BoxRec

Over 15 rounds at 147 pounds.

I know Napoles' best weight was probably 140 but personally I believe he is a top 5 welterweight and aside from a cuts loss I could see him winning a decision .

You can call it wither way. These guys were both such great fighters there is no real definitive answer.

The great Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles' peak came when he beat merciless, tough veteran champ Curtis Cokes in fight #1. He was in his 30s when we finally saw him into action. I could not see that version beating the great Kid Gavilan. No way.

Gavilan in a war

Gavilan always fought close fights with big fighters. Awhile back I was counting up how many MD's and SD's fighters had and how they fared in them and Gavilan had one of the very highest amounts. I think he was 14-10 in MD's and SD's and he had 5 draws as well. I'm not looking at the chart right now but it was something close to that.

So I think it would be a close fight, but that being said I think Napoles is just a tiny bit better than Gavilan in almost every way. More power, quicker, better, I think maybe the only thing I'd give Gavilan over him is his chin. But then again I think they are very very close, so my guess is this fight is a Split Decision win for Napoles.


ETA- I went back and looked at my SD/MD list and Napoles was sort of the exact reverse of Gavilan in this respect being 0-1 in SD/MD's

Ezzard wrote:You can call it wither way. These guys were both such great fighters there is no real definitive answer.

Agreed

Napoles faster than Gavilan? Huh?

It would be close but I pick the Kid . . his quick combinations/greater output would win him the day.