Was prince naseem past prime when he fought MAB?

[CarlosG815]

True, in 1997 Naz called Barrera out when he was at his very best but Barrera ducked him. Not saying he would have beat Barrera but the Naz that fought Barrera in 2001 was washed up in terms of He fell in love with his power and took training as a joke. Watch the documentory for that fight.

Naz just lost that enthusiasm he had earlier in his career when he trained properly and fought his best. The Naz that KO'd Daniel Alicea and beat Tom Johnson would have given Barrera a whole lot of problems.

Still he didnt make the most of his career. Just like Mike Tyson's upset against Carl Douglas in 1990.

Yup, same as Tyson in 1990 when he fought guys like Bruno and Ruddock and looked primitive.

Naz wasn't "old" but he was past his best as he had lost his love and drive for the sport.

[The Big Dunn]

I see a lot of british posters here saying it, I might as well do an official poll and end this discussion.


I personally think that it's bull**** to say Naseem was past prime when he fought MAB, Then people saying that Naseem would've beat MAB in his Naseems "prime"

What do you people think?


I found Naseem entertaining but he was never ELITE to me.

Barrera just switched his style up and outboxed hamed badly. They assumed barrera would brawl but they were dead wrong!

[hayZ]

He didn't train properly, if he had trained properly like he did earlier in his career, IMO he still would have lost. Styles make fights in boxing, and only the absolute best can win vs a style all wrong for them i.e. Ali v Norton He won eventhough he actually WAS PAST PRIME and the style wasn't good for him.

[apollocreed]

YUP, from one of the greatest boxers ever down to a fat guy who you wouldn't recognise is a pretty sad downward spiral i saw a picture of him in the paper a few months ago and also at one Aamir Khans fight vs Kotelnik dammmnn have the tides changed.

Naz lives in a mansion with his beautiful wife and kids, he's healthy and rich, don't feel too bad for him.

[lfc19titles]

watch the training documentary, naz was at like 70-80 percent max in that fine. he didnt ake training seriously and just went for the ko, the 1997 naz would have killed any featherweight

[Tyson.]

Naz wasnt in his prime boxing ability wise, I could see a prime Naz KOing Barrera.

Barrera changed his style for that fight, he fought more on the backfoot like a counterpuncher. The fight wasnt as onesided as people make out, I watched it again recently and had it 115-112.

[Pretty Boy32 *]

Yes he was, been over this so many times.
When he got rid of Ingle and took on Steward his training methods went out window,
Steward messed with his style that Ingle helped him to develop and maintain,
Naz totally lost interest in boxing and was just addicted to the lime light!
I suggest people who think different to watch "Little Prince, Big fight."

[lfc19titles]

Naz wasnt in his prime boxing ability wise, I could see a prime Naz KOing Barrera.

Barrera changed his style for that fight, he fought more on the backfoot like a counterpuncher. The fight wasnt as onesided as people make out, I watched it again recently and had it 115-112.

yup, to be fair, barrera wasnt also in his prime but he wasnt a finished boxer like naz

all naz had was a ko punch, he truly was finished, guy could have been amazing but his investments in oil companies came to fruit and the money ruined him. he just lost interest, didnt train at all, even steward said he was unhappy at his training

[Pretty Boy32 *]

yup, to be fair, barrera wasnt also in his prime but he wasnt a finished boxer like naz

all naz had was a ko punch, he truly was finished, guy could have been amazing but his investments in oil companies came to fruit and the money ruined him. he just lost interest, didnt train at all, even steward said he was unhappy at his training

Chris Eubank was also quoted at the time saying that he was worried about Naz as he seemed to be focusing on everything but the sport on the lead up to the fight,
He visited the Prince and told reporters that there where too many distractions for him in Las Vegas, he stayed most nights til 1-2am playing pool and basically living the life.
Not gonna get away with that on a lead up to a fight with Barrera.

[Kimo]

Prime or not, Barrera was not to be messed with that night. He took his ass to school.