A motivated Benitez wins. Norris looks good early and is probably ahead on the cards when Benitez begins to time him and catch him with clean counters. I think he eventually damages Norris enough for a stoppage.
There's some problems with that theory. Leonard and Hearns outboxed Benitez, but Terry was a not on the level of those guys. Not only not in terms of skill, but also reach. Benitez had difficulty with the length and reach of Leonard/Hearns in addition to their speed. Leonard had a 74 inch reach, and Hearns' reach was like what? 78 at least? Terry had T-rex arms, and no height advantage over Benitez. The other problem is Leonard/Hearns were light years ahead of Norris in terms of MENTAL TOUGHNESS. Benitez would make Norris miss a lot, and knowing Norris... there's a VERY REAL possibility that frustrates Norris into making mistakes, which Will would counter. In fact, I'd bet on Benitez making Norrris frustrated enough to make mistakes. Norris was an excellent offensive technician, but his weak chin wasn't his ONLY problem. Let's be honest, the guy was a bit of a headcase. I don't have confidence in him maintaining his compure against a calm defensive wiz who had the power to counter and stop him. I think Benitez would stop him late while probably slightly behind on the cards.
All good points, but the theory works both ways too. Terry Norris in his prime was extremely difficult to beat if you didn't have the punch. So whereas you can say that Norris can't outbox Benitez the way Leonard and Hearns did, you can also rise a question if Benitez really did have the power to stop him. Also it might be true that Norris can get discouraged, but to me it seemed that if he got the upper hand, he could gain momentum. If he wins exchanges early on against Benitez, he can build on that. Even though Leonard was well past it against him, he wasn't Hector-Camacho-Shot, and Norris never let him in the fight, never was bothered by his punches and Leonard's ring smarts didn't help him at all. And yes, worn Leonard is not the same as prime Benitez, but being better than a guy that loses 120-106 doesn't mean an automatic win either when the opponent is as fast as you, hits harder and can beat you up at close. I see this as a 50:50 fight and if I had to pick, I'd go with Norris
I definitely think Benitez had the power to stop Norris at 154. He had sneaky power in his right hand, and if he caught Terry clean with a shot he doesn't see, he could definitely get him out of there. Either way, I would have loved to see this fight. A great chessmatch between a great offensive technician and a great defensive technician. IMO though, Benitez at his best was a slightly higher caliber operator than Norris.