Was Naseem Hamed the most exciting fighter of the 90's?

[Jsmooth9876]

Lawlswut?

The comparison to AB is completely insane. AB arguably lost to 3 mediocre fighters before eventually getting a loss on his record. Naz knocked guys out who were bigger than him and who he wasn't supposed to knock out.

And I would say he's up there. He was my personal favourite alongside Roy Jones Jr in the 90s, so I'd be very biased, but you had to watch his fights then. It was all out excitement.

I was talking about his attitude and him being a goof, not his skills...

[LacedUp]

Maybe for Brits, but he was more of a hypejob/sideshow in my eyes. Went life and death against an ancient fighter for his HBO showcase and lost to the only A level fighter he faced. He did help bring some attention to the lower weight classes but it isn't like Erik and Marco were ignored by the fans and networks before Naz. So for me, he was a hype job with lame WWF ring entrances who beat up on lower level guys to make a name. Nothing more. He was honestly not much of a name over on this side of the pond.

Someone wasn't around at the time I see.

[LacedUp]

I was talking about his attitude and him being a goof, not his skills...

Still not the same.

Naz was tongue-in-cheek, he had respect for his opponents. He would always respect them afterwards.

Broner is just a clown, who has no respect and literally couldn't crack a funny joke to save his life. He's not original, Naz was. Broner's just a crappy edition of Mayweather anno 2007/2008 + hype.

[LacedUp]

Everytime he jumped over the top rope with his backflip I was hoping that he fell on his neck. I don't like show boaters. Him and Camacho were the only fighters that I watch hoping that they lose.

His first real fighter was a prime Paul Ingle and he went life and death with the guy. Mexico had the better fighters at that weight. One thing is for sure that he had a lot of attention because of his actions and had me watching him for it

Obviously this is not true either. There's some kind of myth that Naz doesn't have a good resume, but he pretty much fought everyone relevant in his weightclass. Ingle wasn't the best he fought either at that point - I think there's at least 4-5 guys that were better than him.

i dont think he meant to compare them in terms of ability or accomplishments but rather their role within the sport.

they were both super arrogant guys who most people wanted to see get their asses kicked. they both brought a lot of entertainment value, not only inside the ring but before the fights even started.

they both have people all over the place as far as how they rate their respective abilities, far more so than basically any other fighter in their time. some think naz is an atg just like some think AB is a future atg. at the same time many feel they both were/are total hypejobs.

i think they are very similar as well, again not in terms of ability or accomplishments but just being real characters who create a lot of emotion and excitement.

i do take offense in calling naz the broner of the 90's though, if anything broner is a modern day naz. keep in mind the follow up act is never as good as the original.

I don't think they were the same though or alike - personality wise. Broner is more akin to Mayweather than Naz. No class and no sense of humour. Naz was a funny guy, though I can see how some Americans might have misunderstood him, but he was a joker. He's a northern englishman, a born comedian.

Broner is just daft, has no class and not much intelligence. And on top of that, he's not really that exciting in the ring. Though I must admit he was as a lightweight.

It's a shame that Naz will probably never be in the HOF because I think he was a great fighter and did a lot for the sport. Personally I think he deserves to be there.

I think Naz might go into the HOF one day. He defended his title 15 or so times and despite the lack of one super name on his resume, I think he'll go in. Not first ballot though.

[!! Shawn]

I would probably say he was the main reason I became a hardcore boxing nerd. My favourite fighter of all time. He had everything.

A piece of boxing died when he retired so young.

This explains everything. Its all so clear now.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

This explains everything. Its all so clear now.

Are you going to go on about how Naz couldn't punch or something? Like how Federer apparently has no finesse?

[alexguiness]

Naz was decent entertainment during the late 1990's.

I don't think he brought as much hype and excitement as Nigel Benn or Chris Eubank (in the UK anyway) although they were fighting in the early 1990's.

Naz played his part but I always thought he was a bit of a dick, and his style was pretty bad to watch sometimes (though it was effective).

He did a lot of the lower weight classes and raised the profile and $$$ for smaller fighters.

[Tedkidlewis]

Great to see Naz getting the respect he deserves and people not just talking **** about him.

The guy only lost once in 2001 and anyone that knows boxing knows that was not Naz, that night. If the real Naz had shown up Barrera would have been knocked out I'm pretty sure of that. Theirs a great documentary about the build up to that fight, I forget what it's called and it shows how little Naz cared by that point in his career, it's really interesting.

[Ham Porter]

I dont think any fighter that stays champion for 6 years can be considered a hype job.

Motofan hates Hamed with a passion and regularly makes a dunce of himself when he attempts to discuss any topic related to him. I once saw him attempt to rationalise that Kevin Kelley was washed up when he fought Hamed because he occasionally did commentary work.


The old fella just cannot help himself.

His first real fighter was a prime Paul Ingle and he went life and death with the guy.

Ingle won about three rounds, two of which came right before Hamed sent him straight to hell. Beyond that, he was comprehensively picked apart through the vast majority of the fight, so we're going to have to say that your definition of "life and death" is a tad distorted from the traditional definition.

[Sweet Pea 50]

Here in the States, I'd say RJJ.

Prince was cool then muthaphucka, though.