Jose Napoles .Vs. Roberto Duran At 135.

I have often wondered about these two. Not necessarily in any given year, but p2p. I really admire both guys.

Duran was absolutely at his best at 135. He looked to be unbeatable at this weight. Many see him as the best LW ever. He went on to do exceedingly well at much higher weights against all time great guys who were naturally much bigger. Even when he was past his best.

Napoles, I feel, did his best work at welterweight. Though, it must be said that he was rather small as a welter. In spite of this, he dominated the welterweight division during his era except for the hiccup against Billy Backus. He failed against all time great Carlos Monzon when he attempted to move up. But he was past his best by then.

I think the answer should be obvious from the foregoing. P4p Duran was the better man.

At 135, Duran would be at his awesome best. A fully matured (read prime) Jose Napoles would be a bit too big for the division and would have to strain to make weight. He would be no match for Duran.

Even at welterweight, I would pick Duran (in his SRL 1 form) to get the better of Napoles in a well contested match. Here, maybe, Napoles would have an outside chance.

 

Duran PTS.

 

If Naploes had stayed at LW and been champion in '72 when Duran challenged for the belt, Duran gives Napoles tough fight but takes a hellacious beating before getting stopped around the 10th. By '74 its a much more even fight, Duran is better schooled, Napoles is faded, that would be a tough close call, Napoles taking more of the early rounds but Duran coming through strong and taking it down the stretch for a close UD

 

That's not true at all.

 

Napoles was making lightweight in his late 20's wasnt he?

I cant see the weight being an issue either.

 

I do think that Napoles is one of the few, if any, that could possibly edge Duran at this weight. Like Cholo, Mantequilla had a perfect blend of skill and power. But, then again, there is Jose's tendency to bleed from cuts. And because 135 was Duran's main habitat, I've got to give him the edge here. Napoles might win on a given night, but not 9/10.

 

You are a very knowledgeable poster, sweet pea, and I have always enjoyed your posts.

But do you really think that it is untrue that Roberto Duran did his best work at LW?

I know that Napoles was a bit small as a WW, but do you really think that he could have comfortably made weight at LW and still preferred to fight at WW?

Duran is considered to be the all time great LW by many experts and one of the very best p4p fighters ever. Do you really think that Napoles would have beaten Duran at his best weight, the LW div.? Okay, I take back the comment about Napoles being no match against Duran (I watched one of the Curtis Cokes fights again last night). :hi:

 

I think he may have been more referring to you saying Napoles would have to strain to make the weight and therefore insinuating he would have been weakened ab.

Jose was coming in well under the 140 limit into his late 20's..I think he moved up to welter out of frustration more then anything, about being unable to attract bigger fights.

 

That wasn't what I was referring to. I was referring to your statement abvout Napoles being drained or pre-prime at LW, when in reality he only moved up to WW because he wasn't getting the breaks he deserved at 135 and 140. He was by all accounts a more effective and natural fighter at the lower weights than at WW, where he was indeed small for the weight class.

Now that you mention it though, I actually think Duran looked as good or better against Leonard and Palomino than he ever did at LW, including his overrated performance against Dejesus in their third fight (I preferred what he did in the second fight to be honest).

Again, he didn't prefer to fight at WW, he moved up because he wasn't getting a shot at the title at either 135 or 140 despite beating everyone he needed to beat.

I never said that either. I'd favor Duran based on styles.

I think it would be a great matchup at any weight while it lasted, but in the end I think the pace Duran would set would be bad for Napoles due to his tendancy to cut, which would be a high probability with the constant punching exchanges that would undoubtedly take place. Duran by late TKO on cuts in a very competitive and hotly contested match.

 

I can't agree with that one. While Duran never steamed forward constantly like he did against Palamino or most of the time in the Leonard fight, his efficiency was just as good. The way he balanced out his offense and defense against De Jesus in the third fight was flawless. Not really the type of Duran that comes to mind in terms of the way he fought, no question. But his boxing ability and defense was as good as ever, mixed in with moments of charging forward. He was technically wild against De Jesus throughout the rematch. Nowhere near as refined or precise as he was 6 years later when they fought the final time. To say the performance was overrated, well, thats baffling to say the least.

Napoles would probably do his best work against Duran at mid-range. I can see his fluid technique and skill level making for a competitive fight. His jab was better than Duran's, and certainly more of a scoring weapon. It's hard to call this one accuratley based on no footage of Napoles at the weight. Duran would probably get his way more often than not.