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Jose Napoles Part Three: Upset

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Jose Napoles After successfully defending his undisputed welterweight title against Emile Griffith at Inglewood’s Forum, Jose Napoles entered the very same place to make the third defence of his crown against Ernie Lopez on 14th February 1970. The challenger, hailing from Los Angeles, California, was part Ute Indian - hence his alias Indian Red - and started his professional career in June 1963. By the time he faced Napoles, Lopez had compiled a record of 39-5-1 (19 KOs) and was yet to be stopped.   Both boxers weighed 146 pounds (66.23 Kg) and the 17,091 in attendance, who made gate receipts of $228,417, witnessed Napoles open up on Lopez from the start, putting the durable challenger down for a count of two in the opening round.   The Cuban used his jab to dominate the fight, causing a nick under the American’s right eye and bloodied his nose, which hampered him the entire night. Lopez was put down for a count of four in round nine. The challenger was on the canvas for a thi
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Jose Napoles Part Two: Vs Emile Griffith

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Jose Napoles     Undisputed welterweight champion Jose Napoles next faced the challenge of former undisputed welter and middleweight champion Emile Griffith on 17th October 1969 at the Forum, Inglewood, USA.   Griffith had been a successful amateur and in 1958 he won the New York Daily News Golden Gloves, The New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, and the Intercity Golden Gloves, before turning professional on 2nd June that same year, defeating Joe Parham on points over four rounds.   Griffith amassed a record of 22-2 (7 KOs), which included top contenders Gaspar Ortega, Denny Moyer, Jorge and Florentino Fernandez and Luis Rodriguez by the time he challenged the Cuban Benny ‘Kid’ Paret for the world welterweight championship on 1st April 1961 at the Convention Center, Miami Beach, Florida. After twelve close rounds, Griffith ended matters in the thirteenth when a long left hook caught Paret on the jaw and a following right and another left hook kept the champion on t
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Location: United Kingdom
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Jose Napoles Part One: The Long Wait

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 Jose Napoles Nicknamed Mantequilla , the Spanish word for butter - as in he was as smooth as butter - suited the sleek Cuban boxer, who made the sport look so effortless.  Born as Jose Angel Napoles in Santiago de Cuba, on 13th April 1940, he composed an amateur record listed as 113-1 or 114-1, depending on which source you look at.   Napoles turned professional as a featherweight aged eighteen on 2nd August 1958, stopping fellow Cuban Julio Rojas in the first round in Havana. He remained undefeated until his eighth fight when he dropped an eight-round unanimous decision to Florida’s Hilton Smith at the same Coliseo Nacional he debuted at on 22nd August 1959.   Napoles won his next thirteen bouts to go 20-1 (6 KOs), and his ten-round unanimous decision victory over countryman Angel Robinson Garcia on 3rd June 1961 proved to be his final contest in Cuba, as the country’s president, Fidel Castro, banned professional boxing.   Mantequilla then defected to Mexico to continue
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Location: United Kingdom
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The Force Part Five: The People's Champion

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  Michael Watson Chris Eubank’s controversial points decision over Michael Watson was met with a public outcry, and many believed the challenger had done enough to secure victory. The rematch was set for 21st September 1991 at Tottenham Hotspurs White Hart Lane for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title.   It had been widely documented that both boxers were struggling to make the middleweight limit, and Eubank vacating his title was seen as an overdue move. Ed Levine, the WBO president, was happy to sanction Eubank-Watson 2 for the belt left vacant when Thomas Hearns moved up to light-heavyweight and captured Virgil Hill’s WBA title in June 1991.   Levine felt the closeness of Eubank-Watson 1 warranted a rematch for the middleweight title, but when the champion decided to move up a division, it became a ready-made fight to fill their super-middleweight vacancy. “I’ve just watched a videotape of the fight,” said Levine from his Miami offices, “and I had it a draw - and I was a world-cl
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