Wilfred Benitez vs Jose Napoles

Hmmm, now we're talking. My mind is leaning towards Wilfredo.

 

I think where Napoles is concerned one must alway prefix - Barring Cuts, and that proviso aside, i would tend to come down on the side of Napoles, Jose was no Wild Swinging, off balance throw-and-Prey merchant, Whilst Wilfredo was Truely Excellant Moving Back and Side to Side, Jose was equally as Fluent Coming Forward ! Wilfredo had a Wonderful Left Jab, So Did Jose, Jose Had Cobra'esque head movement which would certainly throw wilfredo off somewhat, and Jose was a fast Hard and accurate combination puncher, so Wilfredos RADAR may be up against a STEALTH BOMBER of Sorts, Palomino was never as good going forwards. but was not that far adrift of Wilfredo on the score sheets, Harold Western Fought to a Draw with Wilfredo, and Bruce Curry lost a controvercial Decision after having Wilfredo down twice, Wifredo was not Infallible, and he didnt pose quite the danger that Jose did, when Jose Played it cool he could Dazzle People Like Emile Grittith, But when he wanted to make a point he could be something of a Master-Blaster. the wicked combinations he laid on Adolph Pruitt being a good example, I think Wilfredo would discover his Ability to make Jose Miss when on the Ropes was not as Pronounced as it was against most Others, Jose was a Precision fighter too who i suspect would Work to the more Static Body early as a foundation for the Headshots - in combination to come later down the road, - i gotta go with Jose on Points or perhaps a Late stoppage if Jose in true seek and destroy mode - Barring Cuts of Course.

 

Perfect summation. This is how I see this bout panning out also.

Great observation about Mantequilla being fluent coming forward. He was so light on his toes yet managed to explode with great power when he needed to.
He could get lazy in there sometimes but then so could Benitez so this could be a bit of a snooze-fest until someone gets tagged and in trouble.
I see Napoles giving Benitez "the trouble". :bbb

 

As great as I think Benitez once was, Jose Napoles would have, in my opinion, beaten him much like SRL did, with precision power shots. Napoles, as stated before me, was not a wild, inaccurate, sloppy fighter, but, in fact, as forgotten by many of so called "expert" historians of today, he was a deadly combination of speed, skill and power. Nearly as slippery as Benitez himself, Napoles had a greater admixture of offensive weaponry than did Wilfred, and an opening, no matter how small was enough for him to snake in a lethal single shot or combination. Only tender skin around his eyes was his only weakness, but that has been overplayed. The truth was, that while at his peak, Jose Napoles was too much for even the elite of his division, and would have stopped Wilfred Benitez in 8 or 9 rounds, and more decisively than Leonard.

 

Napoles was better. One can make a case for Napoles being the second greatest welterweight of all times.

 

Jose Napoles would win 10 out of 15 against the Welterweight version of Wilfred Benitez, and pull out a UD.

 

Take a look at Curtis Coke's face when Napoles was in his true prime.

 

Mine too. Benitez edges it.

 

Napoles.

 

Definitely Napoles. Thin skin aside, he had everything.

 

Kind of reminds me of the Wilfred Benitez vs Bruce Curry I fight.

Jose could hurt Wilfred early, and score several knock-downs.

Wilfred would battle back, until getting nailed again in the mid-late rounds.

Wilfred lasts the 15-rounds on 'shaky pins', but Jose wins the clear-cut Decision.

 

What I never understood about Benitez is that he fought better at 154 then he did at 147, He fought great as champion beating Hope,Santos and Duran and giving Hearns a great fight but losing a decision., The loss to Hearns hurt his confidence and he didn't know how to regroup, then picking a fight with Hamsho was a bad style matchup. He should have had a few easy fights and gone for a rematch with Hearns at 154 or challenged Hagler.

 

MAG1965,,,,,

Absolutely Correct,,,,,

Wilfred Benitez at {154 lbs.},,,,,,,,,March 1980 thru April 1983

Defeats Jose Napoles by 15-Round Decision at Light-Middleweight.