How special was Naseem Hamed?

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Naz was one of the most entertaining fighters of all time, he had literally everything we like to see in a prizefighter. However while he was wildly unorthodox, a master at ko'ing less than world class opponents and fairly elusive, we started to see his real level when he made his american debut. KK was definitely passed his best when he met Naz and still had a lot of success, it certainly took a lot of the luster and when he finally met Barrera, well he came up very short.

Though from what I can gather, it wasn't actually the Barrera fight that finished Naz, at least not directly. He said by this point, his hands were in absolute pieces and I guess that, coupled with the realisation that God was indeed willing to see him lose, culminated in losing all motivation to fight.

Good post... I think the Barrera fight destroyed him mentally. He destroyed his air of invincibility.

[Cobra Curry]

Naz was "hit and not get hit" when he started out, very much in the Herol Graham mould, but once his power kicked in he fell love with it. In addition, he wasn't the most disciplined guy.
I think he left a fair bit on the table in terms of maximising his potential.

[Stuart Chandler]

He was a special special, flew in on carpets and stuff .

[LetOutTheCage]

Yes, he was skilled, powerful, and entertaining. He had more in his tank when he retired but that loss to Barerra seemed to have wrecked his mindset for the sport.

Incorrect he was contemplating retirement before Barrera, the issues were his hands kept breaking, he was struggling to train and ultimately wasnt able to sustain the style that brought him success in the first place.

Naseem was a special fighter, extremely athletic, p4p one of the hardest punchers and most importantly had an extremely pleasing style.

Naseem would have beaten Barrera had they fought earlier in their careers.

[emceetns]

https://*************/watch?v=5biML1-tZEc

Randomly watched this today...
Crazy how guys like Donald Trump and Daniel Day Lewis actually took an interest in Naz’s US debut. What an great fight as well.

Despite essentially cleaning out 126, I always felt Naz could have achieved so much more. Anyone else agree?

Naseem Hamed was extremely unorthodox with freakish power and tons of charisma. He could have achieved more after the Barrera debacle but I would say he had a successful career nonetheless.

[MUNG]

how special was he? hhhmm well he could have qualified for the special olympics easy, thats how special

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

Naseem Hamed was extremely unorthodox with freakish power and tons of charisma. He could have achieved more after the Barrera debacle but I would say he had a successful career nonetheless.

Yeah definitely, had a hugely successful career. I just wish he’d have remained more focused and stayed around for a few more years I would’ve loved to have seen him mixing it in the Pac/JMM/Barrera/Morales golden era.

[TonyGe]

Yeah very true, Barrera done an absolute job on him physically and mentally.

That fight should be shown to all aspiring boxers. Barrera put on a masterclass. I'm not taking away anything from Hamed because he tried. He just could not overcome the discipline and boxing fundamentals of Barerra.

[RJJ-94-02=GOAT]

That fight should be shown to all aspiring boxers. Barrera put on a masterclass. I'm not taking away anything from Hamed because he tried. He just could not overcome the discipline and boxing fundamentals of Barerra.

Yeah it was a brilliantly disciplined performance. He never got carried away with his success, he just kept to the game-plan and kept picking Naz off.

George Groves actually watched that fight right before he fought DeGale, knowing he would also have to box to a game-plan that night.

[NorvernRob]

Incorrect he was contemplating retirement before Barrera, the issues were his hands kept breaking, he was struggling to train and ultimately wasnt able to sustain the style that brought him success in the first place.

Naseem was a special fighter, extremely athletic, p4p one of the hardest punchers and most importantly had an extremely pleasing style.

Naseem would have beaten Barrera had they fought earlier in their careers.

His hands were wrecked after he KO’d Augie Sanchez the year before he fought Barrera. I live in the same city as Nas and not long before the fight he was well overweight, I’ve heard he had to lose 30lb in a month. By that point he was well on a downward slope, not training as he used to, relying on his power to get him out of trouble.

It’s not just that he stepped up his competition at the end, his own level was already falling by that time. The Hamed that beat Steve Robinson would have given Barrera a much tougher fight.