Hamed vs Morales

[The Noose]

Im not sure Morales was fast enough to catch Hamed.

Morales defence isnt great and he would get hit with hard counters all night. I think Hamed was not easy to pressure and catch, he was too difficult to trap.

Hamed might be dropped a couple of times with big shots, but he would bounce back up and win on points.

[Bozo_no no]

With Hamed's hands at his side he was a sucker for a 1-2 jab straight right.

Morales' reach and the way he threw that would have dropped Hamed and if he got him hurt I think he could have finished him.

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I doubt Hamed's beard would withstand Erik's big right hands.

It wouldnt be as one sided as the Barerra fight as Erik is not as technically sound as MAB but nevertheless Erik would be too much for the playful Hamed.

[ferocity]

This was fun reading this thread, brought back memories and made me laugh.

Funny the Hamed fans didn't mention Juan Manuel Marquez. I won't go too deep but to say Barrera or Morales ducked Hamed is bull****.

[Exige Jr]

Well people misunderstood me about what I said about Naz. I never meant for people to get the impression that Naz was the best featherweight ever to fight. Dont get me wrong, the man is an idol of mine, but I would never put him at #1, and you know why? Because I know he didnt achieve well enough to think about it. Its the whole skill vs achievements debate. Im just complimenting his skill. Dont get it twisted im not saying he blasted out the best, because he didnt beat Barrera... its plain to see.

Bonafide he was more than just a flashy boxer with an arrogant persona. The man was special, just trust me. Really, if I could id upload all his fights onto youtube and show you Naseem Hamed at his prime. I have seen every single one of his fights, and have every single one of his fights... he was prime in 95. Take it from me. Not 2001.

Bozo, I would tend to agree with you. However if you look at the past record, EVERY SINGLE opponent of Naz's had reach advantages on him. No joke, from like 96 onwards they all had reach advantages. Do remember he is like 5'3. So he was stocky. Look at his calves they were ****ing enormous. He fought boxers, all day long and just killed them. You mentioned about Morales' 1-2 combination... ill quote George Foreman. "He has had a career of beating basic boxers, why change and make him a basic boxer too". This comment is so true. The basic boxing style would lose to Naz. It was so hard to pressure the man, because as soon as you did he just counters you with everything, factor in his power and thats how he was so succesful. Billy Hardy - "he was the best counterpuncher I have ever seen/fought against".

Ferocity, Marquez and Barrera. You are saying its wrong to suggest that they ducked Hamed. Ill quote Larry Merchant on the Wayne McCullough fight. "Nothings for certain, but a stable mate of Barrera's named Marquez, a young up and coming fighter, is a mandatory for the prince. However he will be fighting Barrera next". This was in 1998. They referred to Marquez as a "young up and coming fighter". Dont tell me Naz ducked someone who was a baby in the game... renember 1998 is the second half of Naseem Hamed's career. He finished in 2001 basically.

As for the power argument... take a look at Augie Sanchez. That man put him down legitimately in my opinion. The ref didnt count it but it was legit. Now that man had power... he was known for it. But Naz got up at the count of about 3 and composed himself and took him out the next round. Same applies with Kelley... he got knocked down. Kept a clear head, got up and finished the job, with much more convincing KD's. Honestly Naseem Hamed's chin is better than you guys think. He was never knocked out (Barrera beat him by 3 rounds), and was never on the floor dazed... he had superhuman stamina.

Well I hope I have convinced some of you guys. If not then you are really missing out on a 1st class boxer, who some of you guys never got to see until he blew up in America.

With all that said, im gonna upload the Robinson fight at the first opportunity. Then you guys will see what I mean.

[Bozo_no no]

Well people misunderstood me about what I said about Naz. I never meant for people to get the impression that Naz was the best featherweight ever to fight. Dont get me wrong, the man is an idol of mine, but I would never put him at #1, and you know why? Because I know he didnt achieve well enough to think about it. Its the whole skill vs achievements debate. Im just complimenting his skill. Dont get it twisted im not saying he blasted out the best, because he didnt beat Barrera... its plain to see.

Bonafide he was more than just a flashy boxer with an arrogant persona. The man was special, just trust me. Really, if I could id upload all his fights onto youtube and show you Naseem Hamed at his prime. I have seen every single one of his fights, and have every single one of his fights... he was prime in 95. Take it from me. Not 2001.

Bozo, I would tend to agree with you. However if you look at the past record, EVERY SINGLE opponent of Naz's had reach advantages on him. No joke, from like 96 onwards they all had reach advantages. Do remember he is like 5'3. So he was stocky. Look at his calves they were ****ing enormous. He fought boxers, all day long and just killed them. You mentioned about Morales' 1-2 combination... ill quote George Foreman. "He has had a career of beating basic boxers, why change and make him a basic boxer too". This comment is so true. The basic boxing style would lose to Naz. It was so hard to pressure the man, because as soon as you did he just counters you with everything, factor in his power and thats how he was so succesful. Billy Hardy - "he was the best counterpuncher I have ever seen/fought against".

