Was he an all time great?
At the time he was fighting I did enjoy watching him and was a fan. Then the Barerra fight happened..
I was still a fan but hoped he would at least go for a rematch, something which never happened.
Anyway what's your thoughts on him?
Was he an all time great?
At the time he was fighting I did enjoy watching him and was a fan. Then the Barerra fight happened..
I was still a fan but hoped he would at least go for a rematch, something which never happened.
Anyway what's your thoughts on him?
Good question and I know Naz brings out some real emotions from a lot of people.
As a boxing fan, I grew up on a steady diet of Tyson, Naz, Oscar, Tito, RJJ so I rate some of them very highly. Speaking objectively, Naz didn't have the all round skill set of other great feather/super featherweights we've seen over the last 30-40 years, but what he did have was undeniable all time great power, a tremendous chin, underrated heart and God given talent, amplified by speed and reflexes second only to a prime RJJ or Ali.
Naz then went on a rampage in his division, winning EVERY SINGLE TITLE AVAILABLE. Many people here will tell you didn't fight anybody but that's not true, he beat every available champion, he beat former and future champs and legit challengers. In this world of multiple titles, it' extremely rare to find a fighter who holds all the belts, why? Because champions are afraid to fight each other. Naz wasn't and to add to that, he knocked most of them into a coma.
The one thing that seems to define Naz more than his titles, his reign and his talent is the **** we saw against Barrera, I'm of the opinion that any version of MAB beats any version of Naz but there's no denying that on that night we saw the best of Barrera and the worst of Naz. He no longer had the heart for the game, he didn't like training, he didn't like his fragile hands, he din't like analysing his opponents but none of that mattered against guys not named Barrera but the Mexican is a certified ATG and you can't make that type of mistake against someone THAT DAMN GOOD. Even with Naz not at his best, he gave Barrera a tough fight, people nowadays make it out like it was a walk in the park, it wasn't, it was tough.
The fight itself was lacklustre and boring, neither man wanted to commit and the two men barely through any punches for the first 4-5 rounds. Even then things didn't get that heated. Barrera won most of his rounds cos Naz was doing even less work. It was laughable tbh. I scored it 115-113, he could have been wider but not because MAB schooled Naz, or beat him up, or hurt him but because Naz didn't look like he wanted to be there. He was done, psychologically as a prize fighter long before he stepped into the ring against MAB.
So, is this multi time champion, one of the most powerful and dominant FW champions ever an ATG? Yes, yes he is...top 50? No...top 100? Most definitely.
He was a great entertainer, but I don't think he can be an atg as a fighter. I think that the best fighter that he beat was probably Vasquez who was 38 when they fought and he never beat Barrera or Morales or Marquez.
But he was very entertaining and I used to love to root against him when I was a kid. When I got older I started to appreciate him a bit more.
P4P one of hardest hitters. He ruled his division with an unorthodox style and devastating knock out power.
He was well and truly passed his prime and was more into Allah and getting fat living up his arse by the time that fight came around. He put the light weight classes on the commercial map
Was he an all time great?
At the time he was fighting I did enjoy watching him and was a fan. Then the Barerra fight happened..
I was still a fan but hoped he would at least go for a rematch, something which never happened.
Anyway what's your thoughts on him?
I don't know if he'll go down as an ATG, but he was an ATG entertainer. He didn 't have as many fights as an ATG most often has, but he had the touch. He ruled the featherweight div. for years, and although a bit chinny, mainly through carelessness, was a killer.
He'd lost interest a few years before the Barrera fight, and had very crumbly hands. He rarely trained more that 3-4 weeks. In his TV one-on-one interviews, he says that the Barrera fight came along suddenly and he took it. He says that he went into camp 8 weeks before the fight weighing 3 stones overweight. that means 168 lbs- and spent all the time losing weight.
He wasn't making excuses but I saw that fight and it wasn't the real Hamed. Sluggish and telegraphed every move.