Wilfred Benetiz vs. Bruce Curry I

What did anybody else see?

I was there that night, in Madison Square Garden.
Friday Night, November 18, 1977.

I clearly thought that Bruce Curry won, and not even close.

Wilfred Benetiz had the backing of the over-whelming Puerto Rican fans that were there.
He was introduced to a thunderous roar of cheers.

But when the decision was announced, it was met with a ton of BOO's.

 

I was there.
Nobody thought that Bruce Curry would have that kind of power.

Wilfed Benetiz was being promoted 'big time' by Madison Square Garden
as some kind of 'Wunderkind'.

Wilfred Benetiz was remarkable, but he was somewhat mis-proportioned.
His lower body resembled a Welterweight, but his upper-body was smaller like a
Lightweight.

That night, when he landed his punches, they made no sound, no mass-force
behind them.
Bruce Curry on the other hand, all his punches sounded hard.

The big problem with the fight scoring that night, was New York used a
Round System,,,,,,,,,not a 10-point must.

And Arthur Mercante, though he scored the fight for Bruce Curry 5-4-1, blew it big time at the end of the 4th Round, when he guided a completely out-of-it Benetiz back to his corner.

In rounds, I had it 5-3-2 for Bruce Curry.

C B C C C,,,,,C B E E B

But, with 10-point scoring, it was a blow-out.

Benetiz; 9-10--9--7--8.....9-10-10-10-10 = 92
Curry;,,,10-9--10-10-10...10-9-10-10--9 = 97

 

scartissue.

Funny you should bring the Gerrie Coeztee vs. Renaldo 'Mr.' Sinipes fight up.
I was living in Hartsdale, NY at the time, 10 minutes away from the place.

Renaldo Snipes was from neighboring Yonkers, and may have been the benfactor of
a 'hometown decision'.

That whole area was buzzing for days after that horrible decision.

'Only in New York',,,,,,,,,,,,,,The Westchester Premier Theatre,,,,,,,'mob controlled'

 

Arthur Mercante;,,,,,,,,5-4-1 Curry
Barney Smith;,,,,,,,,,,,,5-4-1 Benetiz
Carol Castellano;,,,,,,,,7-3-0 Benetiz

She set women boxing judges back 10 years with that scorecard.
Madison Square Garden wanted to kill her,,,,,'literally'.

Round 1;
Curry starts out by pressuring Benetiz. Benetiz is content to counter with left jabs.
At the 1:00 mark, Curry nails Benetiz with a short left hook. Benetiz is hurt bad, and his legs split-wide as he wobbles backwards. Curry lands a right hand, and Benetiz staggers. Curry pressures Benetiz throughout the round.
Benetiz recovers and does counter with token pitty-pat punches. Curry bangs a good left hook to the body and follows up with a straight right to Benetiz head. Curry is throwing bombs, looking for the 'home run', as the round ends.

Round 1; Bruce Curry

Round 2;
Curry starts out as the aggressor, and is loading up on left hook bombs. Benetiz counters with an assortment of left jabs, and straight left leads. Curry still pressures, but is not as effective as the 1st Round. Benetiz scores with a good straight right, as Curry misses with a left hook bomb. Benetiz is a little busier, but Curry seems to match him in quickness. Curry moves in, but before he can get off, Benetiz scores with a nice straight right to Curry's head, but Curry counters quickly with a heavy left hook to the body. Benetiz scores with a good left-right near the end of the round.

Round 2; Wilfred Benetiz

Round 3;
Curry again forces the action. Benetiz is comfortable countering. Curry scores with a good left and follow up jabs.
Curry lands a good left hook and a right hand to the body, backing Benetiz up. Benetiz comes back with a couple of
left-right combinations that score, but are lacking power. Benetiz shoots in a straight right to slow Curry down.
Curry is aggressive, but a little wild. Benetiz is not countering, and is waiting much too long to fire back.
Benetiz lands a good right hand to the body, but Curry counters with a quick left hook to the head.
They exchange good right hands to the head. Each shoot left jabs and counter rights at the same time.
Curry backs Benetiz up a bit, and at 2:30 of the round lands a solid left hook that staggers Benetiz, and sends him reeling back into the ropes. Curry follows with a right hand 'haymaker' as Benetiz stumbles to his left and into the
Benetiz corner.
Curry lets go with a left hook to the body and wild right that misses, than lands a left hook to the jaw that shakes Benetiz.
Benetiz amazingly comes back, landing a quick combination to Curry's body. Then the two exchange punches, and
Benetiz moves Curry back with a quick left-right. Benetiz then shoots off a 6-punch flurry that scores.
Both land left-right combinations as the round ends.

