Here are the list of Ring Magazine Contenders/Champions Napoles Beat Baby Vasquez- One of the top lightweights ever to come out of Mexico. 103 Career Victories. Alfredo Urbina 2x- # 3 rated Lightweight in the World. Never been stopped before in over 50 proffesional fights. Napoles did the trick in 1 round Carlos Hernandez- Future Junior Welterweight Champion. Never been stopped before. Giordano Campari- # 10 rayed Junior Welterweight in the world. Respectable 77-12 record going into the fight. Napoles win by stoppage. Eddie Perkins- Hall of Fame Junior Welterweight Champion. Won by Shutout on all 3 cards. Adolph Pruit 2x- # 2 rated Junior Welterweight in the World(1965) and # 2 rated Weltweight in the world(1972). Napoles win by Stoppage twice. Johnny Santos- # 6 rated Junior Welterweight in the world with a 28-2 record. Napoles win by Stoppage. Eugenio Espinoza- # 4 rated Junior Welterweight in the world. 51-4-4 Respectable record. Napoles win by Stoppage. Napoles at Junior Welterweight not only cleaned out much of the division...but proved himself a devastating puncher at 135-140lb. Welterweight: Curtis Cokes 2x- Hall of Fame Welterweight Champion who Knocked out ATG Luis Rodriguez. Napoles twice by Stoppage. Emile Griffith- Hall of Fame Former Welterweight/Middleweight Champion. Despite being past his prime, he was still a highly dangerous world class contender who would go on to record great wins at 160lb. Napoles won by Wide Unanimous. Ernie Red Lopez 2x- # 1 welterweight Contender in the world. Napoles by Stoppage. Billy Backus- Welterweight Champion of the World. Napoles by one sided Stoppage. Jean Josselyn- # 10 rated Weltweight Contender. Went 15 rounds with Curtis Cokes for the Championship. Napoles by Stoppage. Hedgemon Lewis 2x- # 2 rated Welterweight Contender. Respectable 40-3 Record. Roger Menetrey- # 4 rated weltweight in the world and European Welterweight Champion. 49-4 Record with 40 Knockouts. Clyde Gray- # 3 welterweight Contender in the world. 40-2 (30ko) Horacio Saldano- # 9 welterweight contender in the world. 50-4 Record. Armando Muniz 2x- # 3 welterweight contender in the world. Gave Carlos Palomino a 15 round war. It Appears Naploes firmly cleaned out the welterweight division as well in the early-mid 1970s and he recorded some great victories while being Old and an Alchoholic. The only strong man he missed out on fighting was welterweight sensation Angel Espada who was # 1 contender for a year during Napoles stretch as Champion. It appears that Jose Napoles has quite the credentials to be placed highly on any p4p list all time, Top 5 Welterweight list, and on top 10 Junior Welterweight list. As far as his resume goes...He beat a very good balance of both Quality and Quantity in 2 different weight classes...and he was ducked for years at 135lb preventing him from scoring more there. What do you make of this ATG champion as far as his resume goes? Did he beat a respectable list of Punchers? respectable list of Boxer stylists?
His resume, while not as outstanding as that of many other ATG's, is often underrated. During his prime I think he was one of the most skilled boxers to ever live, and one of the most consistent performers. One of my all time faves to watch. I wish there was more footage of him at the lower weights, although I do know that his 1 round stoppage of Urbina exists on film.
Not to take away from the man, but i was reading an Eddie Perkins interview and he said he thought he was robbed outright against Napoles. But as Suzie stated above, a shutout victory for Napoles on all three cards. Can anyone shed any light on this one?
I have the (2nd???) Hedgemon Lewis fight and a few others; can anyone reccomend the absolute best performance they have seen on film; and whether it is on youtube? I have about four of his fights, two cuts stoppages, one I've yet to watch and the Stracey fight.
Okay thanks for that, maybe it was just Perkins, as fighters do, thinking he should have gotten the nod.
I was actually saying that I really dont know what happened and maybe its needs to be questioned..Ive always just taken what Ive read about it as the truth, which is essentially just the result. Ive yet to read a decent report on it to tell you the truth.
Same here, all i read was the Perkins interview so it likely will have an element of bias in fairness.
I wonder if there exists a film of Napoles vs Griffith..from what I've read of the fight Mantequilla put on a scientific boxing/counterpunching clinic on a still viable Griffith. Avoiding herad to head slugging, Napoles was a boxing master that night..a trick he used over and over was to feint with the right, avoid Griffith's counter and counter the counter with a combination. He decked Emile in the 3rd, I believe, but didn't push for the knockout, preferring to outslick Griff over 15..would love to see that fight.
What are the reasons for Napoles not getting his shot at the top LWs/LWWs, as he was there until the age of 28, so bad management or ducking?