Wilfred Benitez vs Roberto Duran

Been wanting to see this fight for a while now, I wish Duran had won as I prefer him as a fighter to Benitez but Benitez was a great too & apparently it was his night that night.

 

Duran was again supposedly weight drained going into his '82 fight with Benitez. Duran claimed he had to lose 38 pounds in order to make weight.. But Benitez looked big next to Duran in the ring... The size difference really told the story, along with Benitez' hand and foot speed... Duran looked good for 2 or 3 rds, but then he looked sluggish and slower than usual.... Duran was tuff overall, but he was totally out-boxed by Benitez.... Duran's conditioning was not all that great in 1982.... Duran was in much better form in '83 against "Cuevas, Moore & Hagler."

MR.BILL

 

Duran had nothing in that fight even SRL who was comentating that fight noticed early in the fight that Duran had nothing in his punches.

 

I thought he looked fine as far as conditioning goes.Benitez was just better at this weight than him overall, and at certainly head to head.Duran at this weight was a counterpuncher with unspectacular hand and foot speed; not the style needed to beat Benitez.

On the other hand Benitez would like never have beaten Moore like Duran did(i'm more or less discouting the fluke ankle injury fight they did have).He wouldn't have brutally fouled him out of the fight for one.And Wilfred still had some real stinkers against quicker safety-first fighters like his appalling bout with Carlos Santos.

I think Benitez fight against another former welter in Pete Ranzany took place at this weight.That might be my favourite performance of his.Some awesome angles in that one.

 

He was 31 or 32 years old and on the decline (due in part to getting some enormous paydays) He got beat by an extremely talented young buck who was having a great night.

 

It wasnt him that was giving excuses it was SRL who was comentating the fight that said that Duran had nothing in his punches and he did it around the second round not after the fight.

you could see that Duran didnt had the same fire and intensity he had in other fights,if that was cause of his condition,cause of Benitez style or both i dont know.

but credit to Benitez he did what he had to do and won the fight clearly.

 

Hmmmmmm.... But it was Willie Benitez who went to hell after losing his title to Hearns in Dec. 1982 on PPV at the tender age of 24........... Benitez then choked against Mustafa Hamsho in 1983 and began a slide into oblivion from there on...... Benitez would go on winning and losing until 1991 or 1992.........

Christ, Duran came back to win titles at 154 and 160 in 1983 and '89, and Duran would fight until 2001 at age 50 yrs............. Jesus.........

MR.BILL:bbb

 

Benitez didn't choke against Hamsho.He just stayed in a corner and didn't make any effort.Still seemed perfectly relaxed though.

 

:huh:blood:admin

 

Duran was meant to be in fine shape for this fight. He had no problems at all making the weight. I read that Ray Arcel said that Duran was in his best shape since the third fight with De Jesus. Duran's camp was in a remote area with a prison near his camp. The only problem Duran had during his camp was getting enough sleep as he heard the prisoners throughout the night. His training camp was around 2-3 months and he took this fight very seriously.

 

I beg to differ............... Duran was in good shape at 154 in Sept. 1981 in Vegas for his fight with Luigi Minchillo, in which Duran won a 10 rounder in the Vegas heat.... But Duran slacked off and by Nov. he was upward of 185 pounds..... Duran stated that his team got the fight with Benitez for a Jan. '82 date on HBO with a good payday attached to the deal.... Duran had no choice but to take the deal and fight........ Duran dropped well over 30 pounds in his 8 week training program to fight Benitez..... I read that in early issues of World Boxing and KO mag back in the 80s..........
:deal

MR.BILL