Someone posted a funny Hamed video earlier this morning and I got annoyed with a few of the posts on that thread. I saw Naseem called everything from JOKE to BUM to HEARTLESS. I wanted to do one of my GREATNESS series threads on Naseem but I wasn't really in the mood this morning......but I'm in the mood now.
NASEEM HAMED 36-1-0 (31 KO's)
WBO Featherweight Champion 1995-2000
IBF Featherweight Champion 1997
WBC Featherweight Champion 1999-2000
Please note that Hamed beat every beltholder at 126 in his time , the only reason he didn't hold all those belt and wasn't the undisputed , unified champion was due to WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO politics.
Let's take a closer look at this BUM'S resume. Here's a list of his notable wins , his opponents , their record at the time they fought Naseem and all the titles they held.
TKO11 Medina (52-7-0) IBF/WBC/WBO126 Champion
TKO7 Vazquez (50-7-2) WBA118 , WBA122 , WBA126 Champion
KO4 Kelley (47-1-2) WBC/WBU126 Champion
UD12 Soto (54-7-2) WBC126 Champion
TKO8 Johnson (44-2-2) IBF126 Champion
TKO4 Sanchez (26-1-0)
TKO11 Ingle (21-0-0) IBF126 Champion
UD12 McCullough (22-1-0) WBC118 Champion
TKO2 Molina (27-0-0)
TKO8 Robinson (21-9-1) WBO126 Champion
KO2 Liendo (42-4-3)
TKO6 Cruz (44-6-6)
KO2 Perez (37-12-2) IBF115 Champion
KO4 Castro (43-17-3)
TKO4 Bungu (37-2-0) IBF122 Champion
Not bad for a HEARTLESS JOKE of a fighter. But then again he's still a BUM because his ONE loss was to Hall Of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera right? Because not too many guys lost to Marco......
You think? I remember Nas being very fast.....but these are memories from like 1999.Khan has amazing handspeed and accuracy. Thats why people like Roach want to work with him, because he has the potential to be great.
Naz was a good fighter, I have called him a bum just to piss people off but I know he was good. The thing that gets me is that some people think he's Rocky Marciano the way they talk about him.....
He was good, his time is over and I honestly don't think he's an ATG.
no point in fighting those guys. joe should just retire.
but he isn't undisputed.
to own all the belts at once is the very definition of undisputed.'
Joe doesn't need to beat these guys, good point. He could do it quite easily in my opinion.
He isn't officially undisputed champion. But If he could get motivated to do it, he would be.
Can he get motivated again? I doubt it.
Let him retire a great champion and understand Dawson is not even close to Calzaghe's class.
Do you really mean that? Don't embarrass yourself now.
Who did Tyson ever beat ? a retired Holmes and a light-heavyweight
any half decent fighter knocked Tyson out and all of his defeats where onesided.
Calzaghe isn't undisputed at 175. He needs 3 more belts for that.
Ring magazine does not agree with you
Jones > Tarver > Hopkins > Calzaghe
the other belts got stripped for one reason or another
Tyson was awesome, truly awesome. Don't try and deny that. His career will forever be blighted by prison sentences etc. But please don't deny that Mike Tyson was an all time great heavyweight.
Calzaghe isn't undisputed at 175. He needs 3 more belts for that.
Does Calzaghe really have to beat these guys?
WBC - Adrian Diaconu 25-0 (15 KOs)
WBA - Hugo Hernan Garay 31-3 (17 KOs)
IBF - Chad Dawson 27-0-1 NC (17 KOs)
WBO - Zsolt Erdei 29-0 (17 KOs)
I say NO! You give him reason to.
If Tyson is great than Buster Douglas must be a God.
Tyson is not great he is a worthless sack of overrated american shit.
Do you really mean that? Don't embarrass yourself now.
Hamed's a punk and Barrera made him look like a fool
If Naz is great then Barrera must be god.
Naz was the greatest and most exciting fighter of his era, exciting being the operative word. He was un-orthodox, which made his fights more exciting, because he always risked being KO'd.
British fighters, for me, are way more exciting to watch as they are willing to take risks and make their fights interesting and GREAT to watch. I see too many over cautious boxers from America bore their way to victory.
I'm not comfortable with the terms 'elite' and 'ATG'. I just can't come up with entrance criteria that survive consistent application. I'm reminded of George Orwell's opinion that literary criticism amounted to 'trumping up a set of rules to justify an instinctive preference'.