Ferocity, Marquez and Barrera. You are saying its wrong to suggest that they ducked Hamed. Ill quote Larry Merchant on the Wayne McCullough fight. "Nothings for certain, but a stable mate of Barrera's named Marquez, a young up and coming fighter, is a mandatory for the prince. However he will be fighting Barrera next". This was in 1998. They referred to Marquez as a "young up and coming fighter". Dont tell me Naz ducked someone who was a baby in the game... renember 1998 is the second half of Naseem Hamed's career. He finished in 2001 basically.

As for the power argument... take a look at Augie Sanchez. That man put him down legitimately in my opinion. The ref didnt count it but it was legit. Now that man had power... he was known for it. But Naz got up at the count of about 3 and composed himself and took him out the next round. Same applies with Kelley... he got knocked down. Kept a clear head, got up and finished the job, with much more convincing KD's. Honestly Naseem Hamed's chin is better than you guys think. He was never knocked out (Barrera beat him by 3 rounds), and was never on the floor dazed... he had superhuman stamina.

Well I hope I have convinced some of you guys. If not then you are really missing out on a 1st class boxer, who some of you guys never got to see until he blew up in America.

With all that said, im gonna upload the Robinson fight at the first opportunity. Then you guys will see what I mean.

You raise some good points, and for a big fan of his you are really grounded on the topic.

But how many of the guys who had the reach advantage were as good and as good as using it as Morales?

Even before he lost to Barrera I always thought Morales was a really bad style match up for Naz.

[The Noose]

His chin is underrated. He went over sometimes due to his style, not bad balance or because he was badly hurt.

But i still wonder if his decline was due to the quality of his opponents.
The Robinson fight is good, but Robinson wasnt really world class was he?
I prefer Naz wen he fought Alicea, the finish is great.
And Jose Watshisface. He outboxed him brilliantly, and didnt look for the big KO.

[Exige Jr]

You raise some good points, and for a big fan of his you are really grounded on the topic.

But how many of the guys who had the reach advantage were as good and as good as using it as Morales?

Even before he lost to Barrera I always thought Morales was a really bad style match up for Naz.

Well it may be the case. I would think he would have a lot more trouble with MAB than he would with Morales... and that kinda proved to be the case. MAB deceived him. Told him he was gonna make it a fight in a phone booth, he was gonna constantly pressure... it was clever work on the part of MAB's camp, because he did none of this. He basically boxed the Prince... perhaps the only way that Naseem Hamed could have been beat, and Barrera did it. So hats off to him for that... not to mention a bunch of other factors like:
- Naz was more worried about his gloves than the fight. Hence 30 minute delay choosing gloves.
- He was a lot less focused.
- He was confused with what to do with Barrera after Barrera just waited for him to come forward and then stepped in with hard jabs, straights and hooks. All previous opponents came to Naseem, which is why he developed the counterpunch style.
- He only did 3 weeks sparring beforehand.

A lot of factors to be honest... but those are basically excuses. This is professional boxing, and to win you have to have the attitude of a professional. Naseem didnt come 2001. He was ****y, without the substance to back it up. Whereas 6 years previous he was ****y, and backing it up with 2nd round wins all the time.

So yeah MAB is definetly harder than Morales. In fact Naz had said that he wanted to fight Morales first. He said "lets talk about someone who is considered, in America, as one of the best fighters P4P, ERIK MORALES! That is who I want"... this was 2 years before fighting Barrera. I just wonder why he didnt do that fight instead... bad management perhaps? This was after his split with Frank Warren...

Man this story goes on for a long time... and I really need to get that Robinson fight up.

[Exige Jr]

His chin is underrated. He went over sometimes due to his style, not bad balance or because he was badly hurt.

But i still wonder if his decline was due to the quality of his opponents.
The Robinson fight is good, but Robinson wasnt really world class was he?
I prefer Naz wen he fought Alicea, the finish is great.
And Jose Watshisface. He outboxed him brilliantly, and didnt look for the big KO.

Jose? not sure which figher you mean, man.

But as for Robinson and Alicea... well you have to take into account Robinson is 95 like I said. Robinson is world champ at this stage. Barrera and Morales are relative unknowns... (im talking about 95 here).

I mean people keep talking about his level of opposition and this and that... well Naz captured every world title belt, do you know what I mean? What more can you ask from the guy?

WBC - Cesar Soto
IBF - Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson
WBO - Steve Robinson

Evn the IBO he got after losing to Barrera. By beating Manuel Calvo, in his only fight after his loss... Not to mention a few Bantamweight titles...

Ill tell you another thing. Naseem Hamed also came into legal disputes... I only learnt about this recently, but take Billy Hardy for example. He threatened to sue Frank Warren if he wasnt given the title shot. He had worked his way up previously by beating everyone in England and Europe and taking those titles. Naz was scheduled to fight in America, but got threatened with legal action and took Billy Hardy for something ****** like £7mil. Billy Hardy got knocked out in round 1.

People might think I am making up excuses or something. I assure you everything im saying is 100% genuine, and I could go find the evidence if people wanna look at it.

[The Noose]

Jose Badillo is the guy i meant.

True, u couldnt ask for more with Naz really.
Yet i still say Barrera's game exposed Hamed. A good fast jab, timed well, would upset Naz.