The weaknesses of Wilfred Benitez

Like a lot of the better defensive fighters, could be a bit of a lazy showboat at times.

Chin was just decent.

 

well apparently he wasnt dedicated when it came training

 

I think his main weakness was his immense talent, if that makes sense. From what I can gather he didn't put his heart and soul into training post 140.

 

I too have been watchin his fights against Duran and Leonard and his tremendous talent can be seen in both fights. I think he could of used his jab more to set the tempo better in both fights and his chin was average. Whenever he got into an exchange with Leonard you got the feeling he was vulnerable. He also fought down to the level of his opponent.

Basically i think you can trace all those problems back to a lack of motivation and his party lifestyle.

 

Age. He was really too young to be champion. He was doing more partying than training. Remember he fought for a title at age 17 against Cervantes!

 

Too Young, no diff from any lazy idle gobby teenager who wants to stay in bed all day & doss all day at work, If he had started out say 3/4 years later then he would have been hailed as one of the all time greats, he is as far as i'am concerned, 3 world titles by 22 years of age, ****in incredible:yep you could'nt make it up:smoke

 

I'm probably just reframing what's been already said, but I think he could've been more aggressive. He often waited for his opponents move and of course countered. I would've like to have seen him jab more (scoring points), then counter their counter. He and Locche are two defensive wizards who did their thing often at the expense of offense. I've said this before but I prefer the more aggressive JM version of Benitez (vs Duran & Hope).

 

I think he ran into a clear athleticism deficit against Hearns. But on the other hand, you could argue that his biggest issue here was size.

A truly awesome fighter, defensively of course, but offensively as well. I'm catching up on him as well lately, and enjoying every second. His poise was incredible.

 

Hearns was all wrong for Benetiz. A good fighter with reach, height, and a very good jab usually beats a smaller defensive fighter ala Guzman/Funeka.

 

Yep, and I think you're getting into rarefied air when you start talking about the fighters who should be clearly favored over Hearns at 154 anyhow. That it was close at all was a credit to El Radar.

 

too defensive, not enough offense

 

when you made him lead, he was not the same fighter.