WW and 154. Does Hearns figure out the Napoles complex by watching his samba videos or does he get outfoxed?
Napoles of the '70s would be outpointed and cut up and stopped. If he was still the sprite of '69 then it's much different. At least as early as 1971 he was taking training less seriously, drinking regularly and of course, ageing. Napoles was a late champion who, though dominant, only just about had enough left in him by 1972 to stave off his challengers. Like Hagler of '84-'87, Napoles slid quite quickly and lost much effectiveness. Hearns still wins - Napoles was better at 140lbs - but it's not one-sided in any way. I could imagine Hearns taking a long range points decision, but at welterweight - still very spindly, remember - he would struggle to outfight Napoles, who had a knack of winning exchanges over the course of a fight. Hearns wouldn't be able to take chances because of Napoles' expert counters, and also because of his pacing which left him strong to the last round. And it is certainly not a foregone conclusion that Hearns wins on the cards by a big margin; Napoles was so smart and a quality jabber. Hearns getting the benefit of the doubt. 9-5-1 with Napoles dangerous for every second.
I think I rate hearns higher than most do. Maybe I'm caught up in the hype of the fab 4 right now but I believe all 4 are within the ten best boxers of history. hearns at lmw is only gonna be an underdog to sugar (pick any I favour them both). I honestly can't see him losing to anyone else from 147-154.
After overcoming the great height and reach disadvantages in rounds 1 through 6, Napoles nails Hearns and dosen't miss a punch there afterwards. Mantequilla stops Tommy in the 7th by a tko.
Napoles was able to reach Curtis Cokes who was 5' 9 ", and Monzon who was 5' 11+". But Hearns is over 6'-1". Hearns will hit Napoles with some big shots from long range. Hearns by decision @ welter, by TKO at Jr.MW.
Gavilan? Quite tall, active, quick and durable with good skills and stamina. Rodriguez? Busy, strong, technical, good body puncher.
Napoles is one of the most skillful welterweights ive ever seen, and at his best very few fighters would have been able to beat him. I think Hearns is one that would though, he's stylistically a very difficult challenge for Napoles. I reckon it with play out fairly similar to Hearns's fight with benitez (who had a fairly similar style to napoles, imo), where he uses his huge height, reach, jab and speed to his advantage. He gets off first and keeps Mantequilla at length in something of a shell, unable to do much damage. I think the Cuban would be savvy, and skillful enough though to go the distance with Hearns, and make it somewhat competitive.
The problem I have when considering where to rank Hearns at ww is his right hand and his height. I think that there are a lot of fighters at that weight that I rate higher than Hearns, I think they are better overall fighters than he, but I can see him beating them with his reach and that big right hand. Duran is a prime example; he was a much better fighter than Hearns but he'd never beat him. That said, if Napoles gets through the first couple rounds, and I think he would, he'd stop Hearns just about any time he chose. See, Tommy wouldn't come out winging that right at Napoles because that ain't the kind of guy you just come out and pot shot.
At WW, Napoles pulls it out. At 154, he'll go down hard. Jose would be way out of his element there, just like Duran.
