jose "mantequilla" napoles

The only one I might hesitate to pick him against would be Mayweather. He beats the rest rather easily.

What fights of his have you seen? Not trying to be a smartass, honestly. Just curious.

 

I can't see any of them beating a peak Napoles.

 

Okay, that's cool......

The thing with Napoles is he was just so damn schooled and calm and confident in his abilities.

Berto....well, the kid is athletic, I'll give him that, but he was rushed. He had a title fight before he knew what real boxing was, and he still doesn't know. It's not his fault, of course, if I were offered that kind of up-front money from HBO I'd go along with the program too, but the bottom line is, he simply doesn't know how to fight yet. Put him in with a skilled counterpunching monster like Napoles and he exits inside eight rounds, and only that long because Jose was patient as they come. Berto is the worst of the bunch.

Despite his relatively small size, Napoles had an all-time great chin. Watch him get his ass handed to him against the huge middleweight Monzon and you get that picture. He was never once in danger of falling in spite of taking huge, flush shots. This is why I would also pick him against Cotto. Now, I like Cotto; this guy has skills, and would beat a lot of good fighters, but styles are everything in this game. Cotto liked to come forward and make the fight, but that plays directly into the hands of a sharp counterpuncher with a great chin like Napoles. Jose dissects him and takes him out around round ten.

Margarito might take him to a decision because he too takes a great shot, but really this guy has zero chance. Jose scores at will. No contest at all here.

Pac would give him a good fight. I like Pacquiao. Again, though, it's the chin thing. The only failing Marquez showed in his two fights with Pac was the early round knockdowns. Other than that, they were evenly contested, in fact one might fairly say Marquez had the upper hand after that.

Jose would in no way, shape or form be floored by Pacquiao. He takes whatever Pac has to dish out, and then picks him apart the way Marquez did in the later rounds. That would be the difference. Napoles by hard-fought decision.

Mayweather however, poses a different problem. He doesn't play into any of Napoles' strengths, like counterpunching. He's basically a counterpuncher himself, so it would be a tedious posturing match going on. Mayweather would be tested and might even lose, but he poses the biggest threat because of his negative style. Nothing for Jose to work with, yet not much for Floyd to play off either.

 

Napoles schools all of them.

Mayweather isn't any different for me, to be honest. It's a contest between a complete counter-puncher with all the skills and an increasingly flat-footed potshot-and-grab specialist. Once Napoles takes away the right hand Mayweather wouldn't really be left with much, and I can imagine him being taken out of the fight and left scared to throw like Cokes after the opening sessions. Napoles also had an under-rated ability to shift gears and start leading, cutting off the ring and applying pressure when necessary (later rounds of the first Lewis fight IIRC), which serves as a handy plan B if Mayweather isn't forthcoming.

Pacquiao would just be walking into stiff counters I'm afraid.

 

Not quite the subject but do any of you recall the right uppercut Jose stopped Lopez with? Maybe one of the hardest punches ever, hit him on the chin then cut Earnie below and above his eye on the way up leaving Indian Red out cold.

 

He would have beaten them all...Mantequilla in his prime was a feared fighter and a thing to behold.

 

Napoles:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBUg_OhdPhY[/ame]

watching napoles fight it is a wonder the guy isnt undefeated!

he was too aggressive and had too much power and speed for mayweather.

pac couldnt defend against his attacks and napoles would counter him to death

the others would simply have no chance at all - napoles was just to good.

how would the classic forum rank him as welterwieght against the other great welters I say he gives any welter that ever lived a very tough fight.

 

Napoles is my favorite guy to watch. He was always doing something.

 

I think Mayweather would be the toughest opponent, but I think Napoles would probably win, just more energy, aggressiveness, and toughness - they are about equal on skills. Pac is too open and would get countered effectively IMO. The other guys would get beaten easily.

 

I think Mayweather is the only guy around at 147 who can beat him.
I believe Mayweather will find the countering opportunities the question is when.

I think he'd put Pacquiao on the retreat. I don't think Pacquiao can fight on the retreat.

Mosley I think outside of Mayweather is the most interesting match up. If there is any current welterweight who might resemble Napoles the closest in my opinion is Mosley. At this point in Mosley's career I think Napoles is better than him. I think 2000 Mosely vs prime Napoles is a more intresting match up.

As for my predictions.
vs. Mayweather? Like I said it comes down to how quickly Mayweather adapts and finds the countering opportunities. Mayweather's history says that he will find them sooner rather than latter. Mayweather by decision 116-112 or 115-113.

vs. Pacquiao? Napoles keeps Pacquiao on his back foot with his 5" reach advantage. Pacquiao is going to eat a lot of punches. He'll have his moments but not enough. I can see this being stopped late. If not 118-110 for Napoles.

vs. Mosley? I think this is a case of "bigger/stronger/faster" Mosley wins the bigger part but at this point in his Mosley's career. Napoles is probably stronger and definitely stronger. (2 out of 3 ain't bad). Napoles by decision 116-112 give or take a point.

 

If there's one thing he didn't have too much of for Floyd, it's speed. He was never really a speed demon, although he does appear quite a bit quicker on film in his Lightweight days. The performance against Urbina was also a bit out of character (again, in comparison to what we have on film of a Welterweight Napoles). This was after having lost a disputed decision on points to Urbina in their first fight. It looks like he was a man on a mission in the rematch.

However, I agree that he'd beat Floyd and any of the others on the list at any weight. Pacquiao might be his most difficult matchup, actually.

 

I see absolutely no resemblances between Mosley and Mantequilla, who was light-years ahead of him technically.

 

The difference is that this time Mayweather would be in with someone with just as good defence and countering ability as himself. Napoles was pretty hard to hit and hardly open for easy counters even when he was on the offensive.