Round 3; Bruce Curry

 

Round 4;
Encouraged by his father Gregorio, Wilfred Benetiz is told to go for the Knock-out.

At the 0:10 mark;
Benetiz opens up early, and both fighters exchange heavy jabs.
Benetiz finally backs Curry up, and scores with solid lefts.

At the 0:40 mark;
Benetiz punches have more power behind them, and he scores with a crisp left-right.
Benetiz is having his best round by far.
Several left-right combinations are scored by both fighters.

At the 1:10 mark;
Benetiz lands his best punch of the fight, a short right hand to Curry's head.
And follows up with a 2-punch combination.

At the 1:20 mark;
Curry has stopped firing back, and is momentarily stunned.
Benetiz sensing that he has hurt Curry, opens up and goes for the Knock-out.
He lands a good left, which bothers Curry, then follows up with a wild 4-punch flurry.

At the 1:30 mark;
Curry recovers, and Benetiz who is arm-weary backs off. Both are tired, as the action halts for 20-seconds. Then they resume their attack, and both exchange right hand bombs. Curry backs to the ropes, as he appears extremely tired, and Benetiz presses the attack.

At the 2:00 mark;
Benetiz digs in a hard left hook to Curry's body, then opens up with
a quick 4-punch combination, but leaves himself wide open.
Curry counters with a hard right hand over the top, then explodes a perfect
counter left hook, square on Benetiz chin.
Benetiz lurches face first, and crashes into the canvas. Benetiz is down!

Wilfred Benetiz is up at the count of 6. Staggering, he stumbles to the far back right neutral corner.
Referee Arthur Mercante completes the 8-count, and waves Bruce Curry in.

At the 2:30 mark,
Benetiz falls back into the corner, as Curry is coming in like a freight-train.
Bruce Curry unloads, and batters a near defenseless Benetiz with a 2-fisted attack.
A left-right-left to the head, and then a big miss with a right hand bomb.

At the 2:38 mark;
Curry poised, unloads back-to-back straight right hand shots to Benetiz head.
Benetiz is hurt bad, as he tries to move out of the corner, to his left and along the ropes.

At the 2:40 mark;
Bruce Curry will not let Benetiz escape, and catches him with a short chopping right which stuns Benetiz.
Curry follows up with rib-crunching body shots, a right and left, then a brutal right to the left side of
Benetiz exposed ribs.

At the 2:43 mark;
Benetiz falls forward, and onto the canvas. Benetiz is down again!

Benetiz gets up at the Timekeeper count of 4, but falls forward into and through the ropes.
Back up at 8, Benetiz is out on his feet.

At the 2:52 mark;
Bruce Curry moves forward and unleashes a 'home run bomb right hand' that just misses, as Benetiz is trapped in the
back far right neutral corner.
Curry follows up with a good left hook, and misses another 'home run' right hand.

At the 2:58 mark;
Bruce Curry rips a murderous looking left hook to Benetiz exposed right side. Benetiz doubles over.

The bell sounds, Round 4 over.

3:04, Arthur Mercante goes over to Wilfred Benetiz, and guides an out-of-it Benetiz back to his corner, where his trainers are waiting.

Round 4; Bruce Curry (10-7)

 

No, I believe that was the Wilfred Benetiz vs. Harold Weston II fight.
The WBC Welterweight Title Fight.
I think that was around the 11th or 12th round, after Wilfred more-or-less
went to sleep for 3 rounds in a row, and let Harold Weston back into the fight.

 

That was the 4th Round re-cap of the Benetiz-Curry I "highway robbery".