The Carnival of Champions, as Don King nicknamed it, was an important boxing event held in New Orleans's Louisiana Superdome on December 3, 1982.
Gómez, Pintor, Hearns and HBO commentator Sugar Ray Leonard (who came in to substitute Benitez) were paraded around New Orleans a few days before the event, and many former and current world boxing champions and other celebrities attended the fights.
Before the event, there was no palpable animosity, at least between Gomez and Pintor, and they were friendly towards each other during a press conference a few days before the fights; this might have been due in part to Gomez's 1981 defeat at the hands of Salvador Sanchez, Sanchez's tragic death on August 12, 1982 in a car accident, Pintor's fight with Johnny Owen after which Owen died as a consequence of the blows he took and Duk Koo Kim's recent death after a bout with Ray Mancini.
[1] In Puerto Rico in particular, the event had been eagerly awaited for, because it would be the first time the two Wilfredos would fight the same night and in the same ring, defending their world titles.
Gómez showed his championship heart by roaring back to take the fourth despite the bothering hematoma forming over his eye.
However, Gómez's eyes were both almost closed by now, and his fans started having flashbacks of his 1981 bout with world featherweight champion Salvador Sánchez.
Hearns boxed from a distance in rounds one, two and three and Benitez kept applying pressure, and using his best method of fighting: Lying against the ropes.
Rounds eleven and twelve were all Wilfredo, with the champion trying to close the gap between him and Hearns with masterful counter punching and ring intelligence.
Hearns, however, knew he needed the next few rounds to secure another world title, and he boxed Benitez by using his jab.