Salem Press

Back More

Article Citation
Save this article
Print this Article/Save as PDF
Email this article
Copy Permalink to this Article to Clipboard✓

Great Lives from History: Latinos

Wilfred Benitez

by Brett Conway

American boxer

Benitez was a defensive specialist and effective counterpuncher who earned the nickname “the boxing Brain.” At 5 feet, 10 inches, he also was exceptionally tall for his weight class. He was the youngest fighter to win a world championship and became only the fifth fighter to win world titles in three different weight classes—junior welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight.

Areas of achievement: Boxing

Early Life

Wilfred Benitez (beh-NEE-tehz) was born on September 12, 1958, in the Bronx, New York, and raised in Puerto Rico. His father trained him to be a boxer and served as his manager. At only fifteen years of age in November, 1973, Benitez had his first professional fight; he knocked out Hiram Santiago in the first round in San Juan.

Wilfred Benitez.

324_Benitez_Wilfred.jpg

(AP Photo)

Fighting in Puerto Rico, the Antilles, and New York City, Benitez would win his next twenty-four fights before fighting World Boxing Association (WBA) light welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes in San Juan on March 6, 1976. At seventeen years and five months old, Benitez became the youngest fighter to win a world title with a split-decision victory. In May and October, Benitez defended his title against Emiliano Villa and Tony Petronelli, respectively, before moving up to the welterweight division, where he obtained the first blemish on his record with a draw against Harold Weston in February, 1977.

After winning his next three fights but being stripped of his WBA title, Benitez fought Ray Chavez Guerrero on August 3, 1977, and won recognition from the New York State Athletic Commission as the lineal light welterweight champion. After two close decision wins against future World Boxing Council (WBC) light welterweight champion Bruce Curry, he fought for the WBC welterweight title. On January 14, 1979, Benitez out-pointed Carlos Palomino in Puerto Rico for a split decision win. After avenging his draw with Weston, he defended his title in a fifteen-round fight against 1976 Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Leonard in November, 1979. Benitez was only twenty-one years old and the undefeated Leonard twenty-three; this was a fight between the two best young boxers in the world. Enduring a knockdown in the third round and a cut forehead in the sixth, Benitez was stopped with just six seconds to go in the final round.

Life’s Work

Benitez came back in 1980 with three wins, two by knockout, before challenging Maurice Hope for the WBC light middleweight title. He stopped Hope in the twelfth round. With this win, he became only the third fighter to win titles in three divisions. He successfully defended the title twice: once against undefeated Carlos Santos in November, 1981, and once against the legend Roberto Duran, considered by many one of the best fighters of all time, in January, 1982. Benitez won a close unanimous decision over Duran. Almost a year later, in December, he faced Thomas Hearns and lost a majority decision.

Benitez continued to fight through the 1980’s but was never the same. After fighting Hearns, his record was 9 wins against 6 losses—3 of which were by knockout. He often was brought in to fight young fighters to build up their résumés. This included a loss to future junior middleweight champion Matthew Hilton in Montreal in 1986. Benitez suffered a final indignity in 1986 when, after a knockout loss in Argentina, the promoter stole his money and his passport, leaving him stranded in the country for more than a year. That was Benitez’s last fight before his final comeback attempt in 1990.

After retiring from boxing, it became apparent that Benitez had suffered brain damage in his years in the ring. Because he has a brother who boxed and who suffered from the same condition, many believe Benitez had a predisposition to it. He soon was living in a care facility, supported by a pension from the Puerto Rican government. Despite having earned millions of dollars during his boxing career, including $1.2 million for his fight with Leonard, Benitez ended up destitute and damaged.

In 1996, Benitez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Ring magazine named Benitez the fourth greatest junior middleweight of all time in 1994 and the thirtieth best fighter of the previous fifty years in 1996. In 2006, boxing historian Bert Sugar ranked him the ninety-sixth best fighter of all time. Benitez finished his career with a record of 53 wins, 8 losses, and 31 knockouts.

Significance

Benitez is remembered as the youngest champion in boxing history and as one of the first to win titles in three weight divisions. Although Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran are remembered as the best of Benitez’s era, Benitez deserves to be included in that group. He also is a symbol for the damage boxing can do to a fighter. A great defensive fighter, he still suffered severe brain damage in the ring, which ended his career as a top fighter before he was twenty-five years old.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Conway, Brett. "Wilfred Benitez." Great Lives from History: Latinos, edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera, Salem Press, 2012. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLL_10013240008301001.

APA 7th

Conway, B. (2012). Wilfred Benitez. In C. Tafolla & M. P. Cotera (Eds.), Great Lives from History: Latinos. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Conway, Brett. "Wilfred Benitez." Edited by Carmen Tafolla & Martha P. Cotera. Great Lives from History: Latinos. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.

Table of Contents