Barrera vs Hamed

[apollocreed]

Wish that fight would have been a couple of years earlier. As people have said, Hamed wasn't taking anything seriously then, he spent the whole camp just losing weight and his hands were shot to bits by then.

They're things that are his own fault though except the hands, so he deserves the loss and can't take anything away from Barrera, he did what he had to.

If Naz was at his best, it would be a very different story i think. Either way, Naseem still doesn't always get the credit he deserves. He was very good and beat some good fighters, his only loss being a UD to Barrera which is hardly anything to be ashamed of.

Nas did achieve a lot in his career - WBC, WBO and IBF champion, should have had WBA as well, I don't know how many world title fight wins off hand, one defeat on points to a hall of famer, and that's not to even mention all the entertainment and excitement he brought to boxing. And professional boxing is ultimately about entertainment for paying customer's, as well as being a sport.
He is definitely one of Britain's best ever fighters. He's now deservedly in the hall of fame (it took a while).
He was a very good fighter. He just wasn't as good as he was always saying he was earlier in his career. I think saying he was gonna be one of the best of all time annoyed some of the media and fans, especially in America, when he clearly wasn't. I think he did initially believe it, but by the time he fought Barerra he had realized that wasn't the case, and had lost some of his confidence. Barrera was the best opponent he faced, and he he couldn't get away with glossing over his weaknesses, like he could against lesser fighters.

[CineScape]

"I don't think you like him either Jim"

[hateinyaeyes32]

Just worlds apart in comp level. Look at their resumes, Barrera easily fought way more top level guys. That was Hamed's only real big test and he got walked on.

[apollocreed]

You may be right, but Nas from the 90's would have given them much better fights than the '01 version. Also, I'm a fan of Marquez, but I'm pretty sure Marquez was offered a fight with Nas in '99 or '00 and turned it down.

[soul_survivor]

Jmm turned the fight down like a *****

[eco1]

Yeah he was such a bull he threw baout 30 punches a round lol

It was a perfect demolition!
When Hamed went dirty, he just went back at him!