Would Naseem Hamed have been undefeated if he had contended in the 2020s?

[Malvado]

Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002. He held multiple featherweight world championships between 1995 and 2000, and reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) featherweight title from 2002 to 2003, and the European bantamweight title from 1994 to 1995. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Ring magazine retroactively awarded Hamed their featherweight title in 2019 to acknowledge his dominance of the division and the multiple champions he defeated; he is the only former world champion in any division thus far to receive this honour.



He had a record of 36 wins, 1 Loss (By UD) with 31 knockouts. This was his record at featherweight (87.5% knockout ratio).

He has defended his title 15 times, having beaten a total of eight champions in Medina, Johnson, Kelley, Vazquez, McCullough, Ingle, Soto and Bungu.

How would he fair at featherweight against:

Luis Alberto Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs)


Robeisy Ramirez (13-2, 8 KOs)


Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs)


Rafael Espinoza (24-0, 20 KOs)


Otabek Kholmatov (12-1, 11 KOs)


Just for curiosity, let's say Emanuel "Vaquero" Navarrete (38-1-1, 31 KOs) was also a current featherweight contender.



Nick Ball (19-0-1, 11 KOs)


Naoya Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) (Aware that the monster is currently fighting at 122, I think he will eventually move up in a year or two after he sweeps the division.)

[Malvado]

In my opinion:

Luis Alberto Lopez's style has some similarities, but I think the original (Hamed) is way more proven and more well rounded.

Robeisy Ramirez and Rafael Espinoza have a 50/50 due to their skillset. (With Espinoza having a tremendous reach advantage against the illusive fighter)

Ford and Kholmatov would likely lose but put a greater fight than Lopez, likely going the distance.

Nick Ball would probably be outpointed and possibly stopped.

Navarrete might catch Naseem Hamed often with his odd timing, but Hamed seems too durable, too strong and too illusive for Vaquero.

Naoya Inoue have to wait to see how he performs at 126, he is already quite small at 122. If his power translates well then he likely win.