Completely hypothetically... Let’s say he was adopted by Roger Mayweather and coached and groomed for greatness the same way Floyd was as a child.
He had every natural talent needed, hand speed, foot speed, unbelievable power, reflexes even toughness.
Had Naz been coached more traditionally would he have been a better fighter?
Would his career have lasted longer?
Longer career? Maybe yea because he would of had to fight 10+ years longer because he would of never been paid the same $. The sole reason he was such a "star" was his power and unorthadox style where you would never expect shots to be thrown.
I think he had lost interest in boxing even before the Barrera fight, it was all about business then which is why he changed his entire management team and training team. He was already on his way out I think.
He made his money and had no interest in boxing, which is why there was never talks of comebacks, no rumours or anything. He took his money and disappeared from the spotlight except his criminal issues.
Yeah he’d been gradually losing interest for about 3-4 years, I always remember Ingle saying “4 more fights and he’s finished” after the Kelley fight. He was essentially right... that man sure knew his fighter.
I think the MAB loss just broke him mentally. His aura was completely destroyed after that. You could see in that Calvo fight the hunger had completely gone.
He was one of my favourite fighters though, as you can probably tell from my username I like that sort of style. I really wish we could have got to see him mix it with Pacquiao, Marquez and Morales. He just missed them.
I think he had lost interest in boxing even before the Barrera fight, it was all about business then which is why he changed his entire management team and training team. He was already on his way out I think.
He made his money and had no interest in boxing, which is why there was never talks of comebacks, no rumours or anything. He took his money and disappeared from the spotlight except his criminal issues.
Hamed’s fundamentals were truely godawful. I don’t think he was really a good fighter. I can’t remember much of him, but that he just irked me with his flaws. He was strong, powerful, and unorthodox. About it. He didn’t have much in the way of actual skills.
I think a really conventional/fundamentally sound Naz looks like a bob and weave fighter with his dimensions, which is hard to picture because that wasnt the style he chose, but it could give him some longevity well into his 30s like most guys.
Retiring at 28 like he did, wasnt really his style just him burning out, but I do agree that his style would be affected by any loss in his reflexes like Roy Jones ran into a wall once people learned how to pressure him and his reflexes were declining.
I think the MAB loss just broke him mentally. His aura was completely destroyed after that. You could see in that Calvo fight the hunger had completely gone.
He was one of my favourite fighters though, as you can probably tell from my username I like that sort of style. I really wish we could have got to see him mix it with Pacquiao, Marquez and Morales. He just missed them.
I think he had better fundamentals than he gets credit for, he just never used them too much, mostly never needed to.
Even in the Kelley fight after a couple of bad rounds, he started fighting behind the jab a bit more and less flashy then got the job done.
He gets a lot of flack for the Barrera fight, like he was exposed but the reality is he just wasn’t interested anymore in training properly and his hands were shot to bits too and working under a trainer he probably wasn’t suited to. It could’ve been an entirely different fight a couple of years earlier.
I actually agree with this, he under-utilised his boxing ability. He over-relied on his power too IMO.
I think he had better fundamentals than he gets credit for, he just never used them too much, mostly never needed to.
Even in the Kelley fight after a couple of bad rounds, he started fighting behind the jab a bit more and less flashy then got the job done.
He gets a lot of flack for the Barrera fight, like he was exposed but the reality is he just wasn’t interested anymore in training properly and his hands were shot to bits too and working under a trainer he probably wasn’t suited to. It could’ve been an entirely different fight a couple of years earlier.
Fair point...
I do rate Brendan Ingle very highly but I do think there are a lot of drawbacks to that awkward style. I do think Naz could’ve been far better fundamentally even with that unique style.
I think a really conventional/fundamentally sound Naz looks like a bob and weave fighter with his dimensions, which is hard to picture because that wasnt the style he chose, but it could give him some longevity well into his 30s like most guys.
Retiring at 28 like he did, wasnt really his style just him burning out, but I do agree that his style would be affected by any loss in his reflexes like Roy Jones ran into a wall once people learned how to pressure him and his reflexes were declining.
He retired at 28 with only 1 decision loss, that was more from a personality flaw than a style flaw, he just wasnt into it anymore and didnt want to train.
His reach and height is small for 122-126, I think his style was well suited for a smaller guy with big athleticism, speed and power.
I cant see him just trying to box behind a jab standing straight up against barrera and morales when they have 2-4" height and 4-6" reach on him. But even with the same style he could still be more disciplined and dedicated.
Look at people like Tyson, Hatton, Pacquaio, their styles are built around their reach/height. They arent really going to look like Floyd/Roger who have a long reach.
He came from a famous gym, so its not like he lacked opportunity. Roy jones was trained by his dad and with a somewhat similiar style and lasted until his mid 30s and didnt burn out at 28. Hamed just didnt want to listen to his trainers and got lazy and undisciplined, look at him now, hes a giant fat ass, its personality flaw.
Fair point...
I do rate Brendan Ingle very highly but I do think there are a lot of drawbacks to that awkward style. I do think Naz could’ve been far better fundamentally even with that unique style.
He retired at 28 with only 1 decision loss, that was more from a personality flaw than a style flaw, he just wasnt into it anymore and didnt want to train.
His reach and height is small for 122-126, I think his style was well suited for a smaller guy with big athleticism, speed and power.
I cant see him just trying to box behind a jab standing straight up against barrera and morales when they have 2-4" height and 4-6" reach on him. But even with the same style he could still be more disciplined and dedicated.
Look at people like Tyson, Hatton, Pacquaio, their styles are built around their reach/height. They arent really going to look like Floyd/Roger who have a long reach.
He came from a famous gym, so its not like he lacked opportunity. Roy jones was trained by his dad and with a somewhat similiar style and lasted until his mid 30s and didnt burn out at 28. Hamed just didnt want to listen to his trainers and got lazy and undisciplined, look at him now, hes a giant fat ass, its personality flaw.