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Jose Napoles vs Ernie Lopez 14.2.1970 (Selected Rounds) - WBC & WBA World Welterweight Championships

3,154 views · Published 27 December 2015 · 8:42 · Indexed 10 November 2026

Channel: Classic Boxing Matches · 2015 · Sports

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Jose Napoles makes a defense of his WBC and WBA World Welterweight titles against "Indian Red" Ernie Lopez during their first encounter in 1970.  More info below...

Jose Napoles, a native of Cuba, began his boxing career in 1958.  In 1961, Fidel Castro banned professional boxing in Cuba and the young Jose Napoles had to defect to Mexico so he could continue his boxing journey.  By 1969 Napoles had racked up a 58-4 record and earned himself a World Welterweight Title shot against Curtis Cokes, the WBA and WBC champion.  Napoles would batter Cokes into retiring on his stool after 13 brutal rounds to claim the Welterweight Championship of the World.  Napoles would grant Cokes a rematch just two months later but the end came even quicker the second time round with Cokes retiring on his stool after 10 rounds.  In his very next fight, Jose Napoles, took on former World Welterweight and World Middleweight Champion, Emile Griffith, winning a unanimous decision over 15 rounds to round out a spectacular year.  The Ring Magazine even named Jose Napoles as the Boxer of the Year for 1969.  Ernie Lopez was set to be his very first opponent in the new year.

Ernie Lopez sported a 38-5-1 record and had earned his title shot with Napoles by beating Raul Soriano after Soriano's corner threw in the towel during a world welterweight title elimination bout in early 1969.  Prior to this achievement, Ernie Lopez had won the North American Welterweight Title in 1966 and the USA California State Welterweight Title in 1967.  Lopez had the nickname "Indian Red" because he was part Ute Indian.  

Jose Napoles would batter the determined Lopez for the whole 15 rounds, using a merciless left jab as his chief weapon and scoring knockdowns in the 1st, 9th and 15th rounds before the referee finally called a halt to the fight with just over 20 seconds left in the final round.  Ernie Lopez had given Napoles everything he had in his arsenal but was unable to make any real dent on the much more experienced champion.

Napoles would unfortunately lose his World Welterweight Titles in his very next defense against Billy Backus on cuts, however he would win them back just 6 months later when he stopped Backus (oddly enough) on cuts.  In 1973, Napoles would defend his titles against Ernie Lopez again but this time took only half the time to get the job done winning by KO in the 7th.  While still the reigning World Welterweight Champion, Napoles would challenge Carlos Monzon for the World Middleweight title in 1974 but was unable to topple the much larger Argentinian and retired on his stool after 6 rounds.  Napoles would make four more successful defenses of his World Welterweight Title before finally losing to John H Stracey in 1975 after being cut so severly the ringside doctors had no choice but to stop the bout.  He retired following this loss with a 81-7 record.  

Ernie Lopez would have a handful of fights before the rematch with Napoles including two fights with Emile Griffith in 1971 and 1972 respectively, losing both but by very close margins.  Following the second loss to Jose Napoles in 1973, Lopez suffered back-to-back KO losses to Armando Muniz and John H Stracey which led him to retire from the sport.  In 1987, 13 years after he had retired as a boxer and at 42 years of age, he was talked into fighting an unknown rookie boxer by the name of Kenny Louis (7-2).  It proved to be an error of judgement for Lopez as he was knocked out in the first round.  Lopez retired for good with a final record of 48-12-1.  In 1971, Ernie's brother, Danny Lopez, would make his debut and go on to win the WBC World Featherweight title.

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