Though I hate to see any fighter end up this way I have witnessed, known and heard about soo many pro fighters ending up broke, with mental problems or both due to boxing I have to say I am almost numb to it....

I know Greg Page, The G-Mans family, knew Patterson and watched him slip into his althzimers, Riddick Bowe, and a slew of others My heart used to really break and still it makes me sad but I have learned to accept it....Shows I have been around this business too long

Quote Originally Posted by greynotsoold
There are a couple side-points to this story.
First, Benitez was long considered to be "simple", for lack of a better term The story goes that, when he lived and trained in Cus D'Amato's place in the Catskills, he would defecate in his closet, and that he would indulge on chicken and rice to the point of vomiting, which he would also do in the closet. I wasn't there, this is just what I've read.
Second, jacobs/Cayton set him up financially, as they did with Edwin Rosario. The father and mother of Benitez raided his trust funds and left him bankrupt, and this is not a new story. This came to light back in the early to mid 90s when it happened.
Third, it wasn't boxing that did him wrong. There is considerable evidence that he was something less than "normal" (again, for lack of a better word) when he started out. But he had a gift, in that he was very hard to hit, so maybe it wasn't boxing that got him "punchy". Also, when he left boxing, he had millions of dollars invested that would have paid him income for life. I would suggest reading up on his father, Gregorio, and some of his antics, none of which would be covered by any "boxing board" that you could concieve of.
I heard those same stories about the eating to the point he vomits...just never knew if they were truth or fiction