Sugar Ray Leonard vs Carlos Palomino

No, but he was a deadly body puncher, as he showed with Stracey. And he was more competitive against Benitez than Duran would later be.

 

Duran fought Benitez right at the peak of his powers. He was fully mature both mentally and physically and the Duran schooling for me is his masterpiece. It was surprising how physically strong he was at 154. He grew into the weight beautifully.

Palomino wouldn't inflict remotely close to the body damage Duran did. Virtually the entire fight was fought inside and Duran was on fire. Palomino would be much more susceptible to return fire when going to the body as well.

 

LOL Leonard was winning pretty handily far from “embarrassed” Palamino? that was a competitive fight… do you think losing a bout calls for embarrassment? Benitez made guys miss a lot but he also didn’t hit guys back for it much… it seemed like his first objective was evasion.

 

People keep focusing on “Palomino was competitive with Benitez” but as has been stated here, Benitez was not really competitive with Leonard. Again, Palomino was a worthy warrior, I have no issues with him being a Hall of Famer, but Leonard is a contender for the absolute GOAT at 147 and Palomino wasn’t and styles don’t make a fight to that extent. Transposing this to heavyweights for reference, Leonard was on the level of Ali and Palomino was on the level of maybe Floyd Patterson in the grand scheme of things.

 

Sugar Ray Leonard would be too much for Carlos Palomino, who won't stop trying and will definitely finish the fight on his feet but would lose almost every single round. Leonard was just on a different level compared to Palomino.

 

Leonard was just on a different level compared to Palomino.

This is what is escaping the people who are dreaming that Carlos could be competitive in this fight.

 

I get why people are saying Ray wouldn’t stop him that’s going with your heart but use your head and no disrespect to anyone’s opinion but I don’t see this going the distance Ray has better ring IQ , speed ,power, footwork and he want wilt in the later rounds.

 

I was going to say the exact thing. Carlos had a war vs Green who gave Carlos a good fight.
Ray beat the hell out of Green and then brutally knocked him out.
Hedgemon Lewis who was at the end of his career held Carlos to a draw which I thought Lewis had won.Lewis is not close to a Ray Leonard.
I like Carlos but Ray would end up outclassing him and then stopping him. Carlos does not have the speed to deal with a Leonard and Carlos does not have the power as well.

 

Leonard

 

Palomino didn`t have Duran`s in-fighting skills that was proven when Duran beat him, Duran was much harder to hit.

 

Duran looked stocky and slower at 154, he beat Palomino at 147.

 

Gotta go with Leonard on this one

 

At least at one time. post career Duran described Palomino as the toughest fighter he’d ever faced.

When Carlos heard same he was naturally chuffed.

I agree that a stoppage by Ray is not impossible but unlikely.

Ray did clearly beat Benitez but the wow factor for Wilfred was making Leonard miss more punches than he had against any other fighter.

However, that wow factor shouldn’t be overweighted since Ray still threw a lot and landed plenty of punches otherwise for a clear lead and ultimate stoppage.

 

I don't know what he's on about TBH Leonard was a mile infront at the time of the stoppage Benitez didn't win that many rounds IMO. A very skillful fight and competitive in parts but not at all close.


Sugar Ray Leonard vs Wilfred Benitez

1 Leonard
2 Leonard
3 Leonard 10-8 knockdown
4 Leonard
5 Benitez
6 Benitez
7 Leonard
8 Leonard
9 Leonard
10 Benitez
11 Leonard
12 Benitez
13 Leonard
14 Leonard
15 Leonard wins by TKO

136-129 Leonard

So i went back and watched this classic fight again it's only the 2nd time i've ever seen it, what surprised me in this fight is that Leonard's defence was exceptional. Benitez is often noted for his amazing defence but Leonard showed great head movement and feints in this fight, and Benitez had alot of difficulty landing consistently on Leonard.

Overall most of the rounds were competitive but Leonard just always seemed 1 step ahead, and his quicker hand speed just seemed to control most of the rounds even though Benitez did stay competitive throughout. Benitez after a rough start did seem to find some success with the left jab in the middle rounds, but as i said Leonard was simply the better man in most of the rounds.

I have to say i am bit surprised at two of the judges scoring it as close as 136-134, 137-133, that does seem very generous to Benitez. Whilst i did think Benitez had some decent moments in the fight, honestly i couldn't really see him winning anymore than 4 rounds. If i was being overly generous possibly 5 rounds, but i can't really see it being any closer than that in all honesty.

The 15th round was a very exciting round with both fighters trading punches, Dundee told Leonard to fight like an animal in the last round which he duly did. Not quite on the same level as Norton vs Holmes round 15 but not far off it, and it was a great way to end one of the highest skilled most enjoyable technical fights you'll ever see. I do wish Benitez would've been allowed to carry on i think he did deserve to go the distance and i think the stoppage was a bit premature. But still Leonard was clearly on top and was the deserved winner.