BoxRec

I often think how boxing history would have been remembered if Jose Napoles would have gotten a shot at the lightweight or junior welter titles prior to winning the welter title from Curtis Cokes? I know Carlos Ortiz turned him down and Ismael Laguna didn't want to fight him because he thought of him as being a Latin "brother". Napoles had an easy go of it with Eddie Perkins and knocked out Carlos Hernandez in Venezuela. Both were junior welter champs but remembered how tough Napoles was and never gave him a shot. As far as Lopopollo was concerned he never fought outside of Italy and Napoles would have had to knock him out to win.The first time Napoles really stepped into the ring over 140 was when he beat Cokes for the title. Some of his defenses he'd weigh in at 143,145. I read in a Mexican publication that he was afraid of training too hard because his weight would drop belw 140. What I'm trying to say is Napoles's best weight eas below 140. He was a great welter champ. Imagine what his legacy would have been as the lightweight and juniorwelter champ. He could thank George Parnassus for getting him out of Mexico and giving him the oppotunity to fight Cokes. There was a time when Napoles wanted to quit boxing. Luis Rodriguez-El Feo: He could of won all 4 agaist Griffith. His losses were all split decisions even in New York were Griffith was very popular. When he finally got a shot a the middle title he had slowed down and Benvenuti hit him with one deep dish beauty of a left hook. Rodriguez fought on too long,suffered from dementia and couldn't even recognize his mother before he died. Napoles: I saw him a while back with a salsa band in a run down club in Tijuana. I hear he's starting to forget things. Friends help him out with his finances. Boxing-the bittersweet sport.

dagosd2000 wrote:I often think how boxing history would have been remembered if Jose Napoles would have gotten a shot at the lightweight or junior welter titles prior to winning the welter title from Curtis Cokes? I know Carlos Ortiz turned him down and Ismael Laguna didn't want to fight him because he thought of him as being a Latin "brother". Napoles had an easy go of it with Eddie Perkins and knocked out Carlos Hernandez in Venezuela. Both were junior welter champs but remembered how tough Napoles was and never gave him a shot. As far as Lopopollo was concerned he never fought outside of Italy and Napoles would have had to knock him out to win.The first time Napoles really stepped into the ring over 140 was when he beat Cokes for the title. Some of his defenses he'd weigh in at 143,145. I read in a Mexican publication that he was afraid of training too hard because his weight would drop belw 140. What I'm trying to say is Napoles's best weight eas below 140. He was a great welter champ. Imagine what his legacy would have been as the lightweight and juniorwelter champ. He could thank George Parnassus for getting him out of Mexico and giving him the oppotunity to fight Cokes. There was a time when Napoles wanted to quit boxing. Luis Rodriguez-El Feo: He could of won all 4 agaist Griffith. His losses were all split decisions even in New York were Griffith was very popular. When he finally got a shot a the middle title he had slowed down and Benvenuti hit him with one deep dish beauty of a left hook. Rodriguez fought on too long,suffered from dementia and couldn't even recognize his mother before he died. Napoles: I saw him a while back with a salsa band in a run down club in Tijuana. I hear he's starting to forget things. Friends help him out with his finances. Boxing-the bittersweet sport.

Interesting post, I think its often overlooked how long Napoles had to wait for his title shot... the likes of Griffith and Leonard all got to the title by their early 20s while Jose was 29 by the time he got his shot... its been said that he was even a few years older... but its very probable that he would have been a great 135 champion had he got a shot 5 years earlier.... last I heard he was actually training some fighters in Mexico and in pretty good shape though he's always been a hard liver...

Naploes should have gotten a shot at the Jr Welterwieght title, but I don't see how he should have got a shot at the lightweight title. Napoles didn't beat a ranked contender until 1964. Why should Ortiz have given him a title shot? The next couple of years, Napoles fluctuated, was more or a less a Jr Welterweight. He certainly didn't establish himself as the #1 lightweight contender.

As for Napoles being able to get down to lightweight after he won the welterweight title- that is doubtful. His last 6 fights before he won the welterwight title he weighed over 140. After he won the welterweight title, he weighed at least 144 for virtually the rest of his career. It would be very unlikely that he could get down to 135 to fight Ortiz or Laguna.

The point I was trying to make is that Napoles was never the top lightweight contender. Therefore, it's not really accurrate to say that he should have gotten a title shot at 135. At 140 yes, at 135 no.

If you look at the Ring Record Book from 1963-1967 Napoles was the top junior welter contender and fought many lightweights that fought also boxed Ortiz and Laguna: Al Urbina,Carlos Hernandez. Duringthat stretch Napoles won 19 out of 20,only losing to L.C Morgan on a cut and revenging that loss with 2 k.o's over him. I'm not taking anything away from Ortiz or Laguna,but they both turned Napoles down. After winning the welter title Napoles had no need to drop down again. He finally established his name with the help of Parnassus and plenty of welters to fight.

I looked through Ring's Rankings. Napoles was the #1 Jr Welterweight contender in 1964 and 1965. (He wasn't in 1963, 1966, or 1967.) He should have gotten a shot at the Jr Welterweight title.

He never beat a lightweight contender until 1964. He may have gotten a shot at the lightweight title in 1965 had he stayed a lightweight. But he moved out of the lightweight class and fought mainly at Jr Welterweight and welterweight after that.


Naploes never established himself as the #1 lightweight contender. Therefore he has no legitimate complaint that he never got a shot at the lightweight title. This is pretty cut and dry.