So, I've been on a bit of a Jose Napoles marathon the last few days. And man, he is such a treat to watch. I doubt there was a fighter in history that was as naturally smooth as Napoles, every single punch looks effortless, like a weather blowing through the wind, yet still delivered with serious pop. His movement and defensive methods were no different, he didn't need an exaggerated jump or overdramatic evasive maneuvers to move around or avoid blows. But before we get to that, let's talk about his fundementals. His footwork was practically flawless, his small shuffling steps allowed for economy, balance, as well as easy and functional weight shifting when punching and defending. But more than that, it allowed him to close the distance, make his man retreat and cut off the ring. I'm particularly fond of that little side step he would make to the right, sometimes mixed with a weave to be more elusive. Napoles was so efficient at cutting off the ring, that he would sometimes proceed to do it the moment the round started, as seen here at 6:53 and 9:55 in his fight against Clyde Gray. This content is protected Instead of going at Ring centre, Napoles would go to a more confined area of the Ring, deliberately making his foe come to him, and then his aforementioned adversary would suddenly be back against the ropes without even realizing he put himself there. And that's not the extent of his footwork's usage. As mentioned earlier, his feet enabled him to be balanced, functional and economical, very similar to Joe Louis'. Louis' footwork wasn't perfect though, many have called him a slow and flat footed plodder, although that's just mostly his detractors. Many purists have tried to silence this notion, but the truth of the matter is that there is some merit to it. Louis was never a fast moving target, his style was focused on making his opponents come to him through subtle pressure and to work from there, rather than coming to them. But that was almost his undoing against Billy Conn's equally functional, disciplined, precise and yet more dynamic footwork that relied on some bigger steps. Louis' feet weren't slow, but they did lack some needed dynamism. That however, cannot be said for Napoles. Look at how easily he closes the distance here against Curtis Cokes from 6:44-6:49. And this is far from the only instance where his feet were just as dynamic as they were functional, they were like that consinstently. This content is protected Good footwork means good stability, and good stability can lead to efficient offence and defence. Napoles' offense was as buttery as it was overwhelming. Napoles' shot selection, set ups and combinations were magnificent, he would jab upstairs, throw a right uppercut to the body, a left body blow and would then go upstairs again with a left hook as seen at 7:06 at the video above. He would also double and triple up on his left hooks akin to Sugar Ray Robinson, sometimes even from a crouch, as seen at the 6:48. He was also arguably the best ever at hooking off the jab. My favorite example of Napoles' offence is the 9th round against Cokes at 28:29, where he showcased everything. The hook off the jab, doubling up on his punches, relying on the jab while still throwing power shots, going to the body and head, changing the tempo and distance of his punches, all while moving his feet, pivoting and changing angles when doing it. Those were around 50 unanswered blows, by the way. His sense of distance and timing are some of the best I've ever seen. He would come forward with his usual stalker style, while also moving his upper body to be an elusive target, feinting, boxing in a tight circle to offset his opponent's allignment, jabbing and changing levels, while practically always knowing at what range to be in, and understanding when the appropriate moment to attack and defend was. He could literally be at the same range as his opponent, managing to find him with his own shots, and he would only need to take half a step back for his opponent to miss. It was so uncanny at times that it seemed like he didn't need to move at all. His actual defensive techniques were no less refined. He was efficient at slipping, ducking, weaving, blocking, all that jazz. He seldom got hit cleanly, whether it was at long range, middle range, or in the pocket. He would throw a shot and would then proactively defend to avoid potential return fire, whether it was by stepping back, ducking, slipping or by leaning back. Up close, he would put his head close to his opponent's shoulder while leaning forward, making room for the space between his waist and his opponent's in order to throw vicious uppercuts on the inside. But it all really came together when he was counter-punching, which was his best asset, one where very few in history equal him in. He would turn his offense and defense into one, simultaneously defending and hitting, which made for some of the most beautiful moments in the sport. I'm closing this with this great showcase at 19:23. This content is protected 'Nuff said.
Bump, it's a shame to see such a well written thread become a ghost town. I'll add my own thoughts soon.
There's a few things that really stand out in my memory. That being said, I've not watched any Napoles in about a eighteen months at least, barring the clips posted. The first is his sort of 'rocking knees'. The small shifts of weight he does from front to back, constantly. They kind of turn him into a coiling spring and keeps his opponents disrupted and unsettled. I also like how he lets his right arm drift out when he throws his hooks too. Sure, it's dangerous but he only really did it when he wasn't in a position to be hit, and he boxed with his hands down anyway so does it really matter? It adds power, helps balance and looks cool as ****. Another thing that's rarely mentioned about Napoles is just how athletic he was. He was fast, hit hard, was tough as nails and had some of the finest coordination boxing has ever seen. He went the full 15 with an explosive blend of power and movement routinely, rarely showing fatigue. He was an incredible specimen. Completely agreed on the point about his hooks being reminiscent of Robinson, but I think it's more simply, they both were smooth as silk. I'd actually argue, there's a lot more Kid Chocolate in Napoles than anyone else. Not in the sense of it's a one-to-one, but more like Napoles mastered Chocolate's style. The smoothest love letter. I think I'll do a thread about that though. I would disagree a little about his defence, however, Napoles didn't get hit clean a lot per se, but he was no Locche. He doesn't post so much anymore, but @roughdiamond has some of best write-ups I've ever seen on him scattered across the forum. Miss that guy.
