Lets say it's January 1980 and the WBC order an eliminator bout for a shot at Leonard. Who you got? I got Duran by close but clear decision.
Trying to put my agenda aside I still pick Benitez. He had the style (not to mention talent) to beat Duran, though obviously it would be tough
Was he really? In the ensuing year or so, he blew out Cuevas, upset Moore, & was even shockingly close to decisioning Hagler at Middleweight. Don't misunderstand me --- Duran was a patently better fighter at 135lbs. than at any time after he left that division, but he could only ever meet Benitez at the latter's best weight, & his style & rhythm was such that he was almost born to beat fighters who lead. As brilliant & ferocious as Duran was on offense, Benitez was his scintillatin & beautiful equal on defense.
I think Duran's self belief was really rocked at that moment in time & you can see the total lack of conviction in all the post New Orleans fights prior to Cuevas (which was a stylistic gimme for him), including Benitez. He was tentative to the point of lethargy (by his standards) in some of those fights. Close fight but I think Duran takes it in 1980 when he had that fire in his (slimmer) belly. Parentheses!
Cant remember but probably about 10-5 or 9-5-1. It wasn't close never mind contentious but it was competitive. And as i said, I really believe Duran was fighting without any of the intensity his style (and the besting of a guy like Bentiez) required.
The scorecards were shockingly close --- I remember Benitez winning comfortably. I still say it's glossed over by a lot of Duran fans. There's always plenty of discussion regarding this time in Duran's career, but considering this was a fight against one of the best champions of that decade, it's strange. I might watch this fight again now, as it's been some time. I want to re-fresh my perception of how much of the result had to do with your take Duran was not himself, & how much Benitez as the opponent accounted for that.
I think Duran's biggest problem at 154 was that while he still carried his skills with him, he didnt have the strength he possessed even 7 rounds south... I also believe Duran was a different guy in 1980... I would have to favor him over Wilfred there, BUT Wilfred ALWAYS gives him fits
Considering it was followed up by a loss to Kirkland Lang you have to question where Roberto was as a fighter at that point. His performances against Gonzalez, Minchillo & Batten was also so unbelievably, painfully insipid Ive never been able to sit through any of those complete fights. He wasn't committed to boxing with any sense of purpose during that period, for my money. Which isn't to diminish Bentiez' performance too much. He was on Duran's level or close....Duran just wasn't on Duran's level at that time. I suppose half the point of this thread was to gauge whether others shared that perception.
In fairness to Benitez, it should be noted in the interest of full disclosure that Duran trained like a madman for that fight, it was well documented at the time... he was as ready as he was ever going to be at that point... he may not have been DURAN as we think of him as a lightweight or the early welterweight, but he was still sharp and ready and would have hammered the lion's share of the world's 154 pounders that night... also, benitez deserves props for HOW he beat him... Benitez wasnt cute in that fight, he was aggressive and hammered Duran to the body... It was competetive, but I agree with Ramonza that the scorecards were baffling, to me Duran may have actually WON about 5 rounds in that fight
Absolutely. Duran trained hard from everything I've read (the reports in the hands of stone biography, basically ::) and Benitez was a great fighter on top form. Agree with your 10-5 type scoring, btw. His mental bearing wasn't in as fine fettle as his physical condition in my observation though.....and the credit Bentiez takes for that has to be tempered by how similarly he fought Minchillo, Gonzalez, Batten & Lang. In 1980 my money would be on Duran by close decision.
