Tell me about Jose Napoles

He was actually a natural 135 pounder who went up to welter for better opportunities, match ups and money. Napoles was an exceptional fighter, at his best right there with Ray Leonard, a top five all time welterweight great. A Kid Gavalin with power. His weakness was a bit too much partying and propensity to cuts.

 

Well i was watching some Napoles last night.

Jose Napoles was a cuban defector and settled in Mexico where he became famous. Christened Mantequilla by the spanish speaking fans as Mantequilla is butter and Jose was as smooth as.

He started out as a Lightweight and famously never got the chance at the title so moved up to Welterweight and won the title whilst being a natural Lightweight. The only film of him as a Lightweight is the second Urbina fight where he looks superb and there is footage of him as a Light Welterweight in his first bout with Pruitt again he looks great.

His smooth style is excellant to watch with deft head movements and quick counters especially his right hand to the chest. He was a booming puncher with either hand but especially his left hook. He worked the body well with his hooks and uppercuts and is one of the best ring generals ever. His footwork is a marvel especailly in the first Cokes bout which is one of teh most impressive displays ever.

His reign as Welterweight champion is one of the best in history as he really dominated his era. With wins over the top contenders like Hedgemon Lewis, Adoplh Pruitt, Ernie Lopez and Armando Muniz aswell as a win over the great Emile Griffith. He did however lose his title on cuts, which was a chronic problem for him, against the nephew of Carmen Basilio - Billy Backus who was a very tough fighter but nowhere near the class of Jose. Jose avenged this superbly.

Thats just a quick intro to him.

 

To add...He was essentially the uncrowned champ at 140 aswell. When he was ready and rearing for a title shot, he wasnt given one.

This despite beating Carlos Hernandez and Eddie Perkins..the former only months before he would win the title..the latter only a few months after he lost it.

 

It was alright like Earnie Lopez and Armando Muniz are guys who are pretty highly thought of among fans of the era. Cokes was an underrated champion but was probably on the slide by the time Napoles beat him. Then add in Hedgemon Lewis who contemporaries really rave about and I can see why. Also you got the long term contender Pruitt who was pretty handy himself.

Obviously Griffith is an ATG but many people think he was abit weight drained and said himself he messed up the weight although Napoles beat him convincingly. I would say ironically his weakest defence was against Nackus who was the guy to beat him .

Yeh great addition wasnt too sure if he was on the verge of a 140lb shot, but he looked good at 140lbs.

 

Yeah pretty sure he was the no1 contender at 140 for pretty much the second half of 1965.

And the number 2 contender for like a year before that.

Not sure why he was avoided...apart from obvious reasons.

 

So potentially Napoles could have been a 3 weight World Champion, you think that would alter his All Time ranking?

Also Napoles 5 best performances IMO

Cokes 1
Griffith
Urbina 2
Lewis 2
Lopez 2

 

Well Dane, at least you're in the right forum now...it speaks volumes about the ignorance of the General forum that no on e knew to tell you anything about Jose Mantequilla Napoles..one of the greatest fighters and welter champions of history. They don't have a clue there.

 

Add the Pruitt defense to your list GP...he was utterly devastating against a VERY worthy top ranked challenger...he left him a bloody mess, as though he had kissed a chainsaw.

 

Napoles could slice a guy up (Pruitt II), knock him cold with one punch (Lopez II), neatly outbox and hit with precision (Griffith) or methodically grind a guy into hamburger (Cokes I & II).

 

yeh Pruitt 2 was good

I remember the first Pruitt fight, Pruitt breaks his arm

 

Let me put it like this, if Napoles would be in today's division I would have no doubt who would rule it.

 

Well I personally think Napoles would beat Pac, Floyd and Pavlik handily.

He'd be P4P no.1 today.

I have him at between 25-30 in my top 100 P4P

 

Mantequilla Napoles would have beaten all the top names in the welter division today.