Wilfredo Benetiz

My dad was on the PR national team. His favorite fighter was Duran and Benetiz. I grew up watching my dads tapes of them. Benitz is most def on the ATG...top in the PR ATG list.

 

He is the name that is the answer to the frequent quiz question of the youngest ever world champion. Winning the title at 17 years of age .That in itself is something but looking at his record further shows that he had already fought well over a hundred rounds of professional boxing after turning pro at 14
That world title fight was no easy match either.He was put in with Cervantes who's record at the time was 74-9-3
No easy fight for Wilfred there .He put on a great performance winning a close 15 rounder.
To look at his record a bit closer .He has Leonard, Hearns and Duran there .Fought them all before he was 23 years old .Three 15 round fights with three all time great fighters .Not many fighters of any era can boast that
Around those fights he fought Carlos Palamino.Fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Santos .Tough fighters that went the distance
He had a slighly easier night work with the UK's underrated Maurice Hope .That 12th round knockout shows Wilfred's power.
Great fighter but the story has a sad ending

 

He was pretty good in beating fellow countryman and undefeated as well,
Junior Middlewweight Carlos Santos (who was sneaky good).

Little-known fact. Wilfred pulled out of a fight with Monroe Brooks at Madison Square Garden.

 

it really does. that win is one of the best victories in boxing history

 

Considering Benitez only trained 9 days for the Leonard fight which embarrassed his father ( trainer ) Gregorio who refused to be in his corner.

Too many disco's and party life....but a great talent!!!

Also, ask Maurice Hope about his right hand.

 

Duran refused to shake hands afterwards and wouldn't even acknowledge him.

Another great staredown was before the Leonard fight....Benitez walked over to his corner as he typically did before the final Ref's instructions and stared Leonard down and you can literally see a big vein pulsating on Leonard's forehead and neck.
Funny stuff!!!

 

:deal Weird how Benitez beats Duran, loses to Moore, then Duran beats Moore. I do think Duran would of beaten Benitez at WW, but at JMW 9 times out of 10 Benitez had the right style for Duran. I have Gomez and Benitez on par as to who was the greatest PR fighter. I heard stories that Benitez undertrained at the gym and he relied mostly on reflexes and instinct, I'm sure he might of been even greater had he trained like he was supposed to. A true natural fighter.

 

I think Benitez was the type of fighter if you boxed against him, you'd most likely lose, unless your Tommy Hearns of course.

 

One of my all time favorite fighters, an absolute boxing master, he made Leonard look like he was fighting underwater at times & winning his 3rd genuine world title in a 3rd weight division at only 22 years of age back in the day when there was only the WBC/WBA is absolutly beyond belief. Incredible considering that he really was only just a kid.

 

My fav PR fighter and one of the best defensive technicians ever. He was a great counter puncher and in his prime he was very hard to look good against. His fights with Bruce Curry are pretty underrated. The first one could've gone either way and Curry even dropped Benitez I believe a few times in that fight. In Curry/Benitez 2, El Radar put on a clinic and that's a good example of pure boxing. Both fights were in 77/78.

 

techs,

I was at both Benetiz-Curry fights.
I loved Wilfred, but,,,,,,,,,,,,
Bruce Curry got robbed in the first one 'worst decision at Madison Square Garden'.

El Radar redeemed himself, and boxed nicely in the re-match, but did get rocked pretty good in the 4th round.

 

Bruce Curry had power so I'm not surprised he dropped Benitez in the firs fight(was it like twice??? I forgot). I'm not sure if I would call it a robbery but you were there so you probably would know more than I would. The last time I saw that fight it looked close but I'll rewatch it. Benitez boxed very nicely in the rematch but I don't remember him getting rocked in the 4th but I'll rewatch that too. Hell I wanna get those fights I love them. Speaking of Curry, I'm a fan of his brother and want to get his fights especially to see Starling-Curry 2. People who said they saw it keep bragging about how it was a great techincal infighting fight so I want to see that and the first fight.

 

Definitely the best puerto rican fighter for me along with tito trinidad and carlos ortiz.

 

Cervantes was NOT past his prime at all... In fact, when Benitez moved up and defeated Palomino for the welter crown, Cervantes regained his 140 lb. crown, holding it until losing to Aaron Pror via 4 rd KO., who managed to still drop Pryor in the 1st or second rd. Benitez was a defensive marvel ! `El Radar`, would lure his opponent to the ropes, then with his back to the ropes. Slip smother and counter them silly. Only adequate chin was well covered by an uncanny knack of knowing when and where the punches were coming. Youngest world champ ever beating Cervantes for his crown when at the tender age of 17... Gave Duran and Palomino both a boxing lesson...

 

I'll always remember Wilfredo as quite the nice guy. I had a chance to train around him when he was very much on the way out. It was really sad, he was trying to get it together for one last good payday but the magic was gone. He was the last to see it, and we were totally in awe of his past accomplishments. His English was really limited and my Spanish is unfortunately non-existent so we never had deep discussions but it was an honor just to train in the same gym with him.