A Boxing Memory: Benitez vs. Duran

A Boxing Memory: Benitez vs. Duran:

The virtuoso performance of Wilfred Benitez should have been the catalyst for many more similar nights and defeat should have spelt the end for Roberto Duran who was still struggling to recover from his ‘No Mas’ shame against Sugar Ray Leonard. But history would tell a very different story. It would go down as the last outstanding performance Benitez ever served up. But despite a further defeat to the perceived British lamb to the slaughter in Kirkland Laing, against all the odds, Duran would give us a few more memorable nights. Probably the understatement of any year.

Both fighters went to Las Vegas in 1982 with hopes of earning the even bigger fights that a victory would surely bring. Duran was chasing Leonard again, and Benitez hoped to challenge Marvelous Marvin Hagler and become the first four-weight world champion in boxing history. The WBC light-middleweight title that Benitez had won so spectacularly from Maurice Hope was on the line, but Latin pride and more were also at stake.

Benitez and Duran were still young men, but long careers seemed to have taken plenty out of both. Duran was still only 30 but he had been boxing for 15 years, and since the surrender to Leonard in their rematch in New Orleans, the two fights and two wins seemed to indicate Duran was indeed on the slide. People just expected a little more from him. Benitez was seven years younger at 23, but he turned professional when he was 15 and won a world title at 17. A young man still but perhaps he was even at that stage, an old fighter. And with his well-known erratic training habits, the defensive master also had some convincing to do if he was to be put into the world of fearsome Hagler.

Duran was desperate for a big fight. The unbeaten light-welterweight champion Aaron Pryor signed a contract to fight Duran, but when a heavyweight fight between Ken Norton and Gerry Cooney was deemed more important, a fight between Pryor and Duran quickly fell by the wayside. Since the shocking loss to Leonard in 1980, Duran had two wins at light-middleweight against former sparring partner Mike Gonzales and the European champion Luigi Minchillo. A fight with Benitez offered Duran the opportunity to get back into the mix with the superstars of the sport. Leonard his primary target. The search for redemption was also very much in play.

Benitez had only lost to Leonard in forty-five fights and was the 9-5 betting favourite for his fight with Duran, and the Puerto Rican seemed extra motivated for the fight. This wasn’t the fighter who reportedly only trained for a week for his fight with Leonard. The Benitez inner circle talked about not allowing Duran to chase him, but to stand his ground a little more than his more usual approach. The tactics worked quite beautifully as the fight progressed. Benitez seemed to be in control for the majority of the 15 rounds, cutting Duran over both eyes and frustrating him when he tried to close the distance.

Ray Arcel, the 82-year-old trainer of Duran, said, “His body just doesn’t respond anymore.” And that was how it looked. Benitez was just too sharp for Duran and looked a clear winner on the cards. But somehow, Hal Miller only had Benitez a narrow winner by a score of 143-142. But Lou Tabat and Dave Moretti returned far more balanced cards of 145-141 and 144-141, which still looked a little too close to many.

“Sometimes I look like a dragon, and sometimes I’m radar,” Benitez said post-fight, and Don King was impressed enough to add that he would offer Hagler $3 million to fight Benitez.

Carlos Eleta, Duran’s manager, said: ”I think I will retire him. The time has come.” But of course, history tells us the legendary Panamanian didn’t retire, and even in his twilight years, still served up some more truly unforgettable nights. It was the winner who would soon fade away.

The victory of Duran should have launched Benitez to even bigger and better things. But it didn’t quite happen for him. The Hagler fight never ever came. Benitez lost his next fight on a majority decision to Thomas Hearns in December 1982, and his career went quickly downhill from there. The fight with Duran turned out to be one last reminder of the phenomenal talent he once was.