Biggest wasted talent in boxing

[Boxingking1511]

I've been and watched a fair few fights live from Eubank, Hatton, calzaghe etc but Naz was the fighter I travelled and saw most of. Not only because hes about 8 mile from me but his whole fighting persona. Hatton and Tszu was about the best atmosphere fight but Naz was the only one kept me glued..

You could see his love wavering and him sticking his nose in other things (Yemen) which he had no business doing.. his focus was going long before and once he had the loss he may aswell have walked away...

Did Naz live 8 miles from you in Sheffield? Well I agree with you but can we really call Naseem Hamed "wasted" talent?.

Hamed was the youngest British world champion ever. The man was the undisputed FW champ, became the lineal champ, beat over 10 world title holders, headlined Madison Square Garden and at one point in 2001 Hamed had a reported net worth of roughly $75 million. He was also one of the biggest P4P punchers in history. Hamed seemed to possess the power of a man twice his size.

Yes he could have achieved even more. He was the most talented fighter from the UK ever. He had speed, power, stamina, reflexes and an granite chin.

[Boxingking1511]

Mike Tyson in his prime was the best heavyweight ever in my opinion. Nobody could even touch him. It was scary to see a 109 kg man move so quick.

[Bunch Pag]

Did Naz live 8 miles from you in Sheffield? Well I agree with you but can we really call Naseem Hamed "wasted" talent?.

Hamed was the youngest British world champion ever. The man was the undisputed FW champ, became the lineal champ, beat over 10 world title holders, headlined Madison Square Garden and at one point in 2001 Hamed had a reported net worth of roughly $75 million. He was also one of the biggest P4P punchers in history. Hamed seemed to possess the power of a man twice his size.

Yes he could have achieved even more. He was the most talented fighter from the UK ever. He had speed, power, stamina, reflexes and an granite chin.

Ye, I'm not doubting/playing down what he achieved as many boxers can only dream of doing half of what he's done but watching him and seeing him unfold within the ring and the community, you could see it wasn't going to end that great.. he started getting involved in things which weren't his business which he could have done when he retires but he wanted to do it all "now"..

Wasted could be harsh but he could have ruled the lot for as long as he wanted to imo..

I'd guess he wouldn't change it for the world but I think if he sat down and was honest he would admit he took his eye off the ball...

[Boxxymcboxface]

A lot of the 80’s heavyweights didn’t live up to their fullest potential. Namely Michael Dokes. I think Dokes’s career got derailed by an addiction to crack iirc

I think James Toney would have been a 5 division world champ instead of a 3 division world champ if he just had more discipline and less Burger King

[Boxingking1511]

Ye, I'm not doubting/playing down what he achieved as many boxers can only dream of doing half of what he's done but watching him and seeing him unfold within the ring and the community, you could see it wasn't going to end that great.. he started getting involved in things which weren't his business which he could have done when he retires but he wanted to do it all "now"..

Wasted could be harsh but he could have ruled the lot for as long as he wanted to imo..

I'd guess he wouldn't change it for the world but I think if he sat down and was honest he would admit he took his eye off the ball...

Did he try to get involved in politics in Yemen? I have never heard that before. Do you have any sources or know exactly what he was trying to do? Thanks.

[Tatabanya]

Another one coming to mind is Ike "Bazooka" Quartey.

Robbed against De La Hoya, close decision lost against Fernando Vargas, then four years without fighting before resuming too late his career, which ended with two more defeats.

Had they given him the DLH win as he deserved, the story would have been different. Probably.

[Bunch Pag]

Did he try to get involved in politics in Yemen? I have never heard that before. Do you have any sources or know exactly what he was trying to do? Thanks.

Yes he did. At the top end of his popularity..

It was some sort of peace thing but exactly what I couldn't say because I'm not 100% and I don't want to feed anyone any false information. Not my style...

As for sources I'm guessing it would take some searching seen as it was a time away and not that relevent in terms of world news...

Now it's at the forefront of my mind, I'm going to have a little investigate when I've time and see what I can find..

Are you from the area or there abouts??

[Boxingking1511]

Yes he did. At the top end of his popularity..

It was some sort of peace thing but exactly what I couldn't say because I'm not 100% and I don't want to feed anyone any false information. Not my style...

As for sources I'm guessing it would take some searching seen as it was a time away and not that relevent in terms of world news...

Now it's at the forefront of my mind, I'm going to have a little investigate when I've time and see what I can find..

Are you from the area or there abouts??

Not really that far away but not exactly from the area. I am moroccan but born and raised in Norway. Naseem Hamed is my 3rd favourite fighter after Muhammad Ali and Badr Hari. There are many good moroccan kickboxers and mma fighters but no boxers. Hopefully Mohammed Rabii will be the first moroccan boxing star. Hope he can make boxing popular in Morocco like Hari did with kickboxing. There is huge boxing talent in North Africa.

[bngsdad]

Anyone here thinks Hatton had talent? If yes, he wasted it going up against manny and floyd.

[Bunch Pag]

Not really that far away but not exactly from the area. I am moroccan but born and raised in Norway. Naseem Hamed is my 3rd favourite fighter after Muhammad Ali and Badr Hari. There are many good moroccan kickboxers and mma fighters but no boxers. Hopefully Mohammed Rabii will be the first moroccan boxing star. Hope he can make boxing popular in Morocco like Hari did with kickboxing. There is huge boxing talent in North Africa.

Nice one, as I've said, Naz was the one that kept me glued to the fight. Live it was electric at times.. a few stories of Naz with kickboxers in 'wicker camp' at Sheffield but that's only what I've been told and for another time...

Cheers for heads up on names. I'll keep an eye out for Rabii..good luck.