I haven't really seen any of Napoles until he was a welterweight, but judging by him there and assuming he could get back down to 140 as he was a rather small WW (or from those who have seen his fights at the lower weights), how does he do against Pryor @ JWW?
I think Pryor has a good style here, you have to back up Napoles. That said, it's an easier job for a for a natural 147 atg man than for a natural 130/135 atg man. So i'm not 100% in picking Pryor. Someone like Basilio at 147 i feel comfortable with picking over Napoles, but the 140 Napoles is strong himself and is skilled at all ranges. Still, i'm going with Pryor's attack to come good over the long haul. When Pryor is boxing in spurts to get a rest he'd take a hiding though.
Backing Napoles up didn't work too well for Adolph Pruitt though. I'd take the buzzsaw that was a 140 lb Napoles to pick apart the often reckless Pryor. Pryor's just too wild and unpolished in my view against the calm and collected master that was Napoles, who was also much more of a force physically at 140 lbs.
It won't happen for all fighters who try to back him up, life isn't as such. The candidate would have to be a great fighter for starters. Like i said above though, the job is more suited to an atg welter than a fighter Pryor's size. Napoles was at a strength disadvantage at 147 the way i saw it, and he wouldn't be against Pryor. That's why i'm not 100% with my pick, but i'll stick with it. on Pryor's accuracy, in the grand scheme of things, and at his best, i always thought he was pretty accurate with his shots. He was a swarmer for sure, but he wasn't a wild missing type. He could box as well, but he'd have his arse handed to him when attempting that against Napoles. Pryor's style is actually not to 'back you up' so to speak, but rather simply to swarm, it's not really educated methodical pressure, so maybe i'm wrong on this. But i still think Pryor would come good over the duration of a gruelling fight with the unrelenting fighting and stamina he posesses. I don't have anything against the Napoles pick though.
Napoles stops Pryor in round 7...too much unforgiving deadly accuracy and power on those shots that Mantequilla would get in for free..
Thinking of Aaron vs old Kid Pamblee getting floored and unimpressive and catching hell vs teenage Duwon Johnson.
Napoles is pushed to the limit by Pryor's aggression for much of the fight, but eventually Mantequilla's own power comes into play. Napoles by late TKO, after one hell of a fight.
i love pryor but i dont think he could beat napoles , napoles would by no means have this fight all his own way but for me napoles copes with pryor's rushes most of the time to land enough telling shots to win on pts or even a very late stoppage.
There are always doubts about Napoles' ability to survive a war because of his skin problems. On the other hand, he did have a cast-iron beard. No pick can be 100% certain. I don't think this is a great match-up for Napoles, but I don't think it's particularly bad either. You have to remember that, whilst he was a tremendous technician with a brilliant jab and skillset, his style played into fighting more than it did boxing. It's difficult to see it in many ways, since he rarely took the lead himself and often shortened his punches, especially at the higher weights. However, if you look closely, you'll see Duran-like tendencies coming out in him, with his drive to get inside and uncork combinations. (Napoles is like a better-rounded version of Duran in many ways, and correspondingly is suited to something in between the out-and-out brawls of MDP and a stand-up boxing match, but certainly wouldn't shy away from the former.) Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that this wouldn't be a nightmare for Napoles by any means, and he'd get plenty of opportunities to get off his cripser, more accurate work on Pryor, who could be defensively lacking at times. It's also worth remembering that Napoles wouldn't be particularly the smaller man in any real respect in this one, and almost certainly bangs harder. I see him taking a clear decision.
Very good post. Not sure that Naps was more well-rounded than Duran, though I suppose it depends on how you interpret 'well-rounded'. But I agree with everything else and wouldn't actually be surprised if Napoles really bust Aaron up and stopped him.
You make a good post here. I agree on the 'more rounded' segment, i do have to say this is only in a technical sense though. Duran is better effectively in my opinion. Sorry to have to nitpick, like i say, i do agree regardless.
By "more well-rounded" I don't mean he was "better, all-round" or "better, all things considered". Let me make it clear: Duran was the superior fighter in my estimation. BUT I do think Napoles has the assets (jab) and the style (more patience, adaptability, proven success against moving targets) to succeed against a wider range of styles than Duran, who could be left in a bit of a pickle by types that didn't give him the opportunity to brawl, or counter his way into one. Duran climbs higher than Jose with wins over Leonard (though Napoles/Leonard is far from a foregone conclusion IMO), but then I can't see Jose struggling with someone like Viruet. In that sense, he is a more rounded fighter.
Yeah, it encapsulates what i was getting at really, he's a more rounded technician, he's one of the best technicians ever actually imo. Duran is actually a great technician himself, with the skills he posesses etc. But man.........Napoles' footwork, balance and jabbing game were off the charts.
I think Napoles could get a stoppage here. Pryor had a lot of bad habits. Napoles was such a smooth technician. Stoppage or not, I'd still side with Napoles.