That said, I do have a few things to say about some of the British fighters mentioned in this thread.
Hamed: An awesome natural talent. Murderous power in both hands serving a vicious killer instinct. When Hamed hit the money shot you could see the life leak out of his opponent. At his peak (under Ingle) I don't think anyone could beat him (including Barerra). Such a pity that he hit the self-destruct button when he should have been making unforgettable history.
Hatton: A world class fighter perhaps eighteen months past his best. Doesn't deserve a lot of criticism heaped upon him in here. At his peak he was a highly entertaining fighter and the best body puncher Britain has produced in decades.
As for Benn & Eubank. I'm sick to the back teeth of these two warriors being marginalised and patronised on this board.
Benn had more guts in his left bollock than most of the middles and super middles plying their trade today. Anyone who saw him knocked clean out of the ring by the insanely brutal Gerald McClellan only to get back up and grind out a win on pure willpower alone must know that he could hold his head high in the presence of any so called 'great' - past or present.
At MW he was one of the hardest hitters of all time, often leaving his opponents on another plane of reality after one punch. At SMW he lost the one-punch finish and became a sickening concussive hitter who broke fighters. Yes, he was sometimes overeager - to his cost against Watson. But he matured into a pure fighter. Some say he had a weak chin, but he stayed upright after being hit flush by some heavy hitters. His defence was very underrated. Watch Benn's head movement after the McClellan knockdown: A masterclass on how to stay out of harm's way. Forget the loss against Malinga - he was mentally finished after McClellan.
Eubank was my favourite fighter. A lot of fight fans hated his arrogance in the ring - but I thought it was pure showmanship. Prior to the Watson tragedy he was arguably a bigger hitter than Benn (he was certainly the bigger man).
To me he was the complete fighter. Crafty. Awkward. Heavy handed. Physically dominant with an adamantium chin. The only man who worked out Eubank was Watson (who was always a smart tactician). Unfortunately he let his guard down for one second. One second near the end of a fight in which he'd followed the plan - to the letter. Eubank was shot. He didn't have anything left to give, and yet somehow - after wearily dragging himself off the canvas - he landed the uppercut of the decade that inflicted the worst kind of horror a fighter can suffer.
Such a pity that both Benn and Eubank defined themselves in bitter tragedy. Both fighters were finished thereafter. Yes, Eubank fought on with his worldwide tour, but there was an atmosphere of unreality about the whole thing. Subsequent losses were tainted because he simply refused to let the bombs go (except for at the end of his career when he knocked Carl Thompson from pillar to post whilst bravely falling short against the far bigger man). The killer instinct was gone.
To those people who patronise both fighters - patting them on the head whilst saying they weren't anywhere near the league of Roy Jones and company - **** you.
Neither Benn nor Eubank were embarrassed in the company of ANY MW/SMW (Toney, Jones, McClellan etc.). Yes, Jones was the most gifted fighter of his generation - but if anyone thinks he'd have had it easy against either he's been spending too much time sucking at the crack pipe. Both fighters would have made him dig deeper than he'd ever gone. One mistake against Benn and Jones's chin would still be ringing today. Ditto Eubank.
Two awesome fighters. Let's have some respect - please.
Had Vazquez not been (deliberately) stripped by the WBA of his belt (they did not want their featherweight title unified with the WBO) Hamed would have the distinction of being the first boxer to hold all four world titles in a division. This is an overlooked accomplishment of Prince Naseem. The WBA would not grant him a subsequent shot at their championship.
I cant believe people still claim Naz had no heart. He had been boxing since 7 years old and his fight with Barrera he was around 27 (not sure exactly). That's 20 years of boxing. He got beat and wanted time off to spend with his family and enjoy his fortune.
Nobody can deny Naz's greatness. Probably the 2nd best British boxer of all time.
i supose a 34 year old Holyfield was past his prime when whooped Mike's ass
makes no difference to me Douglas whooped a prime Tyson ,Lewis beats him all day every day as does Holyfield and he should of had enough left to beat the likes of Williams, if he was the champion he was made out to be you dont see Holy getting whooped by no Danny Williams
Tyson quit like a dog against McBride cause the fight got too tough for him
Eh??!! I like both Mike And Naseem!:boxing:
Hamed had way more skill than Hatton and styles make fights. I think Hamed should of kept on fighting, he was too unique to go away
agreed
especially the part in bold
17y ago
The Greatness of Naseem Hamed | BoxingScene Community