Wilfred Benitez vs Marvelous Marvin Hagler in 1982: Why it Didn't Happen?

[elmersalsa]

I am curious to know if anybody in here had a closer view or look on, why the fight of Wilfred Benitez against Marvelous Marvin Hagler didn't happen?

Benitez magnificently dominated and beat the great Roberto Duran in January 1982.

Marvelous was supposed to fight the great Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in May 1982, but the fight was called off because Hearns injured his right hand. They signed again for a fight in July, but for some reason, the fight was again called off.

Hagler, a man that wanted the big paydays and recognition, had the opportunity to fight Benitez, too. Both wanted the great Sugar Ray Leonard, but Leonard retired in December 1982.

Benitez suffered the most in the deal because he almost didn't had a fight for almost a year until he fought Hearns in December, while Marvelous made two insignificant title defenses with Fulgencio Obelmejias, ( a guy that he already crushed by knockout) and William "Caveman" Lee, who Marvelous easily dispatched.

Was Benitez who came after a great win against Duran backed off Marvelous mind in taking him?

Was Benitez in Marvelous' eyes was a high-risk, low income fight? I just can't see why it would be a high risk fight if both could have made at least $3 million dollars each. Marvelous wasn't making that type of money.

Or did Marvelous just simply "ducked" Benitez?

What are your thoughts of this fight that it would have happened to complete the Fab 5 rivalry of the 80s decade.

Remember, Marvelous never fought someone as slick as Benitez. Did that changed Marvelous mind not to fight him?

[goose 5]

I checked the papers and came up with this: After the Hearns-Hagler(intended for May24,1982) bout was cancelled, the W.B.A. threatened to strip Hagler if he didn't fight Fulgencio Obelmejias. They were scheduled to fight in the summer of 1982 but Hagler got injured and they didn't fight until October.

[657803]

I believe it is because Benitez lost Hamsho.

Benitez was a brilliant boxer. Eventually not being as big as as a true middleweight being the better boxer was not enough.

Benitez is my opinion is part of the big 4. Leonard, Hearns, Duran and Benitez....He would not have beaten Hagler, but Hagler was never the measuring stick he was too big. Fighting at middleweight as a natural middleweight vs the big 4 of the Jr. Welter, Welter, and Jr. Middle..they showed their growth and dominance of the 3 weight classes. Hagler was just dominant over anyone who came up to his weight class.

Duran was the best, but the smallest of the big 4. He also had the worst losses to all 3. He probably had the best win of the 3. In his win over Leonard.

great subjective topic

[AngryGoon38]

I believe it is because Benitez lost Hamsho.

Benitez was a brilliant boxer. Eventually not being as big as as a true middleweight being the better boxer was not enough.

Benitez is my opinion is part of the big 4. Leonard, Hearns, Duran and Benitez....He would not have beaten Hagler, but Hagler was never the measuring stick he was too big. Fighting at middleweight as a natural middleweight vs the big 4 of the Jr. Welter, Welter, and Jr. Middle..they showed their growth and dominance of the 3 weight classes. Hagler was just dominant over anyone who came up to his weight class.

Duran was the best, but the smallest of the big 4. He also had the worst losses to all 3. He probably had the best win of the 3. In his win over Leonard.

great subjective topic

7/16/83 was his loss to Hamsho.

That Big Layoff after the January of 1982 win versus Duran. That threw Benitez off. The December of 1982 bout versus Hearns was a Valiant Losing Effort from Benitez. He DiD put Hearns on the deck though, and did Very Well in avoiding getting seriously hurt, through his Wiley Slick Defensive Boxing Skills.

I tend to feel that Benitez could've very well had boxed Hagler up, kind of similar to how he outslicked Duran.
Stylistically I think that Hearns was the tougher opponent for Benitez than Hagler would've been.
It's all left to imagination and speculation, of course.
But seriously, that "Time Gap" was Such a Wasted one. They Really Should've made that bout.
Big Loss for Boxing Fans, No Doubt.

[elmersalsa]

Now, thinking about it now, it wasn't such a big fuzz. Nobody ever screamed for a Marvin Hagler vs Wilfred Benitez fight back then, even though Benitez was a champion and Sugar Ray Leonard was retired and Thomas Hearns didn't had a title and Roberto Duran was written off almost completely.

But, that was a big gap for Benitez not to fight in almost a year. I think that it really disrupt his progression of being much greater than what he already showed.

I blame Benitez's management team in not putting Benitez out there being busy. Or maybe Benitez didn't care about a fight but just to take revenge against Leonard. Maybe the Leonard rematch was the only fight that he was thinking about.

[goose 5]

A Leonard- Benitez bout was proposed for September, 1982 but we all know about Leonard's eye injury in May of 1982. Duran's people offered Hearns a bout for September 1982 but Hearns went for the title bout against Benitez instead.

