Jose Napoles vs Hedgemon Lewis 2

Cuban-born Jose Napoles retained the world welterweight championship by stopping Hedgemon Lewis in the ninth round at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City on August 3, 1974. Referee Ramon Berumen ended the contest at 2 minutes 40 seconds after Lewis had been driven to the ropes and subjected to a sustained attack. Napoles was making his first welterweight-title appearance since his unsuccessful challenge to middleweight champion Carlos Monzon six months earlier. He entered with a record of 77 victories and six defeats, while Lewis stood at 51–4 with one no-contest.

The match was their second meeting. Napoles had defeated Lewis by unanimous decision over 15 rounds at the Forum in Inglewood in December 1971, but the challenger had performed well enough to justify another opportunity. In that first contest, Lewis recovered after a difficult opening half, found increasing success with his jab and remained competitive to the finish. He subsequently enhanced his position by defeating former champion Billy Backus twice, winning the vacant New York State Athletic Commission version of the welterweight title in their first meeting. He came to Mexico as a proven contender rather than an opponent selected merely to occupy the champion.

Lewis again began with purpose. Working behind a quick left jab, he attempted to keep Napoles at long range and prevent the champion from settling into the middle distance, where his compact combinations were most effective. Napoles moved forward without unnecessary haste, blocking or slipping the jab when possible and looking for openings to the body. Lewis’s speed and straight punching made the early exchanges competitive. He was sufficiently accurate to open a cut over Napoles’s left eyebrow, an old source of difficulty for the champion, whose defeats by Tony Perez and Billy Backus had both involved damaged eyes.

Angelo Dundee worked on the injury between rounds and prevented it from becoming decisive. Napoles did not react by rushing his attack. He continued to close the distance patiently, moving his head as he advanced and bringing the left hook beneath Lewis’s elbow whenever the challenger raised his guard to protect his head. Lewis remained mobile and answered with the jab and right cross, but his punches did not discourage Napoles from coming forward. The champion’s work carried greater force, particularly when he was able to place two or three punches together rather than strike singly.

Through the middle rounds Napoles gradually took control. Lewis was still boxing neatly, but he was being required to move for longer periods and was finding less room in which to set his feet. Napoles cut off the ring rather than following him directly, forcing the challenger towards the ropes before attacking the body and then switching upstairs. His punches were short and economical. He seldom required a wide swing to produce power, and this allowed him to continue punching after Lewis had blocked or avoided the first blow. The challenger’s jab remained useful, but it no longer governed the pace as it had during his better early passages.

The cut over Napoles’s eye remained under control, and the champion increased his pressure in the seventh and eighth rounds. Lewis’s movement became less fluent as the body punching accumulated. He attempted to tie Napoles up when caught at close quarters, but the champion freed his hands and continued working around the arms. All three officials reportedly had Napoles leading 80–74 after eight completed rounds, a margin reflecting the champion’s heavier and more consistent scoring rather than a completely one-sided contest. Lewis had landed cleanly and had caused visible damage, but he had been unable to maintain the distance necessary to box on equal terms.

Napoles brought the matter to an end in the ninth. He forced Lewis backwards with punches from both hands and followed him towards the ropes, where the challenger had little opportunity to escape laterally. A succession of hooks and straight rights broke through Lewis’s guard. Lewis remained upright and attempted to cover himself, but his replies had diminished, and he was absorbing clean punches without returning enough to interrupt the attack. Berumen moved between the fighters at 2:40 and stopped the contest. There were no recorded knockdowns, but Lewis’s condition and inability to defend himself adequately made the intervention reasonable.

The victory restored Napoles firmly to the welterweight division after the unsuccessful venture against Monzon. At 34, he remained the outstanding champion at 147 pounds, combining the smooth movement that produced his nickname, “Mantequilla,” with a severity of punching sometimes overlooked beneath the polish of his technique. Lewis had lasted the full distance in their first fight but was unable to repeat that performance in Mexico City. Napoles had studied the earlier contest, placed greater emphasis on closing the ring and attacking the body, and denied the challenger the late recovery he had managed in 1971.

Lewis’s defeat did not end his standing among the leading welterweights. He later fought Armando Muniz, Carlos Palomino and Harold Weston before receiving a final championship opportunity against John H. Stracey in 1976. For Napoles, the victory was followed by successful defences against Horacio Saldano, Armando Muniz and Muniz again before Stracey took the championship from him in December 1975. The second Lewis contest therefore belonged to the closing portion of Napoles’s reign, but it showed that he could still overcome a cut, solve a skilled challenger and finish a hard fight once his body attack had reduced the opponent’s resistance.

I’ve always rated Jose Napoles as one of the finest welterweights to lace up gloves. He had already beaten Hedgemon Lewis over 15 rounds in 1971, punishing the body early before Lewis found his jab and made the second half competitive. By the rematch in Mexico City, Napoles was returning from his failed middleweight challenge against Carlos Monzon. Some wondered whether that beating, and his troublesome cuts, had taken something out of him. Lewis was a solid contender with excellent fundamentals, but he was facing a champion who understood him better the second time.

Lewis started well behind the jab and opened a cut over Napoles’s left eye. That was always the danger with Mantequilla: beautiful defensively, but his skin could betray him. Angelo Dundee controlled the damage, and Napoles never lost his head. He kept edging closer, taking away Lewis’s room and working underneath to the body. That was the difference from their first fight. Instead of allowing Lewis to settle into a rhythm at long range, Napoles made him carry pressure and steadily drained his legs.

By the ninth, Lewis was being forced backwards rather than choosing where to box. Napoles trapped him on the ropes and let both hands go until referee Ramon Berumen stopped it at 2:40. There were no knockdowns, but the stoppage was right. Lewis was tough and still upright, yet he was no longer defending himself properly.

For me, this was veteran craftsmanship rather than a spectacular performance. Napoles dealt with the cut, adjusted his pressure and broke down a capable opponent. Lewis was a very good welterweight. Napoles was operating on a higher level.