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
Benitez fought and beat a lot of good fighters. The stand-outs other than Duran, Hearns and Leonard are Cervantes and Palomino, who were in or close to their prime when a young Benitez beat them. Maurice Hope was also a solid light middleweight champion, whom Benitez outclassed and KO'd. The likes of Bruce Curry, Harold Weston, Randy Shields, Pete Ranzany, Tony Chiaverini, Emiliano Villa, Carlos Santos were top contenders of the era. There weren't too many opponents that Benitez missed out on.
Great response, thanks a lot:thumbsup. I recognise some of them names but don't now too much about them. Was this a particularily good time for 140, 147 and 154 or were they just average era's?
It was a great time for 147 when it came to the big names, Benitez, Hearns, Leonard and Duran. The rest of the contenders weren't among the best though. Good, solid fighters, who were never going to dominate any era. Likewise at 140 there was a dominant champion in Antonio Cervantes but the division outside of him wasn't exactly stacked, mostly lightweights fighting back and forth between 135 and 140. The light middleweight division has almost always been weak historically, in comparison to the welterweight and middleweight divisions that overshadow it. Maurice Hope did hold a win over middleweight champ Vito Antuofermo though.
It's worth noting too that Benitez was literally just a kid when he beat Cervantes. Just 17. Cervatnes was an established champ with several defenses under his belt. An astounding performance for a fighter who was still just a child.
