Question about Benitez vs Duran

Duran himself proffered no real excuse for this loss. He did say his strength wasn't there after the middish rounds and he felt a bit weak in the legs. He also said Benitez was quicker and stronger as well as being hard to move around. Hard to hit as well.

The best Benitez performance ever imo bar none. He beat Duran very easily and didn't do it running away all night either. He was much sharper than Duran and put on a clinic. I fully believe this version of Duran would have whipped Davey Moore. Benitez was just that good and as i often say Duran's nemesis at the higher weights was speed. Whilst Benitez didn't dance around boxing his hand speed, reflexes and sharpness were most impressive.

 

Both.
Duran was forced to spend most of his camp by a prison out in the wild in Panama and he hated it. It got his weight down after ballooning up between fights again. He also said he hated it there and couldn't get motivated from his prison like camp and all the noise coming from the prison ruined his rest. He said he couldn't focus in the atmosphere and couldn't relax with guys carrying machine guns ect around him. He always claimed he was over trained and flat for what worth.
That being said Benitez fought the best fight of his life. Watching the fight Duran seemed flat and unmotivated IMO so maybe theres something to what he says.

 

The big issue here was that Benitez was brilliant at taking away Durans right hand which was his best weapon. Once Benitez did that he effectively neutered Duran.

 

It was a great win for Benitez. Wins over Duran at this point always had Duran making excuses. And those who beat him did not get the proper respect. Benitez did great at 154.. Too bad he ran into Hearns because in shape and properly fought, he could have kept winning at 154. 160 was too high for him and Hamsho.

 

Hearns & Wilfred had been scheduled to meet at 147 lbs at some time earlier.
Likewise a Duran vs Wilfred at near 147 lbs had been bantered around earlier also.

 

There wasn't a thing wrong with him against Hearns. He just ran into a very fast, athletic, rangy guy who was smart and fought a great fight. Even then Benitez had his moments.

 

yeah he did.. I never saw Hearns miss with body punches. Amazing ability to avoid punches. He lost his two titles to legends Leonard and Hearns.

 

there was talk of Duran and Benitez meeting at a lighter weight back in the late 70's. Benitez could no longer make 140 and was moving up to 147 while Duran could still make lightweight. Duran's camp was suggesting an in between weight where they thought he had a better chance.

And yeah, it is well known that Duran frequently allowed his weight to balloon up between fights, but that wasn't his optimal weight. Just because he fought once at a higher weight didn't make him a natural super welter or junior middle.

Duran didn't make a whole lot of excuses for this fight, but he certainly had good reason to do so. He was fighting at 19 lbs above his prime weight.

'Middleweight is my natural weight,' Benitez said. 'It has been hard for me to stay at this weight, but I'll have no problem for Saturday.'

 

MW natural for Benitez? Wilfred was probably trying to promote a Hagler "Superfight" which all the boxing mags were speculating on. When he took on a real MW Hamsho, he got battered.

1983-07-16 : Wilfred Benitez 157¾ lbs lost to Mustafa Hamsho 158 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12

• Location: Dunes Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
• Referee: Davey Pearl
• Judge: Lou Tabat 109-118
• Judge: Chuck Minker 111-118
• Judge: Dalby Shirley 111-117

Notes

• The fight took place in an outdoor stadium at the Dunes Hotel on a day when the temperature was 101°.
• In early 1983, Benitez split with his father, Gregorio Benitez, who had trained him since his first day in the gym, and hired Victor Machado as his new trainer. Later, Cus D'Amato was brought in as an adviser. D'Amato said, "Benitez can punch a lot harder than people think. But he doesn't punch; he just comes out to outbox opponents with his smarts. I talked to him about moving side to side and punching." Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated reported: "During training, Benitez showed no inclination to adopt D'Amato's suggestion."
• Two months earlier, in his first fight as a middleweight, Benitez defeated Tony Cerda by a 10-round decision. Pat Putnam called Benitez's performance "dismal."
• Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press reported: "Benitez was thoroughly dominated Saturday by Hamsho, the World Boxing Council's top-ranked challenger, who used his strength and brawling style to pin Benitez in his corner through much of the bout in taking a unanimous 12-round decision. From the opening bell, when Hamsho backed Benitez into his corner, he dominated the fight, throwing punches from every direction while Benitez answered with only weak counterpunches that had little effect on Hamsho. . . . Neither fighter seemed seriously hurt during the bout, although Benitez appeared stunned in the third round when he was pushed or wrestled to the canvas four times. Referee Davey Pearl ruled no knockdowns and warned Hamsho to stop pulling and pushing Benitez. Hamsho, 157¾, ran his record to 37-2-2, while Benitez, 157¾, fell to 44-3-1. Hamsho received $200,000 and Benitez $150,000 for the fight."
• The Associated Press scored the fight 119-111 for Hamsho, and Sports Illustrated had it 120-107 for Hamsho.
• Jim Jacobs, Benitez's manager, said after the fight, "You keep moving up and up until finally you reach a plateau where the people are stronger and tougher. Hamsho was much stronger than Wilfred. I think this fight dictated that Wilfred will fight as a junior middleweight."

 

Benitez was that good. At 154, he easily beat Duran, did well against arguably the best ever at 154 (Hearns), and nearly killed Maurice Hope. Benitez was one of the best ever at 154 and is a very difficult matchup for anyone ever at that weight.

 

there is never good reason for excuses. Most guys have excuses for fights and weights. Hearns moved up in 1986 to 1989 almost in every fight up and down. And he didn't use that as an excuse why would Duran?

 

The point is that Duran didn’t make excuses in this fight.

Do you really think that Benitez could have beat Duran at 140? I’m not going to even consider 135 since Benitez could not have made that weight without losing muscle or getting severly dehydrated.

 

if he did not make excuses then that is a shock. I think Benitez could have beaten Duran yes.. at 140.

 

In your opinion. Certainly not mine