I have always been a fan of the Puerto Rican boxers. Benitez exemplifies them. The way he fought off the ropes, the reflexes, vision. You were watching a genius. at work.
Greatest defensive fighter of his era. When someone can make the likes of Hearns, Duran and SRL miss so often you know you are looking at something special. Does it almost solely with head movement too. Incredible.
A fighter who seems to have relied almost exclusively on his natural talent and the length of his prime reflectd that. He was effective finished at championship level before he was 24. Allegedly he didn't even train for his fight with Leonard. A fantasy round robin with Pernell Whitaker and Floyd Mayweather at 147 or 154 would be interesting to see who would come out on top as the best defensive fighter over the last 30-40 years. I think Benitez might come out on top.
Even on the way down he retained a semblance of his "radar." See the Moore fight. His defense did deteriorate but it was still way better than average. Even in his last tv fight against Paul Whitaker, he counters brilliantly off the ropes. Of course, the quality of opponent wasn't too great.
I remember a story (Sports Illustrated I think) from the Leonard fight where SRL came back to his corner after the first round: he had thrown like 24 or 25 right hands and landed zero. Dundee told him “Forget about the right hand” and concentrate on left jabs and hooks and going to the body. SRL answered: “But he’s RIGHT THERE.” And still couldn’t hit him. I also consider the urban legend that he didn’t train for Leonard or only trained two weeks to be way more legend than truth. His father/trainer was a monster. When he said Wilfred “didn’t train” I think he was saying “didn’t train to my standards.” Look at the guy, watch the fight — no way that guy hadn’t run a mile or been in a gym. Nice excuse but doesn’t pass the smell test.
He was IMO the best defensive fighter of all time, Hearns, Duran, Leonard, Cervantes, that's a crop of elite fighter and Benitez was able to make them miss a lot, he was also the best counterpuncher ever, he was so confident on his skills that when he saw the oppening he would throw, Leonard said that the fight against Benitez was the most draining fight of his life.
Agreed, when they call a guy lazy or insult his work ethic. They are doing it relative to a world class level. This works for any trait being judged, they would say Hearns had a weak chin, but his chin was much better than plenty of boxers who didn't make it to a championship. His chin was weak against Barkley a dynamite punching, high level middleweight.
Benitez was one of my favorite fighters as a teenager. Was blown away when I first saw him as I've always liked defensive masters. I remembering pretending I was him when I was sparring people at around 15 yrs old lol
