I really thought Duran was better than this and expected him to beat Wilfred. If Duran was that great, shouldnt he have won?
He definitely should have won. Oddly enough Benitez had really been afraid of Duran especially after Duran's win over Leonard. Wilfred was notorious for barely training before fights. However for this fight with Duran he really trained hard and it paid off. Duran IMO was still struggling with the Leonard rematch in the back of his mind. This was a fight IMO Duran should have won.
Duran was an 11-5 underdog. Benitez was 7 years younger and held significant height and reach advantages. Duran was a 5'5" short armed 31 year old swarmer, who peaked as a Light Weight and was moving up to Junior Middle against an established Champion after losing to Leonard at Welter. He had not looked great in the ring since he beat Ray in 1980. Nobody expected Duran to win this. Nobody. He was past prime at this age and weight and would only flash the old magic sporadically again, not always but usually in favorable match ups with low IQ guys. I'm not putting Duran down. But I think his greatness is so great, too much is expected of him in retrospect. It's amazing what he pulled off out of his prime and removed from his best division. This would be like a past it Pacman fighting a prime Canelo.
Duran was prepared but he was a 5'5" guy in his 30s fighting a prime Junior Middle Champion. His weakness wasn't movers. His weakness...(while past prime) was movers with giant physical advantages.
I think you can apply that to both fighters in this case. Benitez was never shy when it came to the ladies and partying. Legend has it that Wilfred was never the most dedicated of boxers when it came to training but whenever a pretty girl walked into the gym, then he would suddenly start training like a madman to attract her attention. Anyway people forget Wilfred at his best was a world class fighter in his own right. In fact IIRC he was the youngest boxer ever to win a version of a world title at 17, a record he still holds to this day and by the age of 22 had won versions of world titles in 3 different weight classes. He was only 23 when he beat Duran but after losing his title against Thomas Hearns next by a majority 15 round decision, it was pretty much all down hill for Wilfred from then on as his choices in lifestyle soon took its toil on his mind as well as his body. Sadly he was effectively finished as a fighter by his mid 20s.
Benitez was simply too good at his best at 154. The styles favored him strongly and he was absolutely at his peak. You could call it a schooling. He would have done the same thing to the Duran who fought Moore. Credit to Benitez he was virtually perfect that night and he didn't win through moving or running.
Anyone can beat anyone. Benítez was just better then. Sometimes bad preparation for a style is the real enemy who could you find to help you prepare for such an instinctual fighter?
After the rematch in New Orleans Duran went into a funk, he lost to Wilfred then to Kirkland Laing for Heavens sake. He really didn't get his act together until the fight with Cuevas
