Wilfred Benitez vs. Ayub Kalule

Benitez is far too good for the decent Kalule. Kalule was a teeny bit ponderous and he doesn't have the speed nor pressure to bother Benitez too much. Benitez handled leftfield very well. Benitez 11-4. Way too slick at his best. QA common score for Benitez - Duran at this weight was 13-2. The Benitez of this fight is hard to go past. Only a Hearns/Leonard class of fighter stood a decent chance of outboxing him.

 

Kalule did have geat counterpunching skills and strong defence of his own.THose loses to moore and McCallum were down to weightmaking more than anything else.Kalule was not ponderous imo, maybe a bit methodical but also very very smooth and technically correct.

Two counterpunchers who would both find it very hard to land on each other.

I see it playing out similarly to Wilfred's tough fight with Villa, who was inferior to Kalule in a very similar technically refined counterpunching style and Wilfred had a real tough time landing on him with both men cancelling each other out offensively.

Benitez better reflexes likely make the difference.

 

Don't forget Hamsho and Davey Moore.

 

Kalule wasn't a big puncher and didn't have a long reach or anything that may have troubled Benitez, so I'd say that Wilfred would have made a victim of Kalule by a one sided decision. Kalule would have had no idea how to hit Benitez.

 

Kalule beat the 'great' sumbu kalambay, he has a chance in this fight.

 

And yet Bomber Graham beat Kalule, but lost to Kalambay:huh

As for the question in hand, I reckon hot favourite Benitez goes in too overconfident and Kalule upsets the apple cart winning a close but Unanimous decision in a brilliant match-up and superb what if? by Luigi1985.

:happy

 

Forget about Kalule's losses to Leonard, Graham, Moore, etc. Kalule was already on the slide when he defended the light-middleweight title against Marjan Benes, long before he started to lose fights.

A PEAK Kalule, i.e. the one that few Brits and no Americans ever saw fight, would have given Benitez fits. Case in point is his fight against the British middleweight Kevin Finnegan. Finnegan was murder against southpaws, he almost ko'd Alan Minter and had Marvin Hagler backing up in both their fights before losing twice on cuts.

Kalule handled Finnegan with ease. He beat Finnegan more far more easily than either Minter or Hagler did. Kalule's problem was that his promoter Mogens Palle kept him weight-drained at light-middle and he burned out. Kalule should have gone for the middleweight title, not hung around weight-drained to defend against Leonard.

 

Exactly, Kalule didn't have a long pro prime because of fighting at the wrong weightclass.He was full middle that was tearing through the division when foolishly opting to move down to 154

Track down some of those earlier fights at middle against Seales, Finnegan, Robles and others and it's clear he was one of the best pure stylists of his generation.Only Hagler was better than him in the post-monzon middleweight scene.

btw the Kalule that Herol Graham beat was totally shot.

Fighting at 160 again gave him enough steam to beat Lindell Holmes and turn in a great performance against up and coming Kalambay, but that was it.thought he lost the kalambay bout by a few points and was very lucky to get the decision in an extremely fast paced fight that saw him have nothing left for Grhaam.

I still take Benitez over him though tend to see Kalule reversing those losses to McCallum and Moore had he fought them at his best.

 

Interesting to actually hear some info about Kalule that seldom sees the light of day. Good stuff. I've certainly learnt something.

 

I like Benitez.

A more natural 154 fighter with the type of game that could frustrate a good fighter without an outstanding reach or speed advantage (like Tommy Hearns).

 

Benitez UD 15 Kalue, but Kalue would have his moments.

 

I think Benitez edges this one on points. Neither fighter much of a puncher, thus Wilfred's superior technique is the tiebreaker here. If Steve Gregory can take Ayub the distance, then Benitez should make the difference.