Latin Americans

Troy Brasher

Spanish I

Mrs. Rios

14 November 2014

Wilfred Benitez

Wilfred Benitez birthed on September 12, 1958. He didn’t only go by Wilfred. He also was called Radar and Bible of Boxing. He got the name Radar because he was able to predict what his opponent was about to do and block it. Wilfred went pro when he was 15 and his father, Gregorio Benitez, became his manager. Benitez was surprisingly good for a 16-year old. He had the speed and the power in his punch; this was enough to make him a world-ranked boxer.

On March 6, 1976 he faced the thirty-year-old, light welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes. The fight concluded in fifteen round split in Benitez’s favor. He retained the championship three times and then moved up to the welterweight division. On January 14, 1979 he challenged WBC world champion Carlos Palomino. Benitez won a fifteen round split in a second weight division. Benitez fought Sugar Ray Leonard on November 30, 1979. This match was more mental than anything. Benitez struggled from a knockout in the third round. He was put down again in the fifteen round. Leonard had won. After that lost, Benitez went up in his weight at age 22. He was the youngest three-time world champion in boxing history by knocking out WBC World Super Welterweight Champion Maurice Hope in twelve rounds. This became the knockout of the year. His next fight will go down in history. On November 14, 1981 he fought future world champion Carlos Santos. This was the first fight between two Puerto Ricans in history. Benitez won a fifteen round unanimous decision. His next fight that was on January 30, 1982 he defeated Roberto Duran by a fifteen round unanimous decision. On December 3, 1982, Benitez lost the belt to another boxing legend Thomas Hearns in a fifteen round majority decision.

Benitez’s career went downhill after he fought Hearns. On November 28, 1986 with his health getting worse, he went to Argentina to fight Carlos Herrera. Carlos beat Benitez...