60s WELTERWEIGHTS VS. SUGAR RAY LEONARD.

Hearns was tough to beat because of his 78" reach and power with hand speed at welter could these guys really bully their way inside Tommy`s jab the way Ray did expertly in their first match?

 

No they couldn't and they wouldn't have beaten Hearns or Leonard. Napoles didn't have the hand or foot speed to beat Leonard prime vs prime. A great example is R.Jones vs J.Toney. Though Toney was far superior in just skills which is proven by what happened when both fighters past their primes, the successes Toney had vs the disaster Jones had. Prime vs prime Jones completely out classed Toney. The athleticism was the difference. Same I see with a fight between Leonard vs Napoles. And Leonard was better in skill level than R.Jones was. All the film I've seen involving Napoles, nothing I've seen makes me think he could deal with Leonard's speed. (Unlike Robinson who even though beyond prime and fighting at a higher weight, still looked plenty fast. So I can infer how fast he was in prime and at welter, though no film exist of him at that weight) Most on this site have a personal dislike for Leonard that clouds their minds to how truly special he was at welterweight, and as a fighter. Griffith, Rodriguez,Napoles, or any welter in the 60's wouldn't beat Leonard, in a 3 fight series against any of them Leonard more than likely wins 2, and probably wins all 3. How some here on this site make it seems the man's not even in the top five or ten at welter. And that's completely ridiculous. Me I have him behind R.Robinson, and above Hearns, Than Napoles.