"Prime" Wilfred Benitez vs. ODLH @ 147

[macman]

De La Hoya is very good at coming in with a excellently prepared fight plan & sticking to it, but he has trouble adapting if things aren't working out.

Prime Benitez one of the most adaptable fighters of all time.


The Benitez - Ray Leonard fight should be the template for this one.

Imagine that DLH would come in with a tight, carefully prepared gameplan, much like SRL, thowing sharp, hard combinations & taking an early lead;
but DLH not as bold as Leonard, & Leonard was helped in the early going by some ring rust on Benitez's part, so don't think he would have the commanding lead that SRL did after 5 rounds - probably 2 or 3 points ahead.

After that, see Benitez taking over the fight - Benitez was amazing at figuring out the everything an opponent's capable of, & making the adjustments to compensate. He did this against SRL from the 6th on & it took the creative use of an elbow & an abrupt change in tactics to stop Benitez taking over completely, & it was damn hard work.

Do not think that DLH capable of making the necessary adjustments, & see Benitez slipping inside, landing with sharp combinations, then on the outside making DLH miss, then punishing him with increasing regularity as rounds go on.

Benitez by decision.

[ferocity]

Benitez was very slick defensive fighter. One of the best i've ever seen on tape. Would have been a great fight.

I've heard Benitez didn't always train properly for his fights and was already into drugs and how some signs of ill effects for his fights. But i've only read about this. Great fighters it seems after winning becomes second nature they start to lage it in training, and it shows up in there fights, this has happened to many great fighters. As the Hagler quote says, "you don't want to run when you're sleeping silk pejamas." or somthing like that. Im sure somone know the exact quote.

[oldgringo]

where can video's of benitez previous fights be found?

I believe Benitez' bout with Hearns is in segments on youtube. I have his bout with Cervantes and can upload it when I go back to school (in a couple of weeks). I had the Leonard fight highlights but deleted it accidentally.

[oldgringo]

Round 15 - Leonard stops Benitez

A bit of a quick stoppage for those days, but Benitez was a bit dazed. Great action round though...

[Hydro]

a 130-135 delahoya was waaay more dominate

that's because of who he was fighting.

dlh only fought 2x at 130 lbs and the only top lightweight he fought when he was at 135 was ruelas.

The rest were 130 lb fighters moving up.

[brownpimp88]

that's because of who he was fighting.

dlh only fought 2x at 130 lbs and the only top lightweight he fought when he was at 135 was ruelas.

The rest were 130 lb fighters moving up.

Dude benitez lasted till he was 24, after that he was done. Oscar has a better career, no doubt about it.

[GunStar]

Benitez was better then Oscar, I see him winning this fight by a clear UD win.

[ferocity]

that's because of who he was fighting.

dlh only fought 2x at 130 lbs and the only top lightweight he fought when he was at 135 was ruelas.

The rest were 130 lb fighters moving up.

I see you just looked up Delahoyas record.

Be it how it is, he fought a lot of tough opponets early on and continued through out his career.

Lejia, Molina, Ruelas, Paez, all still fighting at the top level well after they ran into Delahoya. And then you have a load of tough contenders some then still went on to be top contenders. The one fight that one me over was his fight against Grigorio Campanelle this was a great fight, showed his metal as he had to get up off the canves on shaky legs and still going toe to toe with a fighter that was still hurting him. He really prove his worth right there. Though I don't know what happened to Campenelle after Delahoya, he too showed his metal and prove to be a good fighter.

And about the lightweights. That i remember Ruelas was known as one of the best lightweights. Of course he had just won the title a while ago, but still a good Champion. At the time i belive it was Miguel Angel Gonzalez who was the main Champion at the time, he made a lot of defences of his lightweight title but at the time under rated and not really known except hardcore champions.

Delahoya fought a lot of tough contenders and Champions and this is why he gets a lot of credit for it.

[Hydro]

I see you just looked up Delahoyas record.

Be it how it is, he fought a lot of tough opponets early on and continued through out his career.

Lejia, Molina, Ruelas, Paez, all still fighting at the top level well after they ran into Delahoya. And then you have a load of tough contenders some then still went on to be top contenders. The one fight that one me over was his fight against Grigorio Campanelle this was a great fight, showed his metal as he had to get up off the canves on shaky legs and still going toe to toe with a fighter that was still hurting him. He really prove his worth right there. Though I don't know what happened to Campenelle after Delahoya, he too showed his metal and prove to be a good fighter.

And about the lightweights. That i remember Ruelas was known as one of the best lightweights. Of course he had just won the title a while ago, but still a good Champion. At the time i belive it was Miguel Angel Gonzalez who was the main Champion at the time, he made a lot of defences of his lightweight title but at the time under rated and not really known except hardcore champions.

Delahoya fought a lot of tough contenders and Champions and this is why he gets a lot of credit for it.

I already knew that, I didn't need to look it up.

ruelas was the only top LW De La Hoya fought in his time at 135.

dlh beat a lot of quality guys but calling him dominant at 130 is inaccurate when he fought there just two times, and at 135, well, he beat just one world class lightweight. the top guys he beat were jr. lightweights.