The Greatness of Naseem Hamed

[Clegg]

Ali Mayweather backed it up.

Pacman hasn't fought a great technical fighter in his prime.

When was JMM's prime then? Are you saying he was better when he lost to Norwood than when he gave Pac those two very close fights?

And Mayweather didn't back it up. He acted as if he was going to KO people and put on a great show, but against DLH and Baldomir he did no such thing. People walked out, Floyd couldn't face the criticism, and then started crying at the press conference

[Mugwump]

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.

[WhoreUs]

Nobody can deny Naz's greatness. Probably the 2nd best British boxer of all time.

i don't know about 2nd but top 10 for sure.

lennox , wilde , calzaghe are probably the top 3.

hamed had a pretty good career. i don't get the criticism.

yeah he should've tried to do a rematch but wtf? anyone here actually think he could beat barrera the 2nd time around?

[WhoreUs]

When was JMM's prime then?

when he beat manuel medina for a belt.

you know......the same manuel medina that naseem hamed beat 7 YEARS EARLIER!

[extracurRICular]

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......

Ah man up to now you were ma boy cuz we both dig on ma main man Tua...now you done gone and ruined it with this post...The Princesse was a ***** not for his accomplishments (which on paper can fool anyone) but because he had a big mouth and never backed up his **** talking in the ring...just the other day I posted how Hector Camacho and even Floyd are all in the same boat...they all have big boy mouths but little ***** styles...Im all for **** talking and even being ****y... but don't run your mouth then run around for 12 rounds and refuse to fight!!!

[WhoreUs]

Ah man up to now you were ma boy cuz we both dig on ma main man Tua...now you done gone and ruined it with this post...The Princesse was a ***** not for his accomplishments (which on paper can fool anyone) but because he had a big mouth and never backed up his **** talking in the ring...just the other day I posted how Hector Camacho and even Floyd are all in the same boat...they all have big boy mouths but little ***** styles...Im all for **** talking and even being ****y... but don't run your mouth then run around for 12 rounds and refuse to fight!!!

it's okay ric. we're allowed to disagree. lol

i liked hamed.

i know his mouth made people not like him but that's how he (and those who fought him) got PAID. can't blame him for that and the guys that got paid $$$ for fighting him ain't complaining.

he had a decent career. we can breakdown his resume and say his opponents weren't all that but those were the guys in his division. not too many greats at 126 at the time. juan manuel was not a big name yet , erik and marco was still at 122 and manny was fighting at 112.

[extracurRICular]

it's okay ric. we're allowed to disagree. lol

i liked hamed.

i know his mouth made people not like him but that's how he (and those who fought him) got PAID. can't blame him for that and the guys that got paid $$$ for fighting him ain't complaining.

he had a decent career. we can breakdown his resume and say his opponents weren't all that but those were the guys in his division. not too many greats at 126 at the time. juan manuel was not a big name yet , erik and marco was still at 122 and manny was fighting at 112.

True, true...I gues we can agree to disagree as the old saying goes.....but Tua does kick ass!!!

[Clegg]

Ah man up to now you were ma boy cuz we both dig on ma main man Tua...now you done gone and ruined it with this post...The Princesse was a ***** not for his accomplishments (which on paper can fool anyone) but because he had a big mouth and never backed up his **** talking in the ring...just the other day I posted how Hector Camacho and even Floyd are all in the same boat...they all have big boy mouths but little ***** styles...Im all for **** talking and even being ****y... but don't run your mouth then run around for 12 rounds and refuse to fight!!!

Hamed didn't do that. Hamed went for the KO a hell of a lot more than Floyd or Camacho. What fights are you talking about? Even against Barrera, Hamed was coming forward and looking to land bombs, which is a large part of why Barrera was able to outbox him.

[runningbeast666]

Hamed was great and he beat more past, future, and current champions than almost anyone. People that dismiss him as a hoax really don't know what they are talking about. The dumbest thing Hamed ever did was fire his original trainer. In his prime he was deadly.

Hammed was good, but his defence was so wreckless, it kind of makes me wonder how far he would have gone in boxing [IMG]http://i283.***********.com/albums/kk301/lambtrisha/BruiserandI021.jpg[/IMG]

[BOLLOCKS]

He's a legend. Who's only loss was to a Prime HOF.