When these two fought in 1975,Napoles was well past it. Supposing it had been the 'Mantequila'of say,five years earlier. I think that we'd have seen a very tight battle until the latter stages,when Napoles' sharper punching would have lined up John H for a tko. Thoughts ?
I dont think its all that competitive to tell you the truth. Stracey hangs in there till the mid rounds but eventually gets taken out well behind on points.
stracey is tough and fights hard but by the 9th he is in deep trouble and probably rescued by his corner
And if it was true about Napoles being greater at 140lbs than 147lbs then we may count his victims lucky. By the time Napoles was in the ring with Stracey, the rust was already deep-set in his joints through natural mileage, drinking and age. Even then John was having trouble with him. Napoles at his best would of been making him miss by the smallest of margins and punishing every failed effort with combinations you'll swear you've never seen before. The fight would be comfortably and mercifully over around the half-way mark.
As it was John H nearly came a cropper in the First round against Jose, John H was a typical Terry Lawless styled fighter, always working off the Jab, and once the Jab was established, coming in with the Heavier Shots, but Against a Prime Jose the Jab wouldnot get Established due to Jose's Cobra'esque Head movement and ability to Slip the Jab and Launch Combinations, The Jose who Took Adolph Pruitt apart would Befuddle John H for a Mid-fight Stoppage - If Palomino could do it - Jose would in Style.
Napoles was smooth as butter but he also cut like butter. I think he was handling Stracey fairly well, if not for the cuts and swelling that ended the fight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12kkRKzE9bo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BR2VKYXopAA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvpZ-oUbVmU Providing that Napoles avoids being cut, he should beat Stracey in his prime.
The Napoles of the 2nd Pruitt fight was awesome indeed!! That version in particular would have been way too much for Stracey on his best day. I remember being very impressed by the ringside report of Napoles-Pruitt, and if there was ever a guy who could have been champion it was Pruitt. Napoles was fantastic!!
Nobody was saying Napoles was well past it going into the fight and definitely not after the first round! Your comment comes with 32 years of hindsight, Stracey deserves more kudos, as does Napoles. As for a prime v prime fight, yes Napoles was a level above John, but Stracey was no mug and probably gets to the final bell, having done enough to get Napoles respect. Napoles WU15 (11-4)
Stracey was a good fighter and I was for himm when he made his only successful defense against Hedgemon Lewis. He was much stronger than Lewis and just overpowered him. He was a good fighter, but if Carlos Palomino was able to stop him, then the razor sharp superfighter that was Mantequilla would have really messed him up before stopping him when he was in his prime. Napoles could cut and slice as well as land pinpoint one punch ko's like the one in which he flattened Ernie Lopez and nearly knocked Ernie's eyeball out of his socket in the 7th round of their rematch.
Stracey was an honest trier. But to tell the truth, he would not have been competitive against Napoles at his best. 5-7 rounds, the fight gets stopped in Napoles' favour.
