Jose Napoles vs Roberto Duran

Napoles was a hard hitter, though not a consistent one-punch fighter Welter.The Lopez uppercut was a relatively rare one-shot stoppage-when you hit as accurately as Napoles did you will always get a couple, even if you don't have crippling power.

I would put his power at a notch below Leonards(at welter, not p4p).About on par with a Simon Brown, albeit with far more ability and flair than the slow fake mantequilla.

 

I won't disagree with that but I think it's close...In Leonard's case, his speed did accentuate his power.

 

The Duran of either the Palomino or first Leonard fight would win a decision or possibly even stop Napoles on cuts sometime during or past the halfway point I reckon. Napoles always worked better from mid-range and when allowed to fight at his own pace and set the tempo of a fight. Roberto being the smart fighter he is would have known that and thus would have not given Napoles the breathing room he would have liked and would have made this an inside fight.

I think there is a very good chance that Jose would have been cut to shreds by the crafty rough-housing of Duran inside. For all his ability I do not think Jose was robust enough at welter (he was a natural lightweight really) to hold up over the long haul under a consistent Duran mugging in a close quarters type of battle . I honestly feel that the Duran we saw vs Palomino and Leonard I would have stomped all over a lot of very good welters who relied on a little breathing room to strut their stuff.

 

Duran was too strong for Mantquila but Jose would make it interesting but Duran stops him 10-15

 

He wouldn't be stopping him on anything but cuts if there were to be a stoppage. He's not too strong for Mantequilla to handle, even if he may lose a Decision.

 

Yea, I was a fan of Mantequilla but he cut like butter in a few fights, (BILLY BACKUS(BASILIO"S NEFEW) He was in with a big Middleweight and older vs Monzon but Duran was a boxing puncher who was relentless...Jose was a great fighter but I would not put him in the level of SSL and it would take a welter of that magnitude to hang with a prime fit Duran as he was in Leonard 1....I see a late breakdown, to the body,possibly some cuts...but the rounds 10-15 keep popping up as 5 long rds for Napoles to survive

 

I think the Jose Napoles who decisioned Emile Griffith would have also decisioned Roberto Duran. That Griffith fight was a masterpiece for Jose, and he would have gone Esteban DeJesus one better by decking the great Duran and outpointing him in a TITLE BOUT, over 15 rounds. It wouldn't have been that close either. I'm talking about the circa 1969 Napoles of course.

 

What makes you think that jose could do better than leonard did in their first fight? I would be interested to know.

 

Napoles was a more concise, economical fighter without as much flashiness as Leonard. The difference was power. Napoles had more power as a ratio to his skills than Leonard. He would make Duran respect him with his power than Leonard did.

 

Ok,you really think napoles carried more power than leonard? And enough to bother duran sufficiently?
Note,duran normally had more trouble with power and speed (eg leonard,hearns.) than just pure power like haglers or barkleys. Do you consider napoles to have comparable speed to ray?

 

Probably because they fought nothing alike, and when Leonard was implying the use of a jab, he fought quite well, and Napoles used one more actively.

That would be a reason, not to mention Napoles was better in exchanges, while Leonard had quicker flurries to get out of them. Also, I had Duran winning by just a point over Leonard.