Napoles was at his prime in 1969. Both were the same size at 5'7", had the same reach, and met the WW limit at weigh-in. Napoles was 29, and Griffith was 31, in ages. Wonder why the scores were so lopsided: 11-4, 11-3, 9-4 ???? Would Napoles at welter, always schooled Griffth? (Remember the Griffith- Luis Rodriquez series was a virtual toss-up)
I don't think that was the best version of Griffith that showed up, it looked like he overtrained...but with that said...That isn't Napoles' problem. A better version of Griffith would do better imo...but judging on how the fight actually looked...it seemed like Napoles' style was difficult for Griffith to read.
I think Napoles would have always given Griffith problems Griffith was still a very good fighter but he was more past it than Napoles, Napoles' absolute prime was around the mid-late 60s Griffiths weight was also surprising, he hadnt come in below/at 147 for almost 4 years and then weighed in at 144 for Napoles, he said he was in the best shape of his career but he may have trimmed down too fine like dpw said
Griffith lost too much weight and was drained, robbing him of one of his greatest assets his strength.
I'm a huge Griffith fan, yet I believe that Napoles would have been too much for any version of Emile. Absolute prime for prime, Napoles would have still won...by a closer decision, but nevertheless, he would have won.
