Palomino beats Benetiz, defends against Leonard. Assume fight is in June, 1979, Leonard would have been coming off a Marcos Geraldo or maybe Pete Ranzany fight. Would SRL be ready for Carlos at that point in time.
Carlos Palomino was an outstanding fighter, but wouldn't match up well with Sugar Ray Leonard, a much more talented and athletic fighter, even during 1979. Leonard would win a bout with Palomino during that period of time. - Chuck Johnston
The main problem with the post is Carlos didn't and couldn't beat a prime Benetiz, he gave it all he had but was a grade below skill wise.
I agree. Carlos was an ordinary fighter. Leonard was more athletic, faster, more agile and would embarras him even as Norris was more athletic & faster than leonard and embarrassed him
I had forgotten about the "Sun was in my eyes" split decision controversy....if we are talking about the real Palomino vs Benetiz fight. For some reason, Carlos (Arum) took the fight down in San Juan. Carlos hadn't fought in a 7+ months, and was coming off a broken hand in his last fight. The temperature in January in San Juan was almost 90 degrees...another factor. Some say this was the start of the "modern day" Mexico vs Puerto Rico rivalry.
I saw the fight live at the time, probably WWS, and thought it was the best Carlos could have done. He was in good shape, his timing and speed were good, his power seemed in tact and he was the aggresor, the problem was Wifredo was able to slip and block almost everything Palomino threw at him while landing his counter shots throughout the bout. A lesser fighter then Benetiz might have been ko'd that day.
It was WWS..with Cosell making the call. Cosell referenced the previous 2 fights with Bruce Curry (SD & MD) and fighting a 4-4 fighter Vernon Lewis and only getting a UD (Benetiz did beat Randy Shields who RTD after 6 rds. Benetiz looks very fast & aggressive in that fight)
