If Prince Naseem Hamed was American.....

[Roy Jones Jnr]

He would be known as an ATG.

Now i love Mike Tyson, he's one of my favourite Boxers of all time but i laugh when i see so many people have him so high up in their ATG list. Look at Tyson's record and look at Prince Naseem's record...this may surprise many of you but there's a few similiarities there. The big difference being that Hamed didn't come back from his defeat(once but that was a meh fight) fair enough, however Tyson did come back from defeats but only went on to lose again whenever he faced a true world class opponent.(talking about a live Tyson here, not even taking the McBride and Williams defeats into account)

Now let this be known, i am a huge fan of both boxers. As my username may hint, im a sucker for pure entertainment...which both of these two greats had in bundles....anyway even being a fan of both Tyson and Hamed i can however admit that their records are nothing spectacular. Sure Tyson faced more world class operators than Hamed did, however the fact remains that he lost those fights. It just baffles me why so many people rank Tyson so highly yet dismiss Hamed so easily.

Thoughts?

[4Corners]

Hamed was a really good fighter. A lot of people don't remember, but Floyd and a ton of boxing fans wanted to see Mayweather-Hamed at 130 after Floyd killed Corrales, and all Hamed had to do was beat Barrera, and he didn't. I always wished Naseem had continued his career, but I think that's a reason why people look down on him. He retired at 28 when he could have easily fought at a top level for 3-4 more years. Hamed had wins over Alicea, Molina, Johnson, Kelley, Vasquez, Ingle, Soto, and Sanchez. He doesn't have one huge win or anything, but he built a pretty solid Featherweight resume before Barrera, and it's not like Barrera killed him or anything. He beat him 115-112, 8 rounds to 4 with the point deduction.

But, if you're going to say that Hamed was an ATG, than certainly others who were as good or better than him deserve to be rated higher than they are. Diego Corrales for example. He had wins over Garcia, Gainer, Juuko, Manfredy, Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo. Beating Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo were all really good wins.

But, I get what you're saying for sure. Hamed just f**ked his career up because he retired at 28. He could have easily went up to 130 and 135 to compete in the early and mid 00's some more.

[ßringer]

No, he wouldn't.

Barrera is Hamed's daddy.

[hhs661]

I truly believe its cause Hamed never made that comeback like most expected/wanted. He lost, had a TuneUp and was never seen in a ring again. Was he exposed, lost the will & hunger or simply afraid to lose again? I remember asking myself this cause he was one of my favorites.

Over the years this plays a part on his status. Not avenging his loss or ever redeeming himself for that matter

[_original_]

If Prince Naseem Hamed was American.....







he still would have gotten spanked by Barrera

[Ragnar Lothbrok]

who is the greatest fighter hamed ever beat?

wayne mccoullough? kevin kelley?

Its a shame hamed only fought one of the fab four hall of fame feathers weights of Pac, Morales, Barerra, and Marquez...

[Elf]

Floyd wouldve killed that version of Hamed around that time, was prince looking like crap at all the last few fights before the barrera fight?

[Roy Jones Jnr]

Hamed was a really good fighter. A lot of people don't remember, but Floyd and a ton of boxing fans wanted to see Mayweather-Hamed at 130 after Floyd killed Corrales, and all Hamed had to do was beat Barrera, and he didn't. I always wished Naseem had continued his career, but I think that's a reason why people look down on him. He retired at 28 when he could have easily fought at a top level for 3-4 more years. Hamed had wins over Alicea, Molina, Johnson, Kelley, Vasquez, Ingle, Soto, and Sanchez. He doesn't have one huge win or anything, but he built a pretty solid Featherweight resume before Barrera, and it's not like Barrera killed him or anything. He beat him 115-112, 8 rounds to 4 with the point deduction.

But, if you're going to say that Hamed was an ATG, than certainly others who were as good or better than him deserve to be rated higher than they are. Diego Corrales for example. He had wins over Garcia, Gainer, Juuko, Manfredy, Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo. Beating Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo were all really good wins.

But, I get what you're saying for sure. Hamed just f**ked his career up because he retired at 28. He could have easily went up to 130 and 135 to compete in the early and mid 00's some more.

That's a great first reply. Hamed did build up a solid resume and when i see so many people say he fought tomato cans all his career the only explanation i can think of to that is that they are just Boxrec'ing and getting their info from their. Hamed does have a solid featherweight resume but their is a lack of top level world class opponents on that resume.

Also you make a very important point in regards to how Barrera beat Hamed. The way people talk about it it would seem Barrera Prescotted Hamed. Also especially in recent times where we are seeing fighters come out with all sorts of excuses, credit has to be given to the way Hamed took his loss. He took it like a man.

However i am not saying that i think Prince Naseem should be remembered as an ATG, im saying that if he was American he would be remembered as an ATG. I think he is a legend of the sport and should definitely be inducted into the HOF for his career inside the ring but also for what he brought to the sport, the entertainment and his antics still play a big part in Boxing today..the lower weight classes are the most profitable and attractive classes in Boxing today and Hamed played a huge part in bringing the viewers to these particular weight classes at a time when the Heavier Weight classes were the money makers, but i dont think Hamed's resume is strong enough to qualify as an ATG's resume.

But yeah, the killer for Hamed was the age which he retired at, and it still pains me to this day when i think about how much more Hamed could have achieved in the sport. Maybe he would never have beaten the likes of Morales and Mayweather...but one thing is for sure, the match ups would have been pure entertainment.

[_original_]

who is the greatest fighter hamed ever beat?

wayne mccoullough? kevin kelley?

Its a shame hamed only fought one of the fab four hall of fame feathers weights of Pac, Morales, Barerra, and Marquez...

A shame? He got off lucky only fighting one of the fab four. And let's not even imagine what Floyd would have done to his overrated ass.

[catalinul]

Hamed was a really good fighter. A lot of people don't remember, but Floyd and a ton of boxing fans wanted to see Mayweather-Hamed at 130 after Floyd killed Corrales, and all Hamed had to do was beat Barrera, and he didn't. I always wished Naseem had continued his career, but I think that's a reason why people look down on him. He retired at 28 when he could have easily fought at a top level for 3-4 more years. Hamed had wins over Alicea, Molina, Johnson, Kelley, Vasquez, Ingle, Soto, and Sanchez. He doesn't have one huge win or anything, but he built a pretty solid Featherweight resume before Barrera, and it's not like Barrera killed him or anything. He beat him 115-112, 8 rounds to 4 with the point deduction.

But, if you're going to say that Hamed was an ATG, than certainly others who were as good or better than him deserve to be rated higher than they are. Diego Corrales for example. He had wins over Garcia, Gainer, Juuko, Manfredy, Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo. Beating Casamayor, Freitas, and Castillo were all really good wins.

But, I get what you're saying for sure. Hamed just f**ked his career up because he retired at 28. He could have easily went up to 130 and 135 to compete in the early and mid 00's some more.

He retired due to hand issues mainly though.

He had bad hands.