Hamed in the post fight Barrera interview was a G.

[DreamFighter]

Naz was on the slide by then, Barrera and Morales avoided him like the plague when he was in his prime.

rubbish man, the wbo champs were deliberately kept away from others to create artificial wbo legacies. Naz Barrera was an early example of what happened when a 90s wbo champ stepped outside the small pool.

It was the opposite of what you claim!

[monkeyboy]

Naz was the architect of his own downfall. Like many fighters who are blessed with amazing gifts, and Naz’s punch and his reactions were amazing, he got lazy, relied on them and stopped dedicating himself to being at his best.
He was close to unbeatable in his prime but his prime was short due to his human flaws and Barrera is a brilliant HOF fighter who knew how to negate the limited Naz gameplan.

[sunny31]

Naz was the architect of his own downfall. Like many fighters who are blessed with amazing gifts, and Naz’s punch and his reactions were amazing, he got lazy, relied on them and stopped dedicating himself to being at his best.
He was close to unbeatable in his prime but his prime was short due to his human flaws and Barrera is a brilliant HOF fighter who knew how to negate the limited Naz gameplan.

Exactly this...it's the old Mike Tyson type story. Normally coincides with them winning their first belt very easily, and consciously or sub-consciously they relax and think they can do it without giving it their all, and they normally can for a while, the shot usually lands or they have too much talent and get by, very slippery slope...which we've seen historically doesn't end well for said fighter.

You really can't feel sorry for these guys though as its their own ego and as you said 'human flaws' which get them in that position.

I do think though at any stage Naz would have had issues out-pointing Barrera or Morales...the reaction to the Barrera loss at the time was well over the top, I think him and Morales were seen at the time as merely world class fighters, it's only in hindsight that we've realised they were exceptional, first ballot HOFers, and ATG fw's.

[boliodogs]

He admitted he lost because he tried too hard for the KO. He called Barrera a great fighter but said Barrera had lost twice while he had never lost previously. He said over and over again what a great fighter he was and how he would come back and beat Barrera. He didn't sound humble at all. He sounded like the same arrogant bragger as always. But he never came back to fight Barrera or anyone else. It was one loss and quit boxing.

[lparm]

Exactly, he had major problems with his hands towards the end of his career. Prime Hatton would KO Barrera

Fair play lad Hatton was a bit bigger but I agree he bodybags MAB

[abracada]

Not convinced that was actually the case.

Naz wasnt prepared, read somewhere that he had a 2 week camp? But he made no excuses at all after losing as that was on him.

[boliodogs]

I checked his record and he did have 1 fight after the Barrera lose and then retired.

[KTFOKING]

He admitted he lost because he tried too hard for the KO. He called Barrera a great fighter but said Barrera had lost twice while he had never lost previously. He said over and over again what a great fighter he was and how he would come back and beat Barrera. He didn't sound humble at all. He sounded like the same arrogant bragger as always. But he never came back to fight Barrera or anyone else. It was one loss and quit boxing.

He actually fought once more after that loss.

Lampley during the fight was having the time of his life. He LOVED seeing Naz get beat like this and obviously had this famous quote in round 12:

"If he loses, it is because it has been written by Allah. The twelve rounds you have seen here, suggest that Allah knows how to spell Barrera. B - A - R - R - E - R - A!"

Even Foreman called him out for this.

[dannnnn]

Naz was on the slide by then, Barrera and Morales avoided him like the plague when he was in his prime.

I don't know about Barrera and Morales avoiding Naz but it's true that Naz was past his best by this time. Too much money and fell out of love with the game. Who knows if the result would have been any different but he was very sloppy in this fight by his own standards, lacked sharpness and was just looking for a one punch KO the whole time.

[boliodogs]

Naz was on the slide by then, Barrera and Morales avoided him like the plague when he was in his prime.

Hamed had just turned 27 years old and was undefeated when Barrera beat him. Barrera was 2 months older than Hamed. Barrera and Morales did NOT avoid him like the plague when he was in his prime. Why would they? They were brave Mexican boxers who would fight anybody their weight anytime. Just because they didn't fight him didn't mean they avoided him. It just meant those fights were not made. Maybe Hamed didn't want to fight them. Barrera fought Hamed when he was only 27 and Barrera was the older fighter. Barrera was just better and would have defeated him at any earlier time as well.