SAAAAA Rano
The two titles solidified Benny’s reputation as a top fighter and he became a popular draw card for promotional fights. In 1997, Benny flew down to Melbourne to fight Andrew Veniamin, who was then touted as the toughest fighter in Melbourne. If you are familiar with the Television Series ‘Underbelly’, chances are you may recognise the name. ‘Benji’, as Veniamin was known on the series, (where he was played by Damian Walshe-Howling), was a genuine underworld figure, who ran with Carl Williams and Mick Gatto during their period of criminal dominance as the notorious Carlton Crew. Prior to the showdown, Benny didn't know too much about Benji. While aware of Veniamin’s gangster connections and recent release from a Melbourne Prison, Benny was unfamiliar with his fighting abilities.
Word soon spread that Benji had been training hard inside and was looking in career best form. Before they travelled down, Adam spoke honestly with Benny, "You know you're not going down there to win this fight right, they are flying you down there to get knocked out.” The event was funded and organised by Benji’s underworld acquaintances who were intent on creating a carnival atmosphere for the night. It was held in a huge industrial warehouse, where a large, rowdy crowd turned out to watch their hometown boy Benji. Despite the location, it was a sanctioned fight with professional referees and officials. Leading into the match up, both fighters had to stay under the 52 1/2-kilogram weight limit. A weigh in was held on the eve of the clash and half an hour prior to the official weigh in, Benny did a test weigh in. He recorded a weight of fifty-two kg. To kill some time, he went for a light walk, ate a banana and took a leak. When he returned for the official weigh in, he recorded a weight of fifty-four kg. Proclaiming his innocence, Benny politely asked the officials to re-check the scales. Meanwhile, Benji stepped in and suggested they need not worry about the extra weight. Preparing alone in his dressing room on the night of the fight, Benny faintly heard the commentators introduce the fight by announcing “New South Welshman Benjamin Serrano, weighing in at fifty four kg, versus local boy Andrew ‘Benji’ Vienamin at fifty two point five kg”. Benny prided himself on making weight and liked punishing opponents that hadn’t gone the whole hog. He now had this weight discrepancy as an extra incentive to win the unwinnable fight.
First round opened with a bang. An undetected right hand dropped Benji mid round. Benny questioned how he would react. If anything, it woke Benji up. Second round was a one sided affair as Benji repaid Benny for his first round dropping. He connected with a big left hook that had Benny seeing triple. It momentarily dropped Benny to a knee but he somehow managed to spring back up without the referee declaring it a knockdown. Two rounds down, Benny had his nose in front by a point, but a lot can happen in three minutes. A gruelling and skilful final round ensued with both fighters leaving nothing to chance. It was the type of fight where both contenders’ hands should be raised. Unfortunately, there had to be one winner, and with a dash of luck on his side, Benny was triumphant. In a mark of respect, Benji held Benny’s arm up and congratulated him, but the disappointment was evident in his eyes. A dinner was organised by the Carlton Crew that night as a thank you. Benji was a no show. Sadly, he never fought again. Benji ultimately became Melbourne’s most notorious hit man and the rest is history. He was murdered on the 23rd of March 2004.
Around this time, Adam had already begun his transition into traditional boxing and Benny followed his lead with new coach Mark Pitts. Benny set himself a three-year plan to fulfil his dream of fighting in the Olympics at the Sydney 2000 Games. Thrown straight in the deep end, Benny’s first boxing fight was for the State Title. At first, he found himself struggling to defend the onslaught of jabs being sent his way. He tried ineffectively, to match his opponent on jabs early in the first round. Sensing he was losing control of the bout, he returned to his natural fighting style. Waiting patiently for an opening, an opportunity arose and he landed a combination of clean left and right hooks, knocking his opponent out as he slid off the ropes. Benny became NSW State Boxing Champion and added a first round KO to his resume.
Benny’s focus and confidence were tested leading up to the Australian Titles. After fighting well, he was defeated at the business end of the Titles, losing in the final to an opponent he would meet several times in his career. He suffered the same fate in the finals of the Oceania Championships, the qualifying event for the Commonwealth Games and his major focus, the Sydney Olympics. Several fights were riddled with suspect decisions, forcing Benny to question the integrity of the boxing officials.