Benitez blamed his defeat to Leonard largely on the 8 and a half month layoff that preceded it so I don't know why he went 10 months without a fight before the match with Hearns.

[elmersalsa]

I think that Wilfred Benitez's management team was one of the worst in boxing history. How could manager Jim Jacobs let his fighter be so inactive for almost a year in an era where fighters were fighting at least 4 fights a year?

I think that disrupted Benitez's rhythm. Think about it guys. He lost to Sugar Ray Leonard in November 1979. And in 1980, he fought 3 times. He fought two times in 1981, but it should have been 3 times because his fight with Thomas Hearns was cancelled in February of 1981. But, he was on a right track until he beat Roberto Duran.

After that? It was a mystery.

[Joson]

I am curious to know if anybody in here had a closer view or look on, why the fight of Wilfred Benitez against Marvelous Marvin Hagler didn't happen?

Benitez magnificently dominated and beat the great Roberto Duran in January 1982.

Marvelous was supposed to fight the great Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in May 1982, but the fight was called off because Hearns injured his right hand. They signed again for a fight in July, but for some reason, the fight was again called off.

Hagler, a man that wanted the big paydays and recognition, had the opportunity to fight Benitez, too. Both wanted the great Sugar Ray Leonard, but Leonard retired in December 1982.

Benitez suffered the most in the deal because he almost didn't had a fight for almost a year until he fought Hearns in December, while Marvelous made two insignificant title defenses with Fulgencio Obelmejias, ( a guy that he already crushed by knockout) and William "Caveman" Lee, who Marvelous easily dispatched.

Was Benitez who came after a great win against Duran backed off Marvelous mind in taking him?

Was Benitez in Marvelous' eyes was a high-risk, low income fight? I just can't see why it would be a high risk fight if both could have made at least $3 million dollars each. Marvelous wasn't making that type of money.

Or did Marvelous just simply "ducked" Benitez?

What are your thoughts of this fight that it would have happened to complete the Fab 5 rivalry of the 80s decade.

Remember, Marvelous never fought someone as slick as Benitez. Did that changed Marvelous mind not to fight him?

I don't know why the Benitez fight wasn't made. But I do remember that the WBC or WBA installed Obel as their mandatory challenger – for the second time in two years -- and forced Hagler to fight him again.

I read that Hagler was very angry, because he had planned on chasing a big money bout against a big name fighter later in 1982. Having to waste time with Obel set him back by months.

If I recall correctly, Obel was treated as a “house fighter” by the WBC or WBA. That's the only reason he got the rematch. Boxing media regarded the matter as a scandal.

(P.S.- The boxing magazines of the early 1980s called him "Fully Obel," instead of his full name, Fulgencio Obelmeijas.)

[elmersalsa]

I am curious to know if anybody in here had a closer view or look on, why the fight of Wilfred Benitez against Marvelous Marvin Hagler didn't happen?

Benitez magnificently dominated and beat the great Roberto Duran in January 1982.

Marvelous was supposed to fight the great Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns in May 1982, but the fight was called off because Hearns injured his right hand. They signed again for a fight in July, but for some reason, the fight was again called off.

Hagler, a man that wanted the big paydays and recognition, had the opportunity to fight Benitez, too. Both wanted the great Sugar Ray Leonard, but Leonard retired in December 1982.

Benitez suffered the most in the deal because he almost didn't had a fight for almost a year until he fought Hearns in December, while Marvelous made two insignificant title defenses with Fulgencio Obelmejias, ( a guy that he already crushed by knockout) and William "Caveman" Lee, who Marvelous easily dispatched.

Was Benitez who came after a great win against Duran backed off Marvelous mind in taking him?

Was Benitez in Marvelous' eyes was a high-risk, low income fight? I just can't see why it would be a high risk fight if both could have made at least $3 million dollars each. Marvelous wasn't making that type of money.

Or did Marvelous just simply "ducked" Benitez?

What are your thoughts of this fight that it would have happened to complete the Fab 5 rivalry of the 80s decade.

Remember, Marvelous never fought someone as slick as Benitez. Did that changed Marvelous mind not to fight him?

I don't know why the Benitez fight wasn't made. But I do remember that the WBC or WBA installed Obel as their mandatory challenger – for the second time in two years -- and forced Hagler to fight him again.

I read that Hagler was very angry, because he had planned on chasing a big money bout against a big name fighter later in 1982. Having to waste time with Obel set him back by months.

If I recall correctly,Obel was treated as a “house fighter” by the WBC or WBA. That's the only reason he got the rematch. Boxing media regarded the matter as a scandal.

(P.S.- The boxing magazines of the early 1980s called him "Fully Obel," instead of his full name, Fulgencio Obelmeijas.)

The WBA residence at the time was in Venezuela. Fulgencio Obelmejias is from Venezuela.

[funso banjo baby]

Hamsho, baby