12/13/06 - Jim Amato Dave " Boy " Green By Jim Amato He turned professional in 1974 and in a short time he became a serious contender for the welterweight title. Dave " Boy " Green took England by storm. He won his first 24 fights as he quickly climbed the ladder. In 1976 he halted Billy Waith in an eliminator for the British junior welterweight title. Later in the year he stopped Joey Singleton to win the British title. 1976 continued to be a big year for the busy Green as he defeated seasoned veterans Ramiro Bolanos and Jimmy Heair. Dave finished the year by knocking out Jean Baptiste Piedvache to win the European 140 pound title. Six months before Green's win over Piedvache, John H. Stracey the man who had finally dethroned the great Jose Napoles surrendered the welterweight title to Carlos Palomino. The drums were now beating for a match between Green and Stracey. Finally in March of 1977 the two met at Wembley. This much anticipated fight ended with Green the winner in the tenth round. Next up, a shot at Carlos Palomino and the WBC welterweight crown. This fight took place in June of 1977. What a fight it was. Green was never one to take a backward step and he forced the action from the beginning. Palomino was as tough as nails. He was a great counter puncher. He was also a devastating body puncher as Stracey had found out. Nevertheless Green forced Carlos to give ground early in the fight. As the bout wore on Palomino was working his way back in but after ten rounds it was a very close fight. Then in round eleven, boom and it was over. One punch left Green out on the canvas. Palomino had retained his title and Green had taken his first defeat. Three months later the gritty Green bounced right back to outpoint the formidable Andy Price. A fighter who held victories over Palomino and WBA champion Pipino Cuevas. That was the start of a seven fight win streak for Dave. It all came crashing down in June of 1979 when Green was surprisingly stopped by Denmark's Joergen Hansen in the third round for the European welterweight title. Dave came back to win two fights and then found himself again challenging for the WBC welterweight title. Palomino had been out boxed by the clever Wilfred Benitez in losing his title. In turn Benitez was halted in the final round by Sugar Ray Leonard who was now the champ. On March 31, 1980 Green came to America to challenge Leonard. With one of the most devastating left hooks I've ever seen Leonard flattened Dave in round four. It was a brutal knockout. It is hard to recover from a loss like that but Green put together four wins to stay in contention. Finally on November 3, 1981 Green lost in five rounds to Reggie Ford, a fighter with an 8-7-1 record. It was time to hang up the gloves. Green ended his career with 41 fights. He won 37. In all four of his losses he was stopped. In turn he won 29 by the kayo route. He was a tough, game and rugged competitor. He was among the best welterweights in the world in an era when the welterweight division was loaded with talent.  Jose Napoles ; Was He Too Good For His Own Good ? By Jim Amato The late 1960's and early 1970's produced some of the finest, most dominant champions ever. While Ali, Frazier and Foreman were taking turns ruling the heavyweights, other divisions found themselves under the supreme rule of a certain superior boxer. At light heavyweight "Bad" Bob Foster was the sheriff in town. When Vincente Rondon disputed that fact he was gunned down in two rounds. At middleweight Carlos Monzon truly was the "King". He turned back the challenges of such fine fighters as Nino Benvenuti, Emile Griffith and Bennie Briscoe to name a few. After twice defeating the talented Rodrigo Valdez , Carlos retired with his crown in tact. Antonio Cervantes attained " legendary" status as he established himself as one of the greatest 140 pound rulers of all time. Roberto Duran...Just the mere mention of the name is associated with greatness. At lightweight his fists, the "Hands Of Stone" created havoc with any would be challengers. Only the outstanding Esteban DeJesus was able to compete with Roberto. Then at bantamweight was the dynamic Rock-A-Bye Ruben Olivares. His happy go lucky gap tooth smile belied his devastating power. Only a wonderful little fighting machine named Jesus "Chu Chu" Castillo was able to compete with a prime Olivares. One has to wonder where DeJesus and Castillo would be among the fistic Gods if it wasn't for Roberto Duran and Ruben Olivares. I guess the same could be said for Rodrigo Valdez. Then there was this smooth boxing but murderous puncher who defected from his homeland of Cuba. He moved to Mexico and his fistic prowess led to him being adopted as a national hero. He was a top ranking lightweight and junior welterweight but when he was unable to secure a title shot in either of those weight classes, he set his sights on the welterweight division. The proud and classy welterweight titleholder agreed to put his title on the line against this feared and avoided fighter. Curtis Cokes would pay dearly for putting his title up for grabs. After over a dozen painful rounds Curtis relinquished his title to Jose Napoles. Thus began a reign that would establish Napoles as one of the greatest fighters ever to lace on the gloves. He began his professional career in his native Cuba in 1958 as a spy eighteen year old. In the early 60's he invaded his future homeland of Mexico. He quickly established himself as a fighter of promise and by 1964 he was a bonafide contender. He kayoed the feared Carlos Hernandez. In 1965 he outscored Eddie Perkins and took out Adolph Pruitt in three rounds. By now he had put himself in a position of being too good for his own good. The champions at the time seemed very unwilling to give Napoles a crack at the crown. In 1966 Jose was upset by Youngstown, Ohio standout L.C. Morgan. Jose had two earlier victories over Morgan. Napoles would beat Morgan again in a 1967 return match. Jose finally made his United States debut in 1968 when he landed in Los Angeles and blasted out Leroy Roberts in the first round. He returned later in the year to take out Des Rea in five. On April 18, 1969 Jose Napoles defeated the game Curtis Cokes to capture the welterweight championship of the world. The gracious new title holer would give Cokes a chance to regain his old title Napoles would again prove to be Cokes' master and Jose would again win by knockout. Jose closed the year by turning back the challenge of former champion Emile Griffith. The clear cut win over the still fomidible Griffith made Napoles a star. In 1970 he held off the challenge of the popular and highly regarded Ernie Lopez. Then on December 3rd ,1970 Billy Backus upset Jose to capture the title. Six months later Jose regained the title as he battered Backus in to submission. Jose closed 1971 with a hard earned decision over the speedy and clever Hedgemon Lewis. !972 and 1973 would see Jose reel off five successful defenses. Among his victims were Ernie Lopez who he nearly decapitated in the seventh round. Jose also won a hard fought decision over rugged Canadian contender Clyde Gray. On February 9th, 1974 Jose moved up in weight to challenge the great Monzon for the middleweight title. Although this was a highly anticipated pairing, Carlos proved to be too big and too strong for Jose halting him in the seventh. Undaunted, Jose came right back in August to halt arch enemy Hedgemon Lewis. He closed the year by taking out Horatio Saldano in three rounds, Although Jose was still on top you could begin to see the cracks in the armour. Next came a near loss to the outstanding Armando Muniz that went into the books as a technical win for Jose. Four months later Jose did what any great boxer would do, he beat Muniz handily in a rematch to prove he was the better man. In Jose's next bout he had the very capable John H. Stracey of England down in the first round but could not finish him off. Stracey went on to overwhelm the aging champion ending matters in the sixth round. Napoles knew that there was no sense in carrying on. Jose hung up the gloves for good. Napoles had 84 recorded bouts and he only lost eight times. Fifty four foes failed to last the distance with Jose. "Mantequilla", smooth as butter was his nick name. It was a fitting one. He made everything look so easy and effortless. He had a stinging jab. He had fearsome power. He threw effortless combinations. As good as he was at welterweight he may have been a better lightweight. When I think of Jose Napoles I think "greatness". Nothing more, nothing less. |
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