Why did naseem hamed retire so early?

[jabsRstiff]

I hated the way he fought, the way he acted, and his entrances. Never understood why the usually stodgy Brits would find such CHEEESE so appealing.

Anyway, he retired because his heart was out of it. He reluctantly faced Barraera, because he was afraid of the truth. The truth was told to him that night- he wasn't as good as he, his fans, and his as*hole trainer Ingle ever thought he was.

[studentofthegam]

He did face some good fighters:

Tom Boom Boom Johnson, Cesar Soto and Wilfredo Vasquez were still pretty useful world champions. Manuel Medina became a world champion one or two times after losing to Hamed. Kevin Kelly was clearly in his prime when he met Hamed. Vuyani Bungu, really should have offered more of a challenge (his record and credentials were excellent with wins over Danny Romero and Kennedy McKinney). Steve Robinson was a good fighter, Paul Ingle was a future world champion.

Augie Sanchez had beaten Floyd Mayweather as an amateur and was clearly dangerous.

Hamed also faced a few unbeaten prospects such as Remigio Molina and Daniel Alicea and simply decimated proven European level opponents barely losing a round when doing so.

Granted, Barerra was the only legend/ATG he faced. But its a measure of the regard of how high Hamed was held, that he was the bookies favorite against Barerra......and that after Barerra's sterling performance against Moralles.

I nearly forgot Wayne McCullough too, he might have come up short against the best fighters of his generation.....but only by decision.

With all that said there was still a whole other level of fighter (which includes Barrera) that he couldnt tangle with. If he'd gone on and fought Morales and Marquez his career would have become a joke in a sense(similar to Zab), just cant win a big one.. No doubt he was a decent fighter but MAB made him look at his mortality and it shook him. If he was even in the fight against MAB then I dont think he retires so easily.

[Sugarj]

I hated the way he fought, the way he acted, and his entrances. Never understood why the usually stodgy Brits would find such CHEEESE so appealing.

Anyway, he retired because his heart was out of it. He reluctantly faced Barraera, because he was afraid of the truth. The truth was told to him that night- he wasn't as good as he, his fans, and his as*hole trainer Ingle ever thought he was.

Ingle hadn't trained him for several years, by the time he met Barrera!

As for us Brits, believe me.....just as many of us hated him as liked him! Those who hated him tuned in to hopefully see him knocked out.

The entrances were never my cup of tea, but the fights were usually exciting. He never had the sort of support from British fans that Ricky Hatton or Frank Bruno got. His arrogance and mocking of opponents saw to that.

Chris Eubank was another British fighter that was often hated, until he lost! He was always booed. Funnily enough, before he faced Carl Thompson the second time in his final fight......when he was announced the crowd gave him amazing support and cheers. Eubank (who had never had it before!) was literally moved to tears, he wept before the fight in full view of the cameras.

Us Brits are a funny bunch!!

[New England]

he didn't have the style to move up in weight

most small guys peak early anyway, and he was about as small as they come (with dynamite punching power anyway)

64 inch reach
55 at best



and he had reportedly lost most of his interest with training.
he was a champion for five years, with double digit defenses and a boatload of highlight reel kayos


and yeah, barerra (still considered a mildly flawed fighter at the time, to put it lightly) picked him apart

[Sugarj]

With all that said there was still a whole other level of fighter (which includes Barrera) that he couldnt tangle with. If he'd gone on and fought Morales and Marquez his career would have become a joke in a sense(similar to Zab), just cant win a big one.. No doubt he was a decent fighter but MAB made him look at his mortality and it shook him. If he was even in the fight against MAB then I dont think he retires so easily.

Didn't tangle with, not necessarily 'couldn't'. although 2001 Hamed was nothing like as good as he was 3 or 4 years previous.

I wouldn't have expected the 2001 Hamed to beat Moralles either. Hamed's prime was 1995-97. Moralles and Barrera showed their best form against each other in the early noughties.

Remember that in the late 90s when Hamed was at his best, those two were super bantam weights................and were hardly pushing to move up to featherweight to face Hamed at that point either!!

Marquez wasn't the household name he is now, his prime has come in recent years.

True, if Hamed had come punch lucky against Barrera, he would have probably ended up running into Moralles and likely losing. But prime for prime might have been more competitive than you think with either Moralles or Barrera.

[fitefanSHO]

Because the clown got called back to the circus.

[jabsRstiff]

"Augie Sanchez had beaten Floyd Mayweather as an amateur and was clearly dangerous. "

Actually, Augie did not beat a single pro of any note going into his bout with Hamed. But, he had already been knocked unconscious at that point. His subsequent date with unconsciousness with John Michael Johnson showed that Augie had severe issues with taking a punch.

Hamed had more difficulty with Augie than he should have. That kid would have been a 1st rd. KO victim to Barrera and Morales had he fought them instead of Hamed.

[BigStereotype]

Because Barrera ripped his soul out.

[studentofthegam]

Didn't tangle with, not necessarily 'couldn't'. although 2001 Hamed was nothing like as good as he was 3 or 4 years previous.

I wouldn't have expected the 2001 Hamed to beat Moralles either. Hamed's prime was 1995-97. Moralles and Barrera showed their best form against each other in the early noughties.

Remember that in the late 90s when Hamed was at his best, those two were super bantam weights................and were hardly pushing to move up to featherweight to face Hamed at that point either!!

Marquez wasn't the household name he is now, his prime has come in recent years.

True, if Hamed had come punch lucky against Barrera, he would have probably ended up running into Moralles and likely losing. But prime for prime might have been more competitive than you think with either Moralles or Barrera.

I'll bend a little on my disdain for Hamed. Maybe he stands a better chance than I see it. I just cant give him a pass because he didnt want to train properly and chose a different trainer. I just think its pretty clear that he hadnt fought anyone as good as MAB. To end your career on a loss after stepping to your biggest test kinda leads me to believe it eased him out of a gym and into his bar stool.

[The_Demon]

People really hate Hamed,it must be his arrogant demeanour that puts people off,because he sure was exciting as hell putting good fighters too sleep

I dont get this whole 'as soon as he stepped up he lost' BS-people should actually look at his record before spouting rubbish,he beat many good champions but all the haters see is the fact that he lost too the best fighter he faced,dont act like he lost too a bum haters,he lost too one of the best fighters in the last 20 years,but haters guna hate i suppose