What caused Wilfred Benitez to decline so sharply?

Thats what was said at the time. Besides, plenty of fighters got licenses with brain damage back then. They didnt stop you from fighting for it like they do today. How do you think Ali fought the last two Spinks fights, Holmes, and Berbick when he was already slurring his words.

Hell, lots of fighters fight on today with brain damage.

Benitez had been fighting in unlicensed boxing matches on a frequent and regular basis since he was about 3-5 years old. His father would set up matches between him and neighborhood kids in New York and charge change for people to watch. So by the time he was shot at 25 he had suffered at least 20 years of blows to the head. Now, you can dispute that but if you see what he looks like now, which is one of the worst cases of pugilistic dementia Ive ever seen then you might not have such a hard time believing it.

I would argue that there a several fighters today walking around and boxing pretty successfully with brain damage. A lot of times you dont see the results of these traumatic injuries over night, their syptoms come on slowly and worsen over time. Its why fighters who seemed fairly decent upon retiring develop symptoms 20 or 30 years later sometimes. Floyd Patterson is a prime example. He suffered from Pugilistica Dementia but didnt start showing symptoms until a good twenty years after he retired. Jerry Quarry was an interesting example too. He was obviously suffering brain damage by the end of his career but he was still a functioning individual and a pretty damn good athlete. But, upon retiring his dementia continued to progress slowly but noticably until the 90s when he went downhill pretty quick. It wasnt like Patterson where it seemed to hit all at once, it started young and simply continued to grow worse.

Benitez was able to box but there were hints that his problems were worsening even when he was still considered a top fighter and then it seemed like things went downhill VERY fast between the mid and late 80s. By the early 90s he was in extremely bad shape and now he is currently in a state of almost constant seizure. He is able to be up and moving around and talk somewhat but he is pretty clueless about what is going on around him and has been hospitalized and on life support several times.

 

I did see him in New York versus Kevin Moley, a big Middleweight.

Benetiz got rocked early and knocked down.
But hung on, and fought smart over the second-half of the fight.

I'm thinking, what the hell is this kid doing in their with big-guys who can punch.

He was built for Welterweight, 150 lbs. tops.

 

Never heard the theory of him having acquired brain damage that early, but given his upbringing it's not at all out of the question, in my opinion. As klompton said, he'd been fighting pretty much all of his life, which is what lead to him developing so early and thus declining so young. When you think about it, though, he'd been a world class fighter for nearly a decade (he was a top 10 rated fighter as early as 15 years old), which given the arc of his life and peaking so young, is a pretty long time. His body and mind especially seemed used up by about 25. Sad, but I don't see what other way there is to look at it.

As an aside, the stoppage call against Davey Moore was one of the worst I've ever seen.

 

He could have beaten Moore but he broke his ankle when he suffered the first knockdown and couldnt continue/defend himself. That being said, watch him back himself into a corner after the KD and make Moore miss that barrage of punches. That was amazing. There is similar sequence on one of the early rounds of his fight with Hearns where Hearns throws about 20 murderous punches in very fast succession, every one with KO on it and Benitez makes him miss all but a couple which only glance off.

 

I knew of the broken ankle, but he wasn't in any real danger at the time of the stoppage from my point of view, having just gone back and reviewed it. He took a decent right hand and the ref stopped it then and there, leaving myself and the commentators dumbfounded. Not that he could've won the fight with such an injury, as he was looking as if he was content to play defense from there, but the stoppage itself was out of order as Benitez was just doing the usual Benitez thing. I don't get it unless the ref was aware of the injury and looking to call it as soon as any hint of danger surfaced.

As for the Hearns sequence, I know exactly which one you're talking about. One of Wilfred's most inspirational defensive performances, that one. Unfortunately he was so focused on it that he wasn't doing much in the way of offense, not enough to win many rounds in my book, anyway.

 

He did rely a little too much on that defensive wizadry.
That was the problem, as most of the top guys figured out that you could let go with heavy punches, and Wilfred would not counter.

He didn't land a glove on Davey Moore.

 

i agree although I think Hearns height and reach had him a bit befuddled. He seemed like he was unsure of how to mount an offense against Hearns so he just fought a kind of spoiling fight, hoping to get in enough licks in between Hearns punches to steal rounds. Even though he lost he looked pretty amazing defensively. That version of Hearns was a wrecking ball Hearns just couldnt connect with anything solid enough to really damage Benitez.

 

One thing i've always liked about Benitez offensively was the way he could deliver his jab up from a low angle back across his body while turning to the left.

A beautiful punch that could be doubled up turned into a hook with ease.There have been other good stylists that would do it as well, but Benitez was one of the best at it.

 

http://boxing.fanhouse.com/2010/10/07/for-wilfred-benitez-boxings-brutal-toll-never-ends/

this talks about his condition today.

 

Something I would not cherish to see.

The father treated his son like a piece of car.
Beat the hell out of it, then junk it.

 

Wlfred probably laid pipe on SRL's sister in the buildup to their Championship fight.

Wilfred was dating her.

 

Ray probably encouraged her to wear Benitez out before the fight

 

As already posted .Just too many fights at far too young an age.Turning pro at 14 !! .Look at the guys he faced before the age of 22 .So many 15 round fights as well
I dont think Wilfred had any so called "easy" fights
I sometimes think I would like to go back to 15 round title fights then I think of how Wilfred is now and conclude that 12 rounds is just fine
Having a father managing your career who was a complete arsewipe didn't help
Very sad story

 

When I think of Wilfed Benetiz,
ie; Pipino Cuevas, Mando Ramos

Success at an early age,,,,,,confusing,,,,,,they forget things get harder.

 

Duran