Antonio Cervantes and Roberto Duran vs. The Benitez Brothers ~ On the same Fight Card

[Bill Paxtom]

December 1975

Las Vegas, Nevada

This 'Fight Card' nearly happened.

Antonio Cervantes vs. Wilfred Benitez
Roberto Duran vs. Frankie Benitez

Details to Follow

[Bill Paxtom]

~ October 1975 ~

Fight Promoter - Don King was trying to secure this Fight Card for Las Vegas, and for a possible
date in December.

Antonio 'Kid Pambele' Cervantes was the WBA Light-Welterweight Champion, and had come off
impressive win earlier on May 17, 1975 > where he won a 'one-sided' 15-Round Decision over
Esteban Dejesus, which included '4' knockdowns.

'Kid Pambele' wanted desperately to fight Roberto Duran. Cervantes {Age; 29 years, 10 months},
and had been competing for 12-years, and wanted 'one big fight' before retiring {what he had planned}.

Cervantes had a record of 73-9-3 with {34 KOs}, and had gone 'unbeaten' since December 12, 1971
by going 18-0-0 with {14 KO's} in almost 4-Years, including winning the WBA Light-Welterweight
Championship back on October 28, 1972.

Since then, Cervantes had successfully defended his Championship '9-Times'.

'Kid Pambele' at {Height; 5' 9"} and {Reach; 72"} was a brilliant boxer, with a tremendous left-jab
and quick right-hand, and was 'unbeatable' at 140 lbs.

Since January 1970 > Cervantes had gone 27-1-0 with {19 KO's} > losing only to the great
Nicolino Locche by {L Dec 15} for the WBA Light-Welterweight Championship back in January 1970.

~ The Skinny ~

There were reports that Antonio Cervantes was nearly 3-years older, and was most likely
{Age; 32 1/2}.

Also, by his own admission > Antonio had '25' other bouts on his record, where he claimed he
went > 22-2-1 with {7 KO's} when he was 'a skinny' weak-fisted Featherweight back in 1964
and 1965.

Don King wanted to get Antonio Cervantes some American Television 'exposure' first, before setting the
stage for a 'big money' bout with Roberto Duran

Don King >
"Antonio Cervantes is well-known in Central America and South America. But, he is not known by the
American boxing public. He has never fought in New York, Florida or Las Vegas. He had a couple of
bouts in Los Angeles back a few years ago in late-1970 and early-1971, but nobody noticed."

"The Colombian is a great fighter, and one of the Top 3 best 'Pound-for-Pound' fighters in the World.
We need to get him on American Television, to show the viewing public his tremendous boxing skills."