Benitez vs McCallum At 154

T seen that Cotto20 also rates Vargas over Jackson, saying Jackson was overrated. Vargas is one of the most overrated fighters of recent years, I'd suggest he stays over in the general :rofl

 

At 147 maybe, but this at 154 where his best win was over a past prime Duran who had looked poor against Nino Gonzalez, Luigi Minchillo and who got outboxed by Laing and knocked out by Hearns.

Benitez reach 178cm

McCallum's reach 198cm

McCallum had an excellent jab that he could close the distance with and step in behind go to the body.

 

I may be a bit biased but i've got Mike winning a decision in this one. I agree with other posters that his great boxing brain would see him through.

Also theres no way Trinidad was better than McCallum at 154, i loved Vargas but you cant say he a David Reid were better than what McCallum beat.

 

Duran may have been his most notable win (and I wouldn't be surprised if it had been for McCallum as well) but he also scored an impressive KO win over Maurice Hope. Carlos Santos was a decent fighter who went onto held a title belt.

 

He did, that was brutal, but he aint knocking McCallum out and he aint overcoming that reach and size disparity against a smart fighter like McCallum who can hurt him. Curry had him all over the place so i know McCallum could hurt him.

 

He wouldn't KO McCallum but he did school Maurice Hope with surprising ease. Benitez was a formidable opponent at 154 more so than anyone McCallum faced at the weight in my opinion.

Curry?

 

He is too small to beat McCallum imo, McCallum was a rangy fighter who could apply pressure when needed (McCrory, Toney 2) or beat you in a technical Boxing match.

I dont think Benitez would find sustained success outside because McCallum's reach dwarfs his, plus McCallum had a terrific jab and the ability to hurt Benitez.

 

I don't think it'll go down to size. Kalambay was Benitez's stature, although heavier but Benitez was pretty solid at 154. Don't forget that he was only 21-22 years of age when he stepped up to light middleweight.

I don't know what McCallum's true height and reach are, I've seen them listed differently in various sources. The tale of the tape for Kalambay-McCallum I lists McCallum at 5'11, 74 inch reach, Kalambay at 5'9, 72 inch reach.

 

The tale of the tape for McCallum-Minton lists McCallum at 6 feet tall, 73 inch reach, McCallum-Collins has McCallum at 5'11, reach 74 inches. They're just inaccurate most of the time.

 

Kalambay was quicker than Benitez imo, he also used the ring differently than Benitez imo, Benitez used tight little turns and stayed closer to his man.

McCallum also avenged that loss to Kalambay.

Benitez head movement would not be as effective either, not against a man renowned for hitting the body to find the head.

 

Palomino, a noted body puncher, had a lot of trouble trying to find Benitez's body. So did Duran.

McCallum barely beat Kalambay and that was after Kalambay had already been KO'd in one by Nunn. He was never the same afterwards in my opinion although he was still capable. He was a slow starter before but after Nunn, Kalambay began to get floored in the early rounds in many of his fights. We saw what happened when Kalambay at his best fought McCallum at his best.

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Difference being that McCallum does not fall in when he goes to the body, Duran used to wrestle the opponent before going to the body, he does not work his shots to the body off his combination's or jab like McCallum did, that is the sign of a good body puncher.

Thats right and Kalambay was a helluva fighter, Nunn got lucky and would of had major trouble with him imo if he had not scored that early KO.


Benitez was no where near as illusive as people try to make out imo, he could be caught if you could follow up your attacks. Benitez was good at slipping the first few but he got nailed against Hearns, Hilton trying to show how adept he was at slipping punches, Moore was catching him and Moore was not going to the body( before the ankle injury), he also got nailed against Leonard when Leonard followed up, Curry moped the canvas with him, now i know you will say he was past his best when he lost to Hilton but still ...

 

Palomino doesn't fall in and wrestle either but he couldn't land anything signifact to Benitez's body. McCallum in my opinion faces many of the same problems against Benitez that he did against Kalambay. He is not going to be able to launch his body attack and he might be a step behind Benitez in a boxing match.

Benitez still made Hearns miss a ton and Hearns was a lot faster than McCallum. The Moore, Hilton fights were meaningless, you can't possibly base your opinion on Benitez on those fights. The Bruce Curry fight was at 140 when Benitez was 18.

Leonard to me had the better of the fight because he was faster than Benitez and was able to fire punches off slightly quicker than Benitez everytime. Benitez on the other hand would have the speed advantage over McCallum.

 

He went the distance with Hearns though. At 147 was stopped by Leonard, and although Hearns had hand troubles surely this proves that Benitez could still stop himself from taking a shellacking. I guess it's down to whether you think McCallum could outpoint Benitez like Hearns did or get enough punches off. I think this is a 50-50 fight, I'm more of a fan of McCallums than Benitez, but Benitezs talent was exceptional. There's a misconception that he's a Camacho-esque waste of talent but he did enough whilst he could be bothered to prove to me he's going to (at least) competitive with McCallum; in this fight, I say he wins. As I previously said I think if they have 5 fights it's be 2-2 aiece with one draw.

 

The GreatA got there before me with the Hearns comparison :good