Does Benitez outbox Jackson, or does Benitez make that one mistake and Jackson clocks him? I lean towards the later. As masteful defensively as Benitez was, I have a hard time seeing him go 12 or 15 rounds with getting hit at least one good shot from Jackson. And one good one is all it would take. Jackson by KO.
I could see Benitez schooling Jackson for 12-15 rounds. I could also see Benitez schooling Jackson for about seven rounds. Then I could also see Benitez KTFO on one-punch during the seventh round. Toss-up.
I'll go with Benitez on points. When a guy's only chance of winning is to land a home run shot it rarely happens.
Don't think Jackson is quite the one dimensional swinger he's become in the collective memory. We aren't talking about David Tua here...... at 154 this is a winnable fight for Jackson, though I'd make Benitez a slender betting favourite.
Hard to see Benitez surviving. Jackson was a guy that you almost HAD TO knock out to beat. He didn't leave you much choice. Jackson KO 7
No, certainly not but he's not on the same level as Benitez in terms of boxing ability. I think Wilfred's 'radar' would be in full effect knowing what's on the other side.
Jackson and Hearns were completely different fighters. Jackson was more of a whirlwind slugger that threw the majority of his punches with bad intentions. Tommy was more about leverage and extension. Tommy's type of angular power punching played much easier for Benitez to defend. Jackson would be on him from the open bell, and if memory serves me correctly, the only guy to beat Jackson at 154 was a guy in McCallum that could take his shot and stop him with his own. Benitez best shot wouldn't even make Julian hesitate. I just can't envision Benitez avoiding damage for 15 rounds from Jackson if he couldn't get his respect. This is much closer to looking like the Hilton fight not the Hearns bout.
Disagree. Benitez had a decent punch of his own and Jackson is not known to have the best chin either.
I'm not going to argue this point, but I never saw Benitez hurt anyone of quality. And if you watched him back then you would know that the majority of his stoppages were accumulation of sharp counters. I actually saw him live and in person in 1980 when I was freshman in high school, which was his first fight after Leonard. He hammered this overmatched dude with a ton of shots and couldn't knock him out. I may be wrong about Jackson's chin, but he slugged it out with a few guys that could bang and didn't go anywhere. The Drayton fight stands out as one of the those bang fest that Jackson walked through some decent shots. He was pretty solid at 154.
Great posts by Trplsec. I stand by my pick of Benitez as marginal betting favourite here, but Jackson is a very live underdog - a very different type of puncher & fighter to Hearns, he's gonna go for the knock out aggressively since he doesn't have Hearns' ability to outbox his man. Benitez' walks genuine a tightrope here.
agree, however this isnt Herol Graham either when Benitez was on, he was a very special fighter If he's on, he's not only winning this, he's knocking Julian out late that said, with his chin and his seomtimes laziness, he could be taking a nap
