, still a rarity in the fine art, I had the pleasure of chatting to Maurice at a boxing function a few years ago, and a kinder more humble man it would be hard to meet, the handshake was bone shattering, you could see and feel his strength, his biceps were bulging under his well tailored suit, and this was him as a old man, imagine how strong he was in his prime, he shook his head ruefully when the talk centred on the Benitez fight, he couldn't believe how tough and aggressive he was, said that he and the Lawless camp had him as boxing and moving, and were not prepared for the walk forward and heavy hitting Benitez that showed up, told me he was nether comfortable during the whole fight, the body punches were draining his reserves, and he knew he couldn't outbox Wilfred, still doesnt remember the punch that felled him, for the brits, he had high praise for Bunny Sterling, said he was vastly underrated, and gave him his worst beating after Benitez.
stay safe JT, chat soon buddy.
Mike.

 

Hi Mike,

That's a great post mate. It was indeed a truly great, and dominant performance. I do like the Duran bout for the quality of opponent but would certainly not argue with your good self, or others, aligning with Hope.

That you met, and got to gauge him, as well as talk about his defense against Benitez is what this joint is all about!!! The insights in your post are priceless.There's nothing like getting it from the horses mouth.

Don't keep these stories inside mate, they are much cherished.

You stay safe too Mike - cheers for the above.

 

It's possible. You would think Hagler would have run through Duran, but he didn't. Odds are Hagler beats the breaks off him though.

 

Hi John.
Kind words, many thanks buddy, I certainly won't keep them inside and its nice to know they are enjoyed, as you ( of all posters ) know I am not a stats man, I leave that to the incomparable Gregg, a finer student of our sport I have yet to meet, I prefere anecdotes and first hand accounts, to be sure I will continue, but not now, my insomnia is subsiding, so back to bed, been awake for 5 hours, its 4am in the UK.
good to chat with you buddy, I would like to call you my friend if I may.
Mike.

 

How awesome is Greg? I am a lucky punter as i love both stats and anecdotes.

4am?? You're outdoing the teenagers mate!!!! Good stuff.

You can call me your friend anytime Mike, it's an honor mate. I look forward to other stories emerging as topics suit.

Have a good sleep.

 

It’s a shame we never got to find out.

Wilfred, as we know, didn’t fare well at 160 but if he was facing Hagler it would have been in 1982, after El Radar completely outclassing Roberto Duran early that year. He called out Marvin after that fight but it didn’t happen.

Hagler, instead, wasted 1982 with a second fight vs Fully Obel, a guy he had already beaten the year before, and Don Lee, who didn’t deserve a title shot whatsoever (and he was a replacement for Mickey Goodwin, who had ever worse credentials).

Marvin and Arum should have told the WBA to pound sand instead of fighting a second mandatory against Obel — let Obel lose to someone else for the vacant belt (probably Dwight Davison or Wilford Scypion, then face that winner in a unification for more money than Obel II was worth. Or paid Fully step-aside money like Arum did with Juan Roldan a few times and put him on the undercard of a few Hagler fights in hopes of getting him beaten and out of the way.

But Bob was very friendly to the WBA, using it as his go-to sanctioning body same as Don King did with the WBC, so of course he went along and Marvin obviously didn’t nix it.

Benitez called out Marvin after the Duran win, and lost a majority decision to Thomas Hearns at the end of the year. The wheels to his carriage didn’t fall off until he turned into a pumpkin a couple of years after the Duran fight, and in the moment he was an intriguing opponent for a fight with Hagler. For damned sure better than Obel and Caveman.

Would Marvin have beaten Benitez if they had fought in 1982? I think so. But that’s not the point — Hearns clobbered Duran, but boxing history would be poorer had they never fought. to say a fight shouldn’t have happened because we think we know how it would have turned out is a terrible position for a boxing fan to take — I mean, if they had never fought then we’d all just assume Buster Douglas would have been an easy win for Mike Tyson … so it’s a good thing they did.

Most of all, it’s just ashamed that Wilfred was robbed of being the Fifth King because of Hagler not facing him to close the circle. He deserved to be in that company.

 

Great story. I have a lot of admiration for Maurice Hope. Seems to have been forgotten in British boxing.

Came back from a bad beating at middleweight against Bunny Sterling (another class fighter rarely mentioned) to become British light-middle champ. Then travelled to Italy to knockout future middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo for the EBU title. Shame there is no footage (that I am aware of) of this bout since it shows Hope dropping the iron-chinned Antuofermo twice to score a legitamite ko in arguably his finest performance.

A robbery in Germany for the WBC (draw) against Eckhard Dagge didn´t stop Maurice finally becoming champion when travelling to Italy again to stop Dagge conqueror Rocky Mattioli. 3 defenses followed before Benitez.

Unfortunately Hope is only remembered for the Benitez hl reel ko. Maybe one day his ko of Antuofermo will surface and Maurice will get the credit he deserves.

Below is his rematch (in the UK) with Mattioli which after the Antuofermo and Dagge fights is arguably his best showing:

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If Hagler is as hesistant as he was against Duran, I can definitely see Benitez doing well. But sooner or later Hagler will step on the gas.

 

Hagler steam rolls him

 

Perhaps so, but does that mean we’re better off that it never happened?

I’d have picked Marvin to steamroll Duran, too, and folks thought he’d run Leonard out of the ring.

We’d already seen Hagler beat up FullyObel, and Caveman Lee was a joke of a challenger.

 

You’re not wrong chances are Benitez does well Hagler over-thought in bouts he’d probably lose to guys like Napoles, Griffith and Robinson because those guys were more confident in there skills Marvellous was hardly a juggernaut like we’ve all been told. If Marv came in for “War” and just fought he’d do well.

 

In 1981 yes. In 1983? My grandpa said he'd give it 2 rounds at best lmao