I think it was because he moved up to middleweight and picked the wrong guys to fight right off. He fought his best fighting at 154 easily beating Duran over 15 rounds and then going 15 rounds with Thomas Hearns. I never saw a fighter avoid Tommy's body punching. But Wilfred should never have fought Hamsho, and at 160.. Wrong move. He just made wrong decisions, and then not having a world title and being too high in weight just made him go downhill. Had he stayed at 154 and fought the right styles he would have kept winning. Actually had he beaten Hearns in 1982, I think he would have kept on defending his title for a year or two.
I heard he had alot of gym wars when he was younger with Esteban Dejesus and drank and partied... Not that sure of these stories don't know much about Benitez outside of his fights.
Well it could be that he had a fight in his prime that had caused him to mentally decline, hence his severe brain injury..it explains his losses to guys he would have beat easily. Or maybe 160 was just too big for him. Or maybe he hit his prime young and then started sliding, Pipino Cuevas was like this. Also, Benitez did win his first championship against an ATG in Antonio Cervantes at aged 17. Partying and lack of discipline could be another reason, it explains why Benitez never used to train for fights. But all factors considered, it shows how great he was. Under the following circumstances: 1. Extremely young 2. Very little training in his career and general lack of discipline, he has a resume of: W Duran W Palomino W Cervantes W Hope W Curry x 2 Many other title defenses + a record of 44-2 with 28 KO's after the Hearns fight. He was probably 'better' than Mayweather.
He should have stayed at 154 and he would have done well for a few more years and won another title. That 160 jump was a mistake added to Hamsho as an opponent.
Sad....sad waste of a talent,and life. We should be talking about the FIVE Kings today instead of only four.
he belongs there, he just didn't fight Marvin Hagler. That is the only one of the 4 kings he did not fight. He fought Leonard at the end of 1979 and fought Duran and Hearns in 1982. I honestly think he could have done better with Hagler than he did with Hamsho. Terrible match for him and for Czyz.
It's definately one of his best. Benitez made him miss so much that night, shows how great Benitez was.
Wasn't he supposed to be ******ed before he turned pro'? Started young at top level=short prime doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out
I thought it was good, but I think Ray over Duran 2 or Hearns 1 was his best since Ray was more prime when he fought them. He gutted out this win over Benitez. The Benitez fight was what Ray called a mirror image. Both were fast boxers, but Ray turned that into more of an inside fight and outsped Benitez on the inside. I honestly believe that the Benitez who fought Duran and Hearns at 154 in 1982, would have beaten Leonard had Ray fought for Benitez title that same year. Benitez best wins had to be Cervantes,Hope and Duran. And his losing effort against Hearns was not bad. But he should have stayed at 154 and maybe fought Hearns or Duran again.