Benítez marks Duran. All photos from The Ring Magazine archive
A radar in his brain, a GPS in each fist and a look that could freeze the heart of his enemy. And by far the most precocious talent in boxing history.
Wilfred Benítez was born on September 12, 1958, in New York City, the youngest son of a former professional boxer. To say that he followed in the footsteps of his father and his two older brothers “from a very young age” would be an understatement.
Using a fake ID, Benítez made his professional debut at the tender age of 15 and embarked on a meteoric career that would find him facing one of the greatest junior welterweights in history in the form of Colombian Antonio “Kid Pambelé” Cervantes. . With his high school classmates cheering from the stands, the 17-year-old Benitez earned a hard-fought split decision victory to become the youngest man to win the undisputed Ring title in 1976 against a seasoned veteran with more than 90 fights in his career. to have.
That was just the beginning of a legendary career.
After two title defenses, the defensive wizard moved up in weight to continue his career and in 1979 he finally challenged Carlos Palomino for the Ring welterweight title at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico, the same venue he had made story three years earlier.
Two fights later, “The Radar” lost their belts to Sugar Ray Leonard in a memorable fight in which Leonard stopped Benitez with just six seconds left in the fight, following a phenomenal display of boxing skills by both men. .
A year later, Benítez would receive an offer to risk his belt against Tommy Hearns, but decided to move up in weight due to the natural growth of his body. Against all odds, he once again defeated a much more experienced and bigger man when he knocked out Maurice Hope in 12 rounds to become only the fifth fighter in history to win a third title (this time at 154) and thus win titles in three different. divisions, being the youngest to achieve that goal at just 22 years of age.
In what would become one of his greatest and sadly last masterpieces, Benítez retained his belt against Roberto Durán in 1982 in another fine display of boxing skills, but that second defense of that title would be the last time he would have a belt of any kind. In his next fight, he finally faced Hearns in his prime with the title on the line and lost a majority decision.
The next seven years would be a long and painful road to the end, going 9-6 in various challenges against subpar opponents as his savings eroded along with his once brilliant physical and mental abilities. In the late 1980s he traveled to Argentina, where he was either cheated out of his purse for fighting Carlos Herrera or spent his entire purse as his mental state worsened, according to various records. A mission undertaken by a legislator to rescue him and bring him back to Puerto Rico eventually brought him to the island where he had grown up, but he managed to travel to the US and obtained a license that allowed him to fight until his 32nd birthday. Without his savings and his health in decline, he now lives in Chicago with the 24-hour assistance of his sister Yvonne.
His final record was 53-8-1 with 31 knockouts.
In 1996, Benítez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, where he is found alongside Félix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gómez, Carlos Ortiz, Héctor Camacho, Edwin Rosario and Miguel Cotto.
