Does anyone remember the two Napoles-Cokes fights? I was pretty impressed by this Jose Napoles guy whom I was vaguely aware of from reading of his ko over the dangerous Carlos Hernandez, and I was of course somewhat of a fan of Curtis Cokes, and I followed his tenure as champion and his title defenses. Napoles reduced Cokes to mincemeat in both of these fights, both being somewhat similar, in that Jose utterly dominated Curtis, and in both fights Cokes retired in his corner with his face swollen and battered beyond recognition. Napoles is to me one of the very greatest welterweight champs, and ranks up there with Robinson, particularly in the years '69 thru '73.
Curtis Cokes didn't defeat the dominant champion of the welters, Emile Griffith, in fact they never met in the ring, but he did the next best thing by eventually taking the measure of all the other top welters of his time after Griffith moved up to middleweight and defeated Dick Tiger. Cokes most significant title acquisition was against Luis Rodriguez, whom he defeated by a 15 round decision. Coke's defenses weren't against stellar opposition, but he steadily rolled over all of them and established himself as a solid, deserving kingpin. He had smart boxing skills, a good chin, only losing by ko to Stanley "Kitten" Hayward, and the only blip, so to speak, on his record during his tenure was a nontitle loss by decision to the bizarre Gypsy Joe Harris. Napoles, after making his mark as a lightweight and then growing into the welterweight class, was seen as something special especially after rising from an early knockdown against the huge punching Carlos Hernandez to overwhelm his man with debiltating, fast and accurate shots to the head and body to win a tko in round 6. In both fights against Cokes, Napoles forsook the single, devastating power shots that he was capable of to wisely use a steady and methodical attack to the head and body to batter Cokes into defeat, in 13 rounds to win the title, then in 10 rounds in the rematch, fought a few monthes later. In both contests, Cokes retired on his stool between rounds, his face a hideous mask, both eyes swollen shut, and his mouth swollen and bloody. He was totally dominated both times by Mantequilla, who was IMO, one of the classiest, complete fighters of all time. Maybe his ONLY weakness was his tendency to cut, and the flesh around his eyes particularly so. Aside from that, I see him taking the measure of any welterweight champ in history, or at least giving them the fight of their life.
Yes, Cokes was a solid champion with rounded ability and an impressionable right hand, not that it counted for much... Napoles marched forward into range, starting the incredibly disruptive and machine like slips, dips and jigs up close whilst getting into that destructive rhythm of his. An easy jab on his way inside opened up into a few short hooks, slip, cute little uppercut, bob, uppercut, body punch, jab - skip out of range, then repeat with different angles and punches. Napoles must have invented some combinations as he flexed his superiority in the ring. He was completely relaxed yet **** sure of his punches landing, which made him super hard to read - there was not a hint of telegraphing in his seamlessly threaded punches. When you tangled with Napoles, he decided how the fight would go. He was virtually impossible to take out of his comfort zone. During his prime, if he did not swell and cut so easily, his opponents would not of had a prayer. Backus and Muniz managed to rattle his cage, but he came back to make a real mess of them. Joe Louis is revered for his record in rematches, so should Napoles for crushing his returning challenges. Armando Muniz was a particularly dangerous opponent for the rusting Napoles. Muniz should have won the first fight, but it can't be over stated how Napoles came back to casually tame the man who went on to give Palamino all he could handle. So much to say about a man who was a natural 135lbs'er. Napoles was a true ring marvel and had a style all of his own.
Good posts by both of you! For me he rates at number 4 at the weight all-time, high praise, but just my opinion, to just watch, as a boxing fan, it was amazing seeing him at work, that nickname fitted very well!
That was my other choice, having looked at quite a few recent clips of a younger Pep, and the subtle shifts he would use to send an attacked flying right by, or the use of feints with his feet. Hard call, but Napoles was just so balanced and capable of turning the heat on and off at will.
..........As would I. Too often, we're led to believe that great footwork means flitting around the ring a hundred miles an hour. Napoles showed the art of staying out of harm's way while still being within striking distance. Must be one of the hardest things about boxing to master, and I marvel at it every time I watch him.
Yep to both of you, different kinds of footwork. Napoles, along with Duran, seemed the most comfortable at mid-to-close range.
Good post, i know you guys might not wanna hear this, but Bernard Hopkins was great at this, JUST ALMOST positioning himslf out of harms way, very subtle but brilliant, also, Hopkins never left his chin wide open i believe (someone will probably prove me wrong now!!)
His fight with Monzon is worth a look. Napoles put up a good fight for a few rounds before Monzon's power took over.
First off all I'd just like to give props to the first few posts, excellent stuff guys. Second of all, these would be the main fights I've personally seen that have me rating Napoles so high, even as highly as Ted Spoon rates him. I don't know if I can say I've seen a definitely better boxer in the ring.
