Do you believe that wilfred benitez only trained 2 weeks for his fight with leonard?

[Scott9945]

Speaking of Benitez, I noticed he turned 54 today. Kind of young for a guy experiencing the kind of dementia I've heard he has these days. I wish him a happy birthday, none the less though.

Benitez has been in bad mental shape for a long time now.

[Tiozzo]

No, not at all. He was talented, but not that talented. No one is. You don't get away with training two weeks against someone as good as Leonard and do as well as he did.

His training habit myths would have come about from his small, unimportant fights which he probably didn't train for because he clearly trained very hard for his big fights.

He was best against Duran but there was bad blood there too, so was seriously up for that and looked the best he ever did, however he also looked great against Hearns, Leonard and Kid Pembele.

that is what came to my mind too

[AntonTheMeh]

though probably bull****, it wouldn't shock me. it could just be gamesmanship, or just an excuse as well. can't really tell.

[SBleeder]

I don't believe that for a second. In general, claims that a fighter didn't prepare properly should always be greeted with skepticism, as they provide a reliable excuse should the fighter lose.

Benitez fought an incredible fight against SRL! (In my book, it's the GOAT fight in boxing history). As has been noted, Benitez's insane athleticism by itself would not have allowed him to frustrate Leonard as much as he did unless he came into the bout with some level of preparedness.

The stoppage was crap, by the way. Not that Benitez deserved to win the fight, but he deserved to finish the fight. Supposedly a particular bettor placed a substantial sum on the fight ending in a KO/stoppage; make of that what you will.

[Scott9945]

I don't believe that for a second. In general, claims that a fighter didn't prepare properly should always be greeted with skepticism, as they provide a reliable excuse should the fighter lose.

Benitez fought an incredible fight against SRL! (In my book, it's the GOAT fight in boxing history). As has been noted, Benitez's insane athleticism by itself would not have allowed him to frustrate Leonard as much as he did unless he came into the bout with some level of preparedness.

The stoppage was crap, by the way. Not that Benitez deserved to win the fight, but he deserved to finish the fight. Supposedly a particular bettor placed a substantial sum on the fight ending in a KO/stoppage; make of that what you will.

I certainly agree about the stoppage. It was downplayed because Leonard winning was just a formality at that point, but there was no legitimate reason for it.

[Ray Corso]

Two Weeks? Seems like alot for him!! Benitez was a waste of talent, he won big to early in his career and never respected the game. He fought in a style that promoters and fans hated and he did often train like dog!! Great talent but never realized it!! Real screwy dynamic with Leonard dating Wilfreds sister too!!! Ray.

[Prince_Pugilist]

And if so would the outcome have changed if he trained more seriously?

Wilfred must have trained as well if not better than he'd ever trained before. You could see how badly he wanted to win.

Anyway, it doesn't matter what version of Benitez turns up, SRL beats him every time.