Obviously the guy was immensly defensively talented. I only really recognise Duran, Hearns and Leonard on his resume. How good was his other wins? Did he have a very deep resume? I have heard Antonio Cervantes was a legend but looking on boxrec it seems he may have been past his best afterwards- how good is this win? Is there many contenders or there or did he only face stiffs. I'm just curious as he is a bit of a special fighter and I've only just discovered him. Thanks
He has Carlos Palomino in his resume as well. Carlos was the welterweight champ, and a very good fighter himself. Benitez got the SD win in Puerto Rico. El Radar is definetly my favorite Rican boxer :good
Truly an incredible feat. I thought Vargas was winning a title at 21 was an incredible achievement but beating Cervantes at 17...says it all.
It's an unbelieveable acheivement, and will probabaly never be beaten. It was almost a bad thing in a way as he was past it from a young age.
My favourite fighter of the 70's. Look at this right hand [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNvSfmtTeDA[/ame]
He was an excellent fighter. He happened to be around at a particularly talent rich period in Welterweights and Junior middies. Superb fighter. Gave Ray Leonard a very good fight as well. He was not outclassed in their fight.
An ATG, and IMO it is a travesty to call it the "fab four" and not "fab five." The only other fighter to beat three great fighters (Cervantes, Palomino, Duran) by the age of 23 that I know of is Salvador Sanchez. Palomino may be classified as "very good" instead of "great" but the point remains. His knockout of Hope for his title in a third weight class was beautiful, Benitez knew right when it landed it was over, and he just stood there laughing, admiring his brilliance. If you want an idea of his defensive brilliance, check out his fight against Hearns (which also has the greatest staredown of all time, IMO). Another highlight of his is in his fight against Duran. After being comfortably ahead, Benitez baited Duran (who had a strong dislike for Ricans, and people in general) into his corner while Benitez slipped, dodged, countered and mocked an infuriorated Duran.
Absolutely. He just oozed cool in the ring, the ring was his home, and there was no place he felt more comfortable. What a savaant. Side point: he gets some flack for having SDs in his resume over great fighters, but there was no question who won in the Palomino and Cervantez bouts.
Cervantes wasn't past his best at all, really. Why that notion seems to be going around is beyond me. He was still going strong as a dominant champion when Benitez interrupted his reign. Stellar performance by Benitez. That one so young could be so poised in that situation is truly inspiring stuff.
Can you guys imagine any manager, promoter pitting their 17 year old fighter against a dominant champion? Or any titlist for that matter?
It's very rare you see two top fighters fighting each other at all nowadays, never mind a 17 year old, what a fighter he was. Best 17 year old i've ever seen!(**** off Khan fans)
Quite correct. He regained the title later and held it for another 8 title defenses. Aaron Pryor eventually dethroned him. So Benitez beat a prime Cervantes. He was one of those fighters who was still world class in his late 30s.