Which peak fighter will win the Sombrero in this one? I tend to lean towards Napoles given his combination of skill and power, but if Cuevas lands one of his bone-breaking whacks...
I'm not certain that the geuine force of Cuevas' punches would be heavier than say, Middleweight Monzon. Cuts aside, and I don't think Cuevas will land that much, Pipino doesn't have a chance in Hell. The Napoles of the first Cokes fight constantly turns Cuevas, steps in, lands his shots and gets back out, stepping it up late and taking Cuevas out. The way Cuevas throws he will be so open to Napoles' pinpoint, sharp counters. I like Cuevas, but this is a mismatch.
Napoles ko's Cuevas in 2 or 3. A wild swing by Cuevas, with Napoles slipping it and countering with a right hand similar to the one he ko'ed Ernie Lopez (II) with. There's no friggin' way Cuevas would have lasted with Mantequilla. Up until the end Napoles would have shown everyone just why he was nicknamed "Mantequilla". This fight would have shown the massive gulf in class between these two fighters. This fight would have been reminiscent of SSR vs Rocky Graziano, only without Napoles taking a flash knockdown as Robby did before disposing of Rocky.
I am a massive Napoles fan, but no way does he take out Cuevas. Too many people remember Cuevas post Hearns. His jaw caved in permanaently in that fight and was never any good again. Prior to that A-bomb in the 2nd round Cuevas couldn't be dented with a baseball bat. If he goes down against Napoles it will be from a sweet counter after one of Pipino's wild hooks. I would look for Napoles on a comfortable 15 round decision. Scartissue
