They name boxing the cruelest sport for plenty of causes, one among them being that regardless of how gifted or devoted a boxer is, his success finally relies on whether or not he has the nice luck to keep away from his superior. There are as many examples of this as there are succesful fighters who compete on the elite stage of their troublesome career; in different phrases, numerous.
To quote just some: Lew Tendler was a vastly gifted southpaw who greater than held his personal in maybe the perfect light-weight division in historical past, however the man between him and a world title was the much more gifted Benny Leonard. “Dangerous” Bennie Briscoe is taken into account among the finest ever at 160 kilos, however it was his misfortune to try for the highest of the middleweight mountain concurrently Rodrigo Valdes, Emile Griffith, Carlos Monzon and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. Ken Norton might need reached the heavyweight pinnacle, however Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Larry Holmes all received in the best way.
Equally, Ernie “Indian Pink” Lopez had the stuff to be a world champ, however there was only one main drawback; its title was José Napoles.
Any severe dialogue of the really nice welterweight champions should embrace the legendary “Mantequilla,” as gifted a pugilist as boxing has ever seen. His nickname means “butter” in Spanish and this referred to the smoothness of his strikes and his relaxed manner within the ring, however the moniker belies the very fact Napoles possessed crushing energy and ruthless ending instincts.
Napoles realized his commerce and commenced his profession in Cuba, however he was compelled to flee his native nation when the Castro regime banned skilled boxing. He settled in Mexico the place the locals adopted him as one among their very own. By the 1960’s he campaigned as a light-weight and junior-welter, however his expertise and energy had been such he needed to transfer as much as welterweight to get fights. He lastly acquired a title shot in 1969 and would go on to win fourteen championship bouts earlier than losses to Carlos Monzon and John Stracey prompted him to retire.
Ernie Lopez, together with fellow gifted contenders Hedgemon Lewis and Armando Muñíz, all tried and didn’t dethrone Napoles. The three additionally shared the expertise of giving Napoles robust battles the primary time round, earlier than being dominated within the subsequent rematch. (Nevertheless, it should be famous that the primary assembly between Muniz and Napoles was not merely a extremely aggressive combat. In that occasion, Napoles was shamelessly defended by the referee who, as an alternative of granting Muniz the TKO victory he deserved, blamed Napoles’ cuts on headbutts and awarded the combat to the champion.)
Lopez and Napoles first met in February of 1970. “Mantequilla” clearly received, scoring three knockdowns and forcing a stoppage within the ultimate spherical, however Lopez gave a good account of himself towards a dominant champion. Within the months that adopted he stayed energetic and maintained his place as one of many prime contenders, a rematch scheduled two years later. Nevertheless, few gave Lopez a severe probability of reversing the result of their first bout. Whereas he had hung robust with Napoles for nearly fifteen full rounds, the deciding distinction between the 2 males was apparent: uncooked energy.
Napoles vs Lopez II was extremely aggressive over the primary 4 rounds. Lopez boxed rigorously, conserving his palms up and utilizing his jab to good impact, opening up cuts within the second and third. Holding the combat within the heart of the ring, the challenger labored to keep up distance whereas touchdown strong proper palms to Napoles’ physique. Within the fifth the motion intensified with the Cuban exile getting in some strong counter left hooks. Lopez struck with a giant proper hand to the chin, however the punch solely prompted Napoles to select up the tempo. He damage Lopez with a pair of thunderous hooks and the battlers traded toe-to-toe till the tip of the spherical.
In spherical six Lopez tried to reassert himself, however the affected person Napoles slipped most of Ernie’s punches and began discovering openings for his counter left once more. Lopez fought gamely however merely lacked the ability to realize the champion’s respect and a pointy hook put him on the defensive on the finish of the spherical.
Napoles moved in for the kill within the seventh. Pressuring his opponent, he compelled Lopez to commerce, thus creating the opening he needed for the left. The challenger tried to get dwelling the massive shot that might cease Napoles in his tracks, however as an alternative a pair of crunching hooks damage him badly. Backing his wounded quarry up, Napoles feinted one other hook after which, in as vicious a knockout as you’ll ever see, countered Lopez’s proper with a wonderfully timed uppercut that put Lopez flat on his again. The challenger writhed in agony on the canvas as he was counted out after which stayed down for a number of minutes. At one level a involved Napoles knelt close to his fallen foe and cradled him saying, “Please get up, please get up.”
“I by no means noticed energy like that,” mentioned the challenger’s veteran supervisor, Howie Steindler.
Lopez wouldn’t get better from the defeat. Following the bout he declared: “I’ll by no means combat that man once more . . . for any sum of money!” He misplaced to Muniz and Stracey earlier than retiring, and never lengthy after his marriage fell aside. Heartbroken, he deserted his household and disappeared, dwelling the lifetime of a wanderer for over a decade earlier than a personal investigator discovered him in a homeless shelter in Texas. He died in 2009 from issues of dementia. He was 64.
“It was the losses to Napoles and the divorce that despatched Ernie right into a tailspin,” acknowledged his brother, Danny Lopez, the previous featherweight champion. “He was a damage man.”
“He was an excellent fighter,” mentioned veteran L.A. boxing publicist Invoice Caplan, “however Napoles was a fantastic fighter.” — Robert Portis
