Jose Napoles
After winning
one more fight, Napoles and Backus fought again, for the world welterweight
title now in Backus’ hands. This time, it was held in Los Angeles,
and Napoles recovered the world championship via an 8th round stoppage.
After three non-title wins, including one over Jean Josselin, he faced
Hedgemon Lewis on December 14, retaining the world title with a decision
in 15 rounds, but Napoles’ training habits were suffering; he was
alleged to be coming into the gym stinking of alcohol with an attitude
towards his seconds.
In 1972, he retained the title knocking
out Ralph Charles in seven in England, and then, Pruitt resurfaced
again, this time with the world Welterweight title on the line. Napoles
retained his crown by knockout in round two.
World traveler
Napoles began 1973 by retaining the title against Lopez again, by
knockout in seven, then he visited Grenoble, France, where he retained
the crown with a 15 round decision over Roger Menetrey, and Toronto,
Ontario, Canada where he beat Clyde Gray, once again retaining the
world title with a 15 round decision.
Middleweight
After this,
many boxing fans were asking for a fight between Napoles and World
Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzon. The fight was made possible when
Napoles moved in weight to challenge Monzon for Monzon’s title, so
the two dueled on February 9, 1974 at a parking lot in Paris. This
would be Napoles’ only bout at Middleweight division, as he was defeated
by quitting the match. Napoles then went back to the Welterweight
division, and retained the title twice before the year ended, with
a knockout in nine over Lewis, and with a knockout in three over Haracio
Saldano.
In 1975, Napoles had two wins over Armando Muniz, both
times to retain his world title. The first time, a technical decision
win in 12 rounds at Acapulco was a controversial win, so a return
match was fought in Los Angeles where Napoles prevailed by decision.
Retirement
On December 6 of that year, however, Napoles lost
his title to British boxing teacher John H. Stracey, who won over
Napoles by a technical knockout in round six at Mexico City despite
being floored by Napoles in round one. After this fight, Napoles announced
his retirement. Remarkably, he was able to stay away from the temptation
of a comeback, much like Marvin Hagler.
Personal Life
Napoles
was the son of Pedro Napoles, a schoolteacher, and his wife Rosa.
He had a brother, Pedro Napoles Jr. had nine children. He resided
in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico with his wife Bertha.
