I read that this was the fight that really killed Paret. He took a frightening beating in this fight and his body never really healed from it before his next fight with Griffith. It was 3 months between fights and then you take into account the sparring in between fights which can get pretty rough.
Brutal fight. The size discrepancy was pretty clear - a welterweight facing a fully-fledged middleweight.
Agreed Jel. I've recently read Donald McRae's brilliant biography on Emile Griffiths "A Man's World", in which he appeared to me to imply that the horrific beating Fulmer administered to Benny may have contributed to the latter's death vs Emile. I appreciate I have the significant benefit of hindsight, but even still, putting a 5ft 7ins WW champion in with a physical beast of a MW, does seem a strange decision from a risk/reward perspective.
Fullmer vs Paret Fullmer-Paret was a terrible mismatch. There's plenty of blame to pass around for that. Poor Benny didn't have responsible management, like many fighters. Fullmer was so much stronger but Paret was game as heck. He didn't have a prayer. Then to throw him back into the ring after three months was criminal. But then how often did guys in the past take brutal whippings and fight the next week? That's another subject worth delving into.
And Benny wasn't trying to outbox Fulmer, like say, Spinks did to Holmes, he took the fight to Fulmer and traded punches.
To fight at the level that Benny Paret attained you have to be particularly talented. What a stupid thing to say.
He was talented compared to you, me or Joe Blow. When compared to other world champions and top contenders he was run-of-the-mill at best. He wasn't a banger nor did he display Willie Pep's elusiveness. He possessed more courage than talent. It wouldn't be a stretch to call him a good journeyman. Among his CUBAN contemporaries in the welterweight division he was no better than third best. Both Luis Rodriguez and Jose Napoles were far superior. Both were supremely talented. Benny was not. To win he had to absorb punishment and outwork his opponents. He won the welterweight title from Mr. Don Jordan, a fellow who was infamous for his allergy to training. He did win it a second time, edging out Griffith in their second bout, but I'll stand by my words. You may disagree; that is your right. To do so respectfully is the best way, don't you think?
Put me on the list of people who disagree with you. You have set the bar way too high for my taste. When you consider the number of welterweight fighters who were fighting at the time of his prime years, by comparison he had elite talent. That's more than enough to earn my total respect.
