Napoles fought around 140 from 65' to 68' and we can watch him destroying Urbina in 1 a little less than a year before he started coming in at around 140, in his next fight he beat the huge punching Carlos Hernandez who in his next two fights would beat Kenny Lane (although Lane was near the end of his career) and then beat Perkins in a close one for the 140 title. Around 140 Napoles shut out Perkins and only lost on cuts to LC Morgan So, who are the guys you favor over him, how do you see the Junior welterweight Napoles doing vs the best there have ever been at/around that weight? Lots more around this weight but these are some of the first that come to mind Barney Ross Aaron Pryor Duilio Loi Carlos Ortiz Nicolino Locche Antonio Cervantes Wilfred Benitez Julio Caesar Chavez Ike Williams Sammy Angott Tippy Larkin Henry Armstrong Beau Jack
I cant recall hearing anything about other footage of Napoles from around this period Was his fight with Perkins recorded? I would have loved to see that one
He not only beat the often screwed over master boxer Perkins...but he damned near shut him out, from what limited reports on the fight I have heard of.
I recall reading how Perkins always griped over this. Insisted he beat Napoles bad. Reports are that Napoles beat him down in Mexico unanimously by scores of 7-0-3 on all three scorecards. Really? On all three scorecards? Man, that's some pretty tight scoring isn't it? Always remember that UPI or AP reports out of a specific country is a report from a resident columnist who send in their report to the wire service. But allowing for Perkins' probable rhetoric, I would still pick Napoles in a championship contest.
Chavez and Armstrong have the best chance. It's difficult imagining him being outpointed but these two could come close to forcing a stoppage. Armstrong id make a favourite. Chavez might not be able to get to him in time.
Napoles basically jumped from LW to WW, and missed Jr. WW. The Napoles who beat up an aging Curtis Cokes, who was much bigger and hit harder, would have been a very hard Jr. WW for anyone to handle. for certain, even Floyd Mayweather would not be wise to stand in front of Mantequilla Napoles and get pounded on for 15 rounds (See CCokes' face after Fights #1 & #2)
Napoles was actually signed to fight Sandro Lopoppolo for his JW title, but the Italian pulled out for whatever reason and didn't or wouldn't reschedule. Napoles then moved up to 147 where George Parnassus had the connections and the monies to entice Curtis Cokes to defend in the Inglewood Forum for the then record breaking amount for a welterweight of $80,000.
Cokes' Mgr Doug Lord pretty much confirmed the above info regarding why they took the Napoles I fight. Big Money, great fight atmosphere out in LA, plus both fighters were kinda getting run arounds from other champions at various divisions. Both fighters thought they could win...and they were class individuals. So the fight was made.