Yeah, I remember him from when I first joined. I didn't post much back then but I remember him being one of the standout posters. Do you happen to know what happened to him ?
I'll try to weigh in a bit myself as soon as I can (though a lot has already been said), the thread deserves a lot of replies.
George mentioned about Napoles having his arms angled outwards and drifting and the way it added power to his shots. Sort of a short slingshot effect but still very compact. Louis did a similar thing. They were both similarly great at punching through the target too and naturally allowing for weight transference to create the next punch, and the next one after that. Each one harder than the last as the combination increases. It was mentioned about him rocking his weight back and forth from one leg to the other and tilting his head forward into what looks like no man's land but isn't. Sometimes he'd do it to create unease or draw fire to set himself up by making the opponent try to strike first, but sometimes he'd snap a jab out really straight and quick when shifting his weight into his left leg. It was usually brilliantly disguised and incorporated into the movement with great timing, and you never knew if he was going to do it or not, ala you never knew how and when he was going to strike. The ultimate stealth fighter. One the greatest things though was how patient and unflappable he was. Cast iron chin and cast iron confidence in his ability to take a shot if things didn't work, which began to happen more and more after about 72. Shots that he'd ridden or ditched previously started to hit him more often, and he never really opted to ever fight on the back foot or tighten up unlike, say, Duran.
The OP is brilliant. A couple of thoughts on Napoles, his style, and so on. All moves in boxing start from the floor- your punches, your defense, all of it- and how you shift the weight on your feet. Keeping your feet under your shoulders and the constant shifting of your weight is the foundation of balance in boxing. That flow of your body weight is the source of punching power and that is why fighters like Napoles and Louis could throw 5, 6 punch combinations and the last punch would be the hardest of the lot, or they could vary it and make the 2nd and the 4th the hardest. None of that just happens, it is a skill to be mastered and it starts with knowing where your body weight is at all times and feeling how it flows. You don't see that much any more because, in re inventing the wheel, many modern boxing guys made it into a triangle. The floor up notion has generally been replaced with the idea that the shoulders turn the hips instead of the other way around. There is also a very misguided belief that having a wide stance, with the feet far apart, improves stability, balance and helps one to punch harder. Now, if you were going to try to leap into the air, you would get your feet under your shoulders , you wouldn't spread your feet far apart. If you were trying to lift something heavy, feet under shoulders, right? In boxing, the wide stance leads to your body weight getting hung up, it doesn't transfer cleanly foot to foot, and this creates balance wobbles or a fighter throwing everything off the front foot. This causes problems in many fighters by the 3rd punch of a combination and certainly thereafter. That is why you see so many "mitt masters" doing all the work , the fighter cannot throw the sequence. The way you make your offense and defense seamless is to teach them as the same thing, and you never teach a defensive move without the counter. This works with slipping and with blocking punches. Keep in mind that the foundational weight transference in boxing is the movement of the right hand/left hook/right hand sequence. When an opponent throws a jab you can slip inside or outside of the punch. The motion to slip inside is the exact motion of throwing a right hand- the natural counter to a jab is the right hand to the heart- and that motion puts you in position to throw a left hand after the slip. To slip outside a jab, the motion is the same as a left hook- the weight goes onto the right foot and, as you turn over the weight, the jab goes over your left shoulder- and this enables you to throw a left hand with a lot of shoulder in it, and puts you in a position to throw a right hand after the slip. The movements are very simple, small movements. The trend today is to teach the slip and the counter as separate things, then to incorporate a lot of extraneous pivots and steps that over complicate everything. Blocking works the same way. To block a left hook, you don't just pick up your right glove. Well, you do, but the body motion is like throwing a right hand, starting with shifting the weight onto your left foot. When you do this, you roll inside the hook and your raise your right shoulder and catch the punch there, and you are in position to come right back with a hook. It works the same when blocking a right hand- the weight shift is like that of throwing a left hook. Again, this rolls you inside the punch coming at you, raises your shoulder to deflect the punch, and puts you in position to counter with a right hand. You used to see these moves a lot- Arguello, McCallum, Napoles, Louis, so many over so many years- but now these things a taught separately. So you see guys taking turns putting up their gloves then throwing punches when the other guy is done.
That was a pleasure to read, grey, you really know your stuff. You're one of the minority on here who I really pay attention to whenever you post, especially anything technical. You're right about too many aspects and skills being taught separately from each other rather than as part of a more advanced sequence. I've seen it a LOT in different gyms being instilled in impressionable kids and it boils my ****. I've had a few disagreements with trainers pointing it out.
Thank you for that. Merry Christmas to you. It is a very frustrating thing to watch. Ive lost count of the times that I showed those things to a fighter and he asked me why nobody ever taught him that.
Yeah, Inoue is great at creating that elasticity too. He's a little more compact when thinking of how far he lets his elbows drift out, but he does the same thing with almost every hook. Unlike Inoue, however, Napoles remained very defensively aware, with his chin down and out of position. Inoue doesn't quite have that awareness, it seems, unless he's focusing on it. The weight transference here lends itself to ridiculously hard power shots too. When mastered, is probably one of the most underrated skills for a counter-puncher to possess IMO. Napoles was so awesome, man.
