Napoles vs Nino Benvenuti (1970)..who wins?

Benvenuti probably too big, too skilled. By then Napoles was on the slide I think. Benvenuti wasn't a slouch.

 

Mr. LH71,

Good 'Fanatsy Match'

If in Paris or Monte Carlo,

Nino gets away with every 'rough-house' tactic, some legal and some illegal.

Nino by a 'slice-and-dice' job over Mr. Napoles.

TKO in 11.

 

Very possible. But Napoles outboxed Griffith and I think would have a very good chance to outbox Nino. Nino was indeed a rough customer, as you pointed out. Great fight for the fans, that's for sure.

 

Would have been a real competitive scrap. What's with the Napoles over the hill by 1970 from a previous poster? Am I missing something?

 

If Jose Chirino and Tom Bethea could beat Benvenuti, I wouldn't put it past Napoles to repeat the feat, small as he was. Old Rodriguez wasn't doing too bad until getting caught on the chin. Napoles is less likely to get knocked out although cuts were always a potential problem. Benvenuti was not too rough a customer and not bound to use his size advantage so I wouldn't bet on Napoles getting cut.

It would have been interesting and tell a lot about whether Napoles could've competed as a middleweight at all. He could beat welters such as Griffith who had no trouble facing middleweights, but he was a smaller man than they were. A loss against Monzon while in his mid 30's does not necessarily count out his chances against bigger opponents though.

 

I presume a July 1970 'Championship Bout'

Nino Benvenuti 81-4-1 (34 KO's)
Age......32
Height...5' 11 1/2"
Weight..159 lbs.
Reach...75"

Jose Napoles 63-4-0 (42 KO's)
Age......31
Weight..152 lbs.
Height...5' 7 1/2"
Reach...72"

Not an 'easy' match-up for Nino, by no means.

But Nino was still a 'rough' elbow and sharp forearm puncher, which could
spell 'Doom' for Mr. Napoles.

Punching power would be about equal.

But Nino's straight right hand punches would be the 'big advantage' in
this bout.

Not a 'knockout' by a pulverizing punch, but more of an accumulation of
punches, and damage to the eye area.

A close bout up to the time of the stoppage.

 

what weight are they fighting at?

 

155 lb catchweight.

 

In 1970 at 155 and on neutral ground Id Pick Napoles by UD or possibly even a stoppage. He had a heck of a lot more left in the tank in 1970 than Benvenuti who hadnt really looked good in a couple of years at this point.

 

Benvenuti would win, he was just better. I dont get the post about him using rough hose tactics. He was outstanding Olympic boxer, Gold medalist, and was voted best fighter at 1960 Olympics. He won title cleanly. His problem was himself, he got playboy image, then started trying to much to live up to it. He shortened his career.

 

Don´t know if he was better, p4p I think Napoles was better. But I agree with the rest. And here I think it´s close but Benvenuti takes it in the end. The size will make some difference and Nino had skill and power and could get rough if he had to. Also, going by an interview with him I read a few years back he said his problem was motivation. Against great guys like Griffith or Rodriguez he was very motivated, against, then, unkown guys like the South Korean who dethroned him at lmw or Monzon he just couldn´t get his arse up properly. I think against Napoles he would.

 

I like Nino by UD at least. Skilled as Napoles was, he's just a bit too small. Jose gives a spirited showing but would inevitably be outboxed by the bigger Italian, who's more accustomed to this weight.

 

Give him a bit longer than that... I'd say by 1973, yeah, Napoles was looking a lot slower. His decline seemed to happen quite quickly. In 1972 it may have noticeable to avid fans that he was on the wane, like Hagler seemed to lose a step in 1984.

In 1970, Napoles was very much a professional at the top of his game, even if he was a bit small for the weight class.

 

It was Benvenuti who was on the slide by 1970. By 1971 he was close to shot as a fighter, suffering embarrassing defeats to Chirino and Monzon in the rematch.