Jose Napoles vs Thomas Hearns 147

Hearns. SRL is a better boxer but Hearns hurt him.
We can say that 147 Hearns as hard of a puncher as Monzon.

 

Hearns out-boxed Benitez so could have out-boxed Napoles, he had a better jab and a better 1-2.

 

Hearns out-boxed Leonard, his chin let him down, Ray couldn`t get past Tommy`s jab without bullrushing him, it became a war of attrition after Tommy won the boxing match.

 

The Monzon reference is lazy IMO. Vastly different fighters, different size advantages/disadvantages at 147. I think Hearns would need to box very carefully because Napoles was a mid range master and hit hard and accurately and often. It’s close to a 50/50 fight really.

 

Yes, but I would stress "out-box" not because he was more skilled, but because Hearns had the superior physical tools that negated Napoles' greater skills. I think a lot of people assume (not necessarily you) that the guy who does the "out-boxing" part is always the superior boxer. But the two things are not always the same. There are many examples of big fights where the less skilled fighters out-boxed the more skilled fighters due to physical advantages - most often height and/or speed. Jones v. Hopkins I, Leonard v. Hearns I, Pryor v. Arguello I, and so on. I'd even say Liston v. Ali I, but I guess I am in a vast minority in thinking that Liston had superior overall boxing arsenal than Ali.

 

I don't agree, that's one of the excuses that came from his camp to
explain the loss. I'm sure if Leonard loss he would've had an excuse.
Hearns went 14 rds in a fast paced fight. That doesn't happen if
he wasn't in optimum physical condition. Plus, Hearns always
had issues with his legs and endurance,even at his best fighting weight at
Jr.Middle.

 

Damn good post ...

 

Different fighters, sure. However Hearns was fully capable of doing what Monzon did against Napoles. Monzón was able to measure the distance after 4 rounds and took complete control afterwards using his size and reach. Hearns had an even bigger height and his jab would make things difficult for Napoles to handle. Napoles is the much more skilled fighter but I think the size difference plus Hearns’ style, speed and power would be all wrong for him IMO.

 

Mills Lane thought Hearns came into light .Steward said,it wasn't any one punch but that Hearns came in too light and overtrained.Hearns was training himself and disregarding Steward.
"Normally for big fights Thomas had always come in at around 150lbs near the day of the fight and then sweated down to the limit.He was a big welterweight.But for that fight his was a skinny welterweight.
And he was running twice a day"."we argued about his running because his weight was low." We argued up to the day of the fight.As a result of all the work he was doing Tommy was overtrained,he was still sparring two days before the fight,he refused to stop.At the last weight in he was145lbs.You could see he was skinny,he was way underweight " Steward.

 

Fair points on both sides. If Napoles was a naturally very big welter/solid middleweight with equivalent power I'd pick him without hesitation to stop Hearns; his head movement, upper-body positioning, nimble & intelligent closing footwork, timing and fluid creative counterpunches coupled with his power and iron chin would eventually cave Hearns in.

He was just so much smaller and slower in reality though that it muddies the water and makes things really hard for him, and I instinctively think that the size and speed difference is a too much to circumnavigate. I'd be interested though if he was able to slip and counter early doors with the force that he did against Monzon. Hearns wasn't that composed and tough in comparison to Monzon but he was far quicker and more explosive and with comparable timing, especially early on that it wouldn't shock me to see a replication of the Duran fight. Who knows though if Napoles could suck it up without marking up/cutting and find a way into the fight....

 

The first 6 rounds until Leonard hurt Hearns were slow-paced with Hearns dominating Ray with his jab, Ray couldn`t figure out how to get past that jab until he caught Tommy and then caught him again later in the fight.

 

Great post mate it's good to have you back. I agree as shocking as it would look an early stoppage isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

 

The 1st 6 rds were not slow paced in my opinion. Granted it wasn't Pryor vs Arguello but far from slow paced. And yes Leonard had to figure out how to get too Hearns, but that's what separate the greats from the very goods. Great fighters find ways to win. Good fighters ( Shane Moseley for instance) don't.

 

McVey your on point (As usual) but too me its excuse making. It's as if Leonard didn't do what he needed to do too win this fight. Yes I remember this excuse from Steward, ( but Steward also said Leonard was the better fighter) but I take it with the grain of salt. Hearns was winning the fight through 13rds. If he were weight drained or over trained he wouldn't have won the majority of the fight until he was stopped. This issue would've shown up earlier. But the one thing I do agree on is Hearns hadn't learned how to tie his opponents up. ( Which was obvious but hell,until this fight, he really didn’t need too.) Damn near every fighter throughout the long history of boxing have made excuses for losses. Especially the great ones. Let's not detract from Leonard his victory . Hearns looked skinny in damn near every welterweight fight he had. But it wasn't an issue until he fought Leonard.

 

Ray was not doing that much. He was putting pressure on Tommy, but actually by the point Tommy had gone from boxing into jabbing and moving forward a little more. Emanuel said himself Tommy ran out of gas more than Ray made him run out of gas. In both those fights Leonard and Hagler, Tommy created his problems..