Wilfred Benitez and Roberto Duran met in the ring on January 30, 1982 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. I was working weekends at my airline job at the time, and didn’t have HBO, so I wouldn’t have seen it anyway. Years later I bought a VHS copy of the bout from a guy who sold them, and listed it in the back of the boxing magazines.
The fight was a display of the superior boxing skills of Wilfred, who easily outboxed the come-backing Duran. Benitez won an easy fifteen round decision, and at the time, made you wonder if Duran could ever win another title again. Wilfred was on top of the boxing world, and had plenty of options as far as opponents was concerned.
With Sugar Ray Leonard out of the game because of his eye injuries, Wilfred agreed to defend his super-welterweight crown against Thomas Hearns in New Orleans, on December 3, 1982. That day was my first at my new airline job, since my first one had filed for bankruptcy the same night that Ray Leonard announced his retirement, November 9, 1982. I had an unsettled mind that Friday night in early December, and went home after my shift and punched the heavy bag in my backyard for about 45 straight minutes. I just didn’t know if I wanted to keep this new gig, especially since it was about 40 miles from my house, and a horrible drive to boot.
I was very aware that Hearns and Benitez were fighting that night, but since we didn’t even have cable tv, would have to wait until it was over, and hope to catch the results on the sports report of the 11 o’clock news. If there was no results given there, I’d check the Philadelphia 24 news radio channel, and listen to the sports results at quarter after and quarter of the hour. That’s how I got a lot of fight results back then.
Thomas Hearns was dominant in the fifteen round win over Benitez, and even hurt Wilfred, dropping him in the fifth. This one I watched years later, and it proved how good Thomas was as a boxer. It would also be the last time Wilfred would ever fight in a world championship bout, who floundered most of the rest of his career.
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