Wilfred Benitez and Felix Trinidad...Who do you rank higher...

Plus he "dominated" Oscar for the unification. :nut

 

Benitez wide UD
Benitez wide UD

 

Except Tito didn't dominate the WW division for any time at all. He got outboxed by the best fighter in that division (Oscar) and didn't fight the next best fighter after him (Quartey), and didn't defend the unified titles even once before he moved up. How the **** is that dominating a division? :huh

 

Actually there never was an O. Just Wilfred, Benitez confirmed this in an interview. There was confusion because fellow PR great Wilfredo Gomez fought in the same era.

 

I pick Benitez. He fought Leonard,Hearns and Duran and outclassed Duran. Cervantes. Won 3 titles when it was hard to do.. Won his title at 17. Benitez is greater. Tito never beat that great fighter. Delahoya was a fluke decision and Oscar fading and being afraid. Benitez is greater. More classic

 

I went to a Sugar Ray Leonard talk in a few years ago and got to ask him a question.I simply asked who was the best fighter he ever fought and i expected the Duran or Hearns or Hagler answer.He said it was Benitez and that he was the most gifted of them all.

 

:huh

 

That's what we call "bull****".

 

Maybe he meant most naturally gifted

I think Benitez is certainly the more skilled boxer, Tito is the better athlete with better stamina. Neither the best of their era, Benitez fought in the better era, and loses against Leonard/Hearns are excusable, although if he was that great he should have made those fights closer.

People make allot of Tito's gift to Delahoya but Benitez got a gift decision against Bruce Curry too. Benitez's wins are very good, but I don't see any of them as great, I don't think that much of Cervantes, Duran at 154 wasn't the best, Palomino/Hope were good but not spectacular. I don't think wins over Prime Vargas, Old Whitaker, Carr, Campas, Mayorga are too far behind. And Trinidad stayed at the top longer. Overall the edge is with Benitez and he has the better skills of the 2

 

They didn't call him the Bible for nothing.

Benitez





Trinidad

 

Trinidad was hardly the better athlete as the term applies to boxing.

he was a stiff legged shuffler with average at best reflexes.

 

Explain???

 

Trinidad gets sold short on this forum yet again.

He had flaws yes,but he also had many attributes that tend to be ignored by some on here.He had genuine power,patience,determination,better skills than some give him credit for and a willingness to test himself against the best which was rare for the era in which he fought.

Before he was schooled by Hopkins he was on a dominant streak which saw him destroy undefeated champions Joppy,Reid and Vargas plus also stealing De La Hoya's "0" (poor decision not withstanding).Throw in wins over Campas,Carr,Camacho and Blocker as well and that is some resume and much better than a limited slugger could achieve which is what some posters on here would have you believe he is.

Is it enough to beat Benitez?

I don't know but I will say Benitez had better be at his absolute best with no lulls or laziness or Tito with his patient stalking and great finishing abilities would knock him out.Benitez didn't have the chin to withstand Trinidads power (he was floored by a Leonard jab!) so his amazing defensive tools would need to be absolutely razor sharp in this one for him to get the win imo.

A great match up though.

 

Benitez ranks higher all time, but I think I'd be inclined to pick Trinidad to beat him, certainly at 154lb and maybe at 147lbs too.

He pressured his way back into the fight against De la Hoya even you think he didn't deserve the decision, so I could see him pressuring Benitez in similar fashion, too. And that was a Trindad who had begun to fall in love with his power.

When he was at his absolute best, he was actually pretty adept at chasing down boxers (He dominated Camacho, and scored the first decisive victory over a faded but still slick Whitaker.) Trinidad may have been slow of foot, but when he was on, he put his punches together, worked upstairs and downstairs, and used a pretty good jab that could serve him well against a fighter who was admittedly more fluid than he was.

Ultimately, I think Trinidad finds a way to land his punches, and those punches would probably put Benitez down at least once to allow him to carve out a come from behind decision.

 

Waiting for a response to this?