The "Hittable" Benitez. You realize that Benitez was known as The Radar, and was a very defensively skilled boxer right?Kalan wrote: ↑02 Dec 2017, 17:22 Being tall and athletic does give you an advantage... It didn't help Tommy that he was taller and rangier than Leonard, Hagler, and Barkley.. Barkley was fairly tall but Hearns had much longer arms... But that didn't help him.
You'll agree that you have to be able to use those assets... Hearns did well with the more hittable and punchable Wilfred Benitez -- who was knocked out several times in his career.. They both scored knock downs, but Hearns couldn't stop the hittable Benitez at 154, a much better weight for Tommy. After all Leonard stopped Benitez earlier -- why couldn't Hearns do it??? ... What makes you think he could do the much more elusive, skilled, and smarter Mayweather if he couldn't get Benitez out??? ... Benitez was finished early he was getting beat to trash so much.
Did you ever see the stoppage of Leonard vs Benitez? Certainly didn't look like a case where Benitez couldn't have continued considering it was the 15th round, but it didn't really matter.
Benitez was finished early because he didn't have the discipline outside the ring to maintain his skill and fitness. He was a party animal.
Barkley was in fact every bit as tall as Tommy Hearns.
Against Marvin, Tommy just fought a dumb fight strategically. He came out looking to slug it out with Marvin and KO him. Obviously that plan backfired, but it resulted in a great fight for the fans.