Jose Mantequilla Napoles of 1972 vs Felix Tito Trinidad from 1995, at 147 lbs, 15 rounds.

Yeah, Richard, I made a point of saying ‘69/‘70 Napoles was peak because I don’t think he was quite the same in his second reign as his first. Not a hugely significant drop off until he started to age significantly and his out-of-ring habits started affecting his in-ring performance but enough to give Tito a better chance against the ‘72 version than against the ‘69/‘70 version.

I agree that, ultimately, 1970 wasn’t a good year for Napoles because he lost the title to Billy Backus but his propensity for getting cut was the mitigating factor, rather than a sudden decline in his abilities. At the start of the year, when he was picking apart Ernie Lopez, he looked as good as ever.

 

My first thought was Napoles as is most here, but your points are very good and have caused me to pause. Napoles wasn't peak in 72, and we all just might be selling Tito short. I think I've went from Napoles 70-30 to a 50-50 fight.