Wilfredo Benitez(1979)v Lloyd Honeyghan(1986)welter,15 rounder?

Question

How would the self styled 'Raggamufin man' ( who shocked the boxing world by beating the higly rated Texan Don Curry in '86)fare against the great Benitez if these 2 would have met at their peaks?

Answer 1

Benitez was an artist in the ring and would outwork Honeyghan on the outside, frustrate him in the latter rounds and pound out   an unanimous decision. Benitez scores a knockdown in round 13, which essentially puts an exclamation mark on his work.

Answer 2

I can honestly say the only figths ive seen with Honeyghan was the Curry fight and Maurice Blocker.  From what I remember of the Curry fight, Curry was ahead on the scorecards but quit in the corner because of a broken nose and badly cut eye.

But Blocker didn't have any legit names on his resume.

Benitez had trouble with faster fighters, and Honeyghan certainly had the reach and jab on him, not to mention the height and reach.

Height being another challenge Benitez did not do well against. But he went 15 rounds with Hearns and lost a Majority decision. So that tells me its not for lack of trying.

Im going to go against the grain and say Honeyghan pulls off the upset and outpoints Benitez after surviving some near knockouts throughout the fight.

Im assuming this question came up because of the Leonard-Benitez replay on ESPN classics last night.

Answer 3

Benitez has it all over Honeyghan.  If he trains he stops Lloyd in 12.  IF not, he wins a decision after an early scare.  

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Little known fact:  Honeyghan wasn't really that good.  He beat Curry Only because Curry KILLED himself to make 147.  He was young and naturally outgrowing the welterweight division.  

After beating Milton McCrory to unify the belt,  Curry spoke to Sugar Ray Leonard who advised Donald to "Stay at welter,  The Undisputed welterweight title is one of the most prestigious in the sport".   Taking Leonard's advice,  Curry continued to kill himself to make weight.   He was Totally FLAT wn he entered the ring against Honeyghan.    

Roy Jones would learn the same painful lesson years later.   Roy didnt get old.  Notice he hasn't been the same since the FIRST Tarver fight.   That's because he should NEVER have gone up then down.    He should have saved his Hvt.  venture for the end of his career.   I realize he took the opportunity but he paid a heavy price for it.

You JUST CANT put on 20 lbs of muscle then take it off.  Roy was never the same and neither was Donald for making 147 long after he should have left the division.

Leonard didnt want Donald to go after Hagler.  He had the plan for Hagler mapped out 2.5 years before the fight actually happened.   He wasn't interested in a comeback at the time.  He just wanted to wait and catch Hagler after the war with Hearns and then Mugabi.  

Donald Curry, being an active fighter,  and winning, was on the Fast Track to Hagler.  Leonard wisely used his influence to derail Curry, who's biggest mistake is that he didnt see what Leonard was up to.    He should just have followed his own instinct and left the 147 division when he wanted to.

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Answer 4

Wilfredo Benitez would have given Honeyghan a boxing lesson not taking anything away from Honeyghan he probably got more out of his ability than any fighter I can think of  he started out in Tough Man fights and became a world champion  that is remarkable Benitez was to slick for him Benitez wins a 15 round unamus decision this would be a fight I would love to see

Answer 5

benitez would do an even better job of outboxing honeyghan than starling did, (and i was a huge honeyghan fan back in the day), so benitez by decision or late stoppage, assuming honeyghan fights more smartly than he did against the aforementioned 'magic man' in which case wilfred stops lloyd by the 8th round.