In 2001, Benny became Australian Champion and also won the National Golden Gloves title in 2002. On the back of that victory, he was selected to fight in Russia for an international meet. Leading the team was none other than Kostya Tszyu, a lifelong hero of Benny’s. Each member of the academy would fight a member of the Russian national team under Kostya’s watchful eye. Kostya was very honest and approachable and he passed on some valuable words of advice that Benny took in his stride. Almost immediately after returning from Russia, Benny flew to Las Vegas with Adam to watch him fight in a K1 event. After the fight, Benny stayed and trained with a friend in Los Angeles named Justin Fortune. Justin, an Australian based in Hollywood, was training and conditioning a host of professional boxers including Filipino world champion Manny Pacquiao. He offered Benny the chance to base himself in L.A and turn pro under his management. Benny declined his invitation on the basis that in order to stay in contention for an Olympic qualification, you have to remain fighting within the amateur code. He thanked Justin and assured him that once he qualified and fought in the 2004 Athens Olympics, he would see him in L.A .
For the first time in his career, Benny took a couple of months off boxing in 2003 to regain focus and recharge the batteries. Time off meant having fun, and as we all know, having fun sometimes escalates out of hand. Lets be honest, Benny’s no angel. He has been a bee’s dick away from deportation from a smorgasbord of countries, including Australia. While on the subject of deportation, he once knocked out a French police officer to keep Dayyan and himself on European soil. Dayyan shares his story of the incident.
We were in Biarritz for a Qualifying Series surfing event, and there’s a big rock that sits directly off the beach. Benny, Beau Mitchell and myself decided to head out in our fluoro yellow speedos and jump off it. After a few jumps, a French lifeguard followed us to the jump spot and began saying things in French that we couldn’t understand. Turned out that she was warning us to the fact that the rock is a bird sanctuary and therefore forbidden territory. Oblivious to the violation, Benny and Beau have jumped off again and as I’m just about to jump, the lifeguard has grabbed me by the hand. I have swiped her hand away and then jumped off after them. By the time we arrived back to the beach, the police and lifeguards were there to meet us. They wanted to arrest us for jumping off the rock and for the assault of a lifeguard. They demanded to see our passports, so Beau has spilt back to the room to grab them. We were trying our best to communicate with the police but they kept telling us they could not speak English, even though they had just been threatening us minutes before in fluent English. It started getting heated and they were becoming aggressive. We were escorted back to the police station and threatened with deportation notices. Somewhere amongst the chaos, Benny had been cheeky with one of them, and one officer in particular was saying “ah you think your tough ay, you think your tough”. Benny just smiled at the guy and said “yep”. To which the guy replied, “you want to fight”. Benny has smiled again and said “yeah sure, if you want to fight, let’s fight”. “No gloves no gloves” the officer screamed. “Ok, better for me and worse for you,” agreed Benny. Benny was laughing through the whole ordeal, but I was quietly shitting myself because I know how easily people can go missing in situations like these. Suddenly the out of shape police officer fucks off, only to return 10 minutes later with an 80 kg black stallion by his side. Benny had been on the piss more than usual so he was a heavier version of himself at 54-55 kg. The officers placed two sets of gloves on the table and Benny started saying “I thought it was no gloves, why are we wearing them?” I was the full stress captain, telling him to please just put the fucking things on. They cleared all the furniture out of a small interrogation type room and positioned them for a fight. The Stallion clearly knew how to approach a fight. He came in hard to begin with and overpowered Benny. Benny spent the majority of the fight blocking his combos and every time the stallion would hit him, he would slide backward along the ground 2-3 feet because he had wet feet and was still sporting his speedos. Benny was getting properly towelled up, but not getting hurt. He would occasionally open up his own repertoire on the big man, but the weight ratio made it hard to make any substantial leeway. The officers were forced to stop the fight 3 or more times. The Stallion would knock Benny the whole way across the room until he hit the door, and then they would stop the fight and move it to the other side of the room again. You could tell that the stallion was pissed off because his colleagues were starting to laugh and you knew he was thinking ’ how have I not knocked this midget out already’. Out of sheer frustration, the stallion has gone for a massive wide swipe with his right hand. Benny has read the play a mile out, dropped under it then sprung up and knuckled him straight to the chin. The stallion’s head snapped back like he had just been in a car accident and he has fallen on top of Benny and hit the door. The door has swung open and he is lying half on the ground, half on the set of stairs outside and he’s so delirious it looks like he is doing freestyle on the ground. I was now standing in crab stance in the corner thinking these guys are going to pull their guns on us. They pull Benny back into the room, close the door, and begin hugging and high fiving him like he is a saint. The 200-euro fine we were set to receive was torn up and only later did we find out that the stallion was the French national kickboxing champ.