Wilfred Benitez vs Roberto Duran

Thoughts, who was better Benetiz or Buchannon?

 

Another one bites the dust. :rasta

 

Benitez' style is a good foil for Duran, not to mention his size advantage. Their height and reach are similar, if not the same, but Benitez was clearly larger the night they met.

If you want to make the case that a lightweight Duran could have faced a 140lb Benitez, and over power him, then do so. It's justifiable, but not fair to Benitez. Benitez was 17 years old when he won a junior welterweight title, and Duran was at his peak at 135. Benitez was 23 when he faced Duran, and I think Benitez was at his physical peak at junior middle.

Roberto Duran weighed 122 at age 17, and I already mentioned Benitez won a 140lb title at the same age. How big of a coincidence is it that there physical peaks had a very similar weight differential?

I think a peak Benitez' style and size are too much for Duran to overcome.

 

What interested me was how bad Duran's gauge of distance was. He would repeatedly throw right hands and just graze Benitez's chin w/o him so much as flinching. He was also not as sharp lunging in with shots. Benitez's guage of distance and sharpness however was impeccable and it made the difference in the fight.

 

You seem to be an avid fan of him. Just presuming...

 

Duran wasn't making excuses. Everybody noted that he didn't have it against Benitez. He simply wasn't there for the fight. He was drained. He left it in the gym. However you want to describe it, it was obvious. His timing was off and he was weak.

I hesitate to write any of this because it sounds like it takes away from Benitez's masterful performance. Benitez was spooky good often (although he took things for granted and often didn't train hard enough). On that night he was supernatural.

It was a difficult fight to watch. It's hard to give Duran any part of the fight, so commanding was Benitez. I so wanted Duran to do well. But it wasn't his night. It looked to all the world that he was finished as a fighter, a light that had shone brightly for so long was diminishing. His next fight seemed to confirm that judgment. Amazing how he cameback.

And against Hearns, Duran had that distant, weak look about him. He had nothing to give Hearns in way of a fight. Hearns blasted him out. Again, it looked like Duran was finished. And again, he surprised us with Barkley.

 

The Duran of the Leonard I fight would have won several rounds. I think he would win the fight, in fact. I think the Duran of Moore and Barkley would win. Duran wasn't there in that fight. Duran has always needed to settle into a weight. People often forget that he had been a welterweight for more than two years when he faced Leonard and had outgrown the lightweight division some years before that. Moreover, 147 lbs is not 154 or so. Duran had only a few fights over the welter limit. Benitez was too soon after his loss to Leonard. He was not only weak from weight drain, but he was weak compared to Benitez at that weight. Duran couldn't bully Benitez.

 

There's always an excuse for Duran's losses. He didn't train, there were weight problems, belly ache, etc., etc., etc.
I believe Duran would beat Benitez at 140. I believe "Montreal" Duran, the one without the myriad of excuses would beat Benitez at 147. But Benitez was just better than Duran at 154. Duran looked perfectly fine to me until Benitez started hitting him with sneak right hands and body shots.

 

How so? Someone makes a rather funny comment after taking something I stated out of context, offers no real substance, and my points are supposed to lose validity?

 

I don't see how his style is a good foil for a prime Duran, and I don't think at 140 or 147 he'd have the same functional advantages in height and reach. Duran at the lower weights had much better legs and reflexes. He was a master at closing the distance (and Benitez was more of a stationary, pick his spots counter puncher than a mover) with his legwork and upper body feints. Unlike in their '82 encounter, Duran was one of the best ever at getting in on an opponent once he had them in a corner or in his grasps. Against Benitez, he just didn't have the legs to get in on him, and allowed Benitez to counter him pretty much at will.

Again, we're not talking about them fighting at 154. You said that any version of Duran would've lost to any version of Benitez.

Benitez administered a boxing clinic to one of the best 140 pound champions of all time in Antonio Cervantes at the age of 17. He looked about as good that night as I've seen him look otherwise, in pretty much every aspect. I think it's perfectly reasonable to match them up at that weight.

So can we make a compromise for 147?

What?

Thanks for that. I disagree. Benitez simply didn't have the movement for a counter-punching fighter to evade a prime Duran. The Duran that faced Leonard in Montreal wouldn't have been able to get in on Benitez against the ropes? That's what you're telling me? I beg to differ. I rather think a prime Duran's style was more of a foil to Benitez, and fighters like Mayweather who rely on that type of craftiness to win their fights. Duran would've bulled through them.