Wilfred Benítez

CTL-E-6880 · Person · other · contemporary

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07752 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6880.

Wilfred Benítez (born September 12, 1958) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer from a noted Puerto Rican boxing family, born in the Bronx, New York, and associated with San Juan, Puerto Rico, who turned professional at fifteen and became known as “El Radar” for his defensive mastery. According to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, at 17 he became the youngest fighter in boxing history to win a world title when he was awarded a split decision over WBA junior welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes; BoxRec dates that win March 6, 1976, at 17 years, 5 months and 23 days, and likewise calls him the youngest world champion in boxing history. Benítez went on to win world titles in three divisions, beating Carlos Palomino for the WBC welterweight title in 1979 and stopping Maurice Hope for the WBC super welterweight crown in 1981, per both sources on this record. He retired in 1990 with a record of 53 wins, 8 losses and 1 draw and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

The record

• Also known as: El Radar, Bible of Boxing

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0478. Firsts disposition: 'Youngest world boxing champion in history, at 17 (1976)' ASSERTED — supported by the International Boxing Hall of Fame and BoxRec. Minor precision variance flagged: the Hall of Fame gives his age as 17 years and six months, BoxRec as 17 years, 5 months and 23 days; this record asserts only ‘at 17.’ Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Benítez is the clearest child-prodigy case in the sport's record — a schoolboy who outboxed a champion with ten title defenses — and his three-division run against the Leonard–Hearns–Durán generation keeps the first from reading as a novelty. The defensive nickname, El Radar, is the career in two words. Photo: CLEARED — Wilfred Benítez 1980.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Relationships

• The Bronx, New York — from
  BoxRec records Benítez's birthplace as The Bronx, New York, USA.

Sources

• International Boxing Hall of Fame. “Wilfred Benitez.” International Boxing Hall of Fame. Accessed 2026-11-03. http://www.ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/modern/benitez.html (primary source · build store)
• BoxRec. “Wilfred Benitez.” BoxRec Wiki. Accessed 2026-11-03. https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php?title=Wilfred_Benitez&oldid=749633 (build store)

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Record CTL-E-6880 · Combined Graph record U-07752 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 2 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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