Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - Puerto Rico by Eric Armit Nov 13th 2007

In the second part of his fascinating series, Eric Armit casts his eye worldwide to look for the heroes of yesterday, today and (perhaps) tomorrow. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow - Puerto Rico Yesterday Wilfred Benitez - Hero of Puerto Rico It seems incredible to think that a fighter should have so much natural talent that he can turn professional at the age of 15 and be a genuine world champion at the age of just 17 years and five months, but that is what Wilfred Benitez achieved. If there is such a thing as a born boxer then it was Wilfred. He had every move in the book and then wrote a couple of extra pages of his own. Born in the Bronx on 12 September 1958 of Puerto Rican parents, he turned pro on 22 November 1973 at the age of 15 years and two months. Before he was 17 he had already won 23 fights and beaten experienced fighters such as Lawrence Hafey and centurion Angel Robinson Garcia and fought ten rounds at Madison Square Garden. On March 6, 1976 in San Juan he became the youngest fighter ever to win a world title as he outpointed Antonio Cervantes for the WBA light-welterweight title. Wilfred was 17 years, 5 months and 175 days old. What made the achievement so much more remarkable is that title fights were over 15 rounds then and Cervantes was a great in his own right. He had made eight defences of his title, had a 74-10-3 record, and would go on to regain the vacant title in 1977 and make eight more defences. Too much talent rarely comes without it's downside and after two defences the WBA stripped Wilfred of the title as he chose to go his own way and retained recognition by the New York Commission. Notable fights at this time saw him engage in a hotly disputed draw with welterweight Harold Weston and climb off the floor three times to outpoint Bruce Curry. He made the jump to welterweight in March 1979 winning the WBC title with a points win over Carlos Palomino (who had beaten John Stracey and Dave Green), making him a double world champion at the age of 20. In August 1980 he faced the unbeaten Sugar Ray Leonard in a title defence, a clash as highly anticipated as any in boxing history. Sugar Ray prevailed, stopping Wilfred in the fifteenth round. Wilfred was far from finished and in May 1981 halted Mo Hope in twelve rounds to win the WBC light-middleweight title. His third world title in different divisions and still only 22 years of age. In January 2002 he successfully retained his title with a unanimous decision over fellow-Latino idol Roberto Duran but lost the title in May 1983 when another all-time great Thomas Hearns beat him on a majority decision. From there it was downhill outside the ring and inside as he suffered defeats by other future light-middleweight champions, fracturing an ankle in a stoppage loss to Davey Moore and being kayoed by Matthew Hilton, and then by some fighters who could not have touched him in his prime. His last fight was in September 1990 and he finished with a record of 53 wins, 8 losses and one draw but in his prime only Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns were good enough to beat him and at the age of 22 he had already assured his place in the Boxing Hall of Fame. (Record - 53(25)-8-1) Today Miguel Angel Cotto- Hero of Puerto Rico A total contrast to the silky skills of Benitez, but just as effective. Miguel is a hard-punching aggressive fighter, the “King of the Trenches”. He was also destined to become a fighter as his father, elder brother, uncle and cousin all boxed. Born in Caguas on 29 October 1980, Miguel was outstanding as an amateur at both a junior and a senior level. He won silver medals in the 1997 and 1998 World Junior championships and gold medals in the Pan American Championships and Central American Games. He failed to cap his time in the amateurs with an Olympic medal, losing to Mohamad Abdulaev in Sydney.  Cotto turned pro in February 2001 and from day one Top Rank were sure they had a future world champion. They were proved right as he cut a swathe through the light-welterweights beating good quality opposition such as Cesar Bazan, Demetrio Ceballos, Carlos Maussa, Victoriano Sosa and Lovemore Ndou before winning the vacant WBO title with a sixth round stoppage of Kelson Pinto in fight No 21 in September 2004. Defences against Randall Bailey, DeMarcus Corley, a revenge stoppage of Abdulaev, Ricardo Torres, Gianluca Branco and Paulie Malignacci followed. In December 2006 he moved up to welterweight and won the vacant WBA title by beating Carlos Quintana inside five rounds and has made three defences this year, stopping Oktay Urkal and Zab Judah and decisioning Shane Mosley. He has been rocked a few times, but with his style he is going to be hit, and on each occasion he has toughed it out and stopped his opponent. Right now he is a Puerto Rican hero and one of the best pond-for-pound fighters in the world. (Record: 31(25)-0) Tomorrow: Juan Manuel Lopez - Puerto Rican Hero of Tomorrow? There are a number of good prospects from Puerto Rico with Top Rank feeling that as with Cotto, they have the best in southpaw Juan Manuel Lopez -“Juanma” - a super-bantamweight with 20 wins. Born 30 June 1983, he started boxing at ten years of age and won a silver medal in the 2001 Pan American Championships, gold medals in the 2001 and 2004 Jose “Che Aponte” Torres Tournament, a bronze in the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games, competed in the 2004 Olympics and was a five-times national champion and claimed 126 wins in 150 amateur bouts. He turned pro in April 2005 and lives in Caguas, the hometown also of Cotto. With a strong right jab and heavy punch in his left he has wins over Luis Bolano, Edel Ruiz, Cuauhtemoc Vargas, Giovanni Andrade, Hugo Dianzo and Omar Adorno. (Record: 20(18)-0)

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