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It was with little fanfare that
former WBF Intercontinental
Super Bantamweight Champion
Nicky Bentz
from Mexico turned professional
in 1990, somewhere in his
home-country. In fact it was so
low key, that the exact date and
location is not listed on his
BoxRec record.
It is however known that Bentz,
born on November 11, 1971 in
Reynosa, Tamaulipas in
north-east Mexico as Nicasio
Benta Rodriguez, was eighteen
years old at the time, and that
he stopped a fellow countryman
called Jose Lopez (0-1) in the
first round.
The details of many of his early
bouts are sketchy, to say the
least, but in the first fourteen
months or so of his paid career,
he reportedly build an
undefeated record of 13-0 (11),
and developed into a solid
prospect on the Mexican circuit.
During that period he most
notably defeated
Tamaulipas-rival Manuel
Hernandez tree times (Hernandez
was 4-1-2, 6-2-2 and 6-4-2 when
they fought), and knocked out
undefeated Salvador Acosta (2-0)
in two rounds at the Arena
Coliseo in Mexico City.
Fighting on small shows with
small budgets, Bentz had to take
what he could get, but he did
his job well and kept winning.
By the end of 1992 he was 19-0
(17), and the following year he
finally got a chance to impress
on a bigger stage.
In July of 1993 he was assigned
a slot on the undercard of
Richardo Lopez´ WBC World
Strawweight title-defense
against Thailand's Saman
Sorjaturong, and pitted against
former Mexican Flyweight
Champion Javier “Suzuki” Diaz
(44-29-2) over ten rounds.
Squaring off at Featherweight,
four weight-classes above Diaz
prime fighting-weight, Bentz was
a healthy favorite. But the
vastly more experienced veteran,
still levels above anyone the
twenty-two year old up-and-comer
had faced before, gave Bentz
plenty of problems in a fight
that ended in a draw.
While he didn't fail his first
big test, he didn't exactly pass
it with flying colors either,
and Bentz soon returned to
fighting on smaller cards in
Reynosa, knocking out
nondescript opponents such as
Alejandro Garcia (1-1), Alfonso
Garcia (0-2), Armando Arriaga
(6-2) and Hugo Torres (8-11).
But in September of 1995 he was
awarded another huge
opportunity, as the biggest
promoter in the world, Don King,
put him on the undercard of a
star-studded bill headlined by
Julio Cesar Chavez vs. David
Kamau at the Mirage Hotel &
Casino in Las Vegas.
And this time Bentz passed the
test, as he won a ten-round
unanimous decision over another
battle-tested, tricky costumer
in Benito Rodriguez (23-19-1),
improving his record to 24-0-1
(21) and showing signs that a
further step-up was not far off.
Six months after the Las
Vegas-outing, Bentz beat Raul
Cortez (6-5) on points back in
Reynosa, but he would soon
return to the USA as he
impressively dismantled and
stopped Adrian Torres (13-4) in
two rounds in the main event of
a show in Pharr, Texas on July
23, 1996.
Less than two months on he
stopped Thomas Reyes (6-5) in
the sixth in the same city, and
in April of 1997 he was back in
Mexico, getting rid of
out-classed Jesus Jose Mendoza
(4-7-1) in three. It was clearly
time for Bentz to be tested at
championship level.
On May 29, 1997, back in Pharr,
which is connected to his
hometown Reynosa by a bridge
crossing the Rio Grande, Bentz
finally got his long-awaited
title-shot. With the WBF
Intercontinental Super
Bantamweight title on the line,
he faced former foe Arturo
Estrada (21-21-1).
Bentz had
stopped Estrada in five rounds
in 1992, but the man from
Tampico had since seen it all in
fights against the likes of John
Michael Johnson, Paulie Ayala,
Johnny Tapia, and Tim Austin. He
had even captured a WBC regional
belt, and lost a WBU world
title-challenge in Thailand by
competitive decision.
Despite the
convincing result in their first
encounter, the rematch was not
considered an easy task for
Bentz. But, never the less, he
appeared to make it easy, as he
put his foot down from the first
round and eventually knocked out
Estrada in round three.
Another
rematch was soon in the
pipe-line. Javier Diaz, the only
man Bentz had faced in the pro
ranks whom he had failed to
defeat, would be his first
challenger as WBF
Intercontinental Champion. A
victory, he was told, could land
him a world championship fight.
Four years
had passed since they drew in
Mexico, and Bentz showed his
progress by winning a clear
unanimous decision in Pharr. All
the tricks and moves that Diaz
had used to frustrate him with
in the first fight had no affect
in the second go-around.
Soon after it
was revealed that Bentz, now
30-0-1, would have a quick
turn-around and was set to fight
for the vacant WBF World Super
Bantamweight title on November
9, 1997 at the Country Club in
Reseda, California.
On a World
Championship double-header also
featuring Floyd Weaver vs. Fidel
Avendano for the vacant WBF
World Super Welterweight crown,
Bentz was matched with late
substitute Juan Manuel Chavez
(21-20) from Mexico City, an
opponent much better than his
mediocre statistics suggests.
Bentz, eight
days away from his twenty-sixth
birthday, was naturally a huge
favorite to win, and perhaps he
underestimated Chavez, knowing
he had lost almost as much as he
had won.
Whatever the
case was, it became a much
tougher fight than casual fans
at ringside probably expected,
and in the end Chavez was
awarded a massive upset-victory,
and the WBF World Super
Bantamweight title, by majority
decision.
Losing for
the first time can do something
to a fighter. Some will prosper
from the defeat, while others
will never be the same, their
confidence perhaps broken, and
their dedication not what it
once was. Nicky Bentz never
reached the same heights again.
In February
of 1998 he fought Carlos Navarro
(13-0) for the WBU World title,
and was knocked down five times
before losing clearly on all
three judges cards. He did floor
Navarro too, but was never
really close to winning.
Bentz
rebounded with five victories,
but when he drew with journeyman
Geronimo Hernandez (7-11) in an
eight-rounder in November of
2001, it looked like the end of
the road. But three years later
he decided to make a comeback.
Between
November of 2004 and October of
2006, he lost five straight
bouts in the USA, getting
stopped four times by Idelfonso
Martinez (11-4), future world
champion Jorge Solis (29-0-2),
Jason Litzau (18-0) and Tomas
Villa (15-5-4).
In the middle
of that horrid run he almost
pulled off a shocker, losing
only by split decision to
legendary multi-division world
champion Johnny Tapia (53-4-2)
in January of 2005, but that was
the closest he got to success.
Pulling out after two rounds
against Villa was his last dance
in the ring.
Going 6-7-1
in his last fourteen bouts,
Nicky Bentz retired at 34 years
of age, with a professional
record of 36-7-2 (29), at least
according to BoxRec. He may have
had more fights in Mexico that
went unrecorded.
Married to
wife Ericka since 2011, he still
lives in Reynosa.
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