After Napoles beat Curtis Cokes twice with the WW title on the line, he defended against Emile Griffith, who had moved DOWN in weight from his normal 155-158 lbs wt. to met Napoles, himself only 144+ lbs. 1969-10-17 : Jose Napoles 144¾ lbs beat Emile Griffith 144½ lbs by UD in round 15 of 15 Location: Forum, Inglewood, California, USA Referee: Dick Young 11-4 Judge: John Thomas 11-3 Judge: Rudy Jordan 9-4 Napoles knocked Griffith down in the 3rd round for a five-count. Napoles's purse: $80,000 Griffith's purse: $40,000 Post fight comments "I figured it would be a tough fight. I never thought of going for a knockout. My object was to outbox, outclass and outpunch him. Griffith is probably the strongest fighter I have ever met." -Jose Napoles "I was in the best shape of my career but I just couldn't get up in the fight. But I must say Napoles is a very good champion." -Emile Griffith
A classy fight between two classy champions. I think Griffith may have been weakened somewhat by dropping back down to welter from middle (though he said he was in the best shape of his career), but really, I think Napoles was the better welterweight. I think Emile really came in to his own at 160.....though he weighed less than the division limit as champion. EG was an uncommonly strong fighter, but Napoles had all the answers by fighting a controlled, points scoring type of fight. He never let Griffith indulge in any rough stuff, and used his head (and not in a dirty way) for a clear decision win.
As much of a fan as I am of Emile Griffith, I can say with full confidence that Mantequilla would have beaten him at any stage of his welterweight title reign.
