Why did naseem hamed retire so early?

[ghns1133]

Was wondering why he retired so early.....

his last fight was in 2002 and he was born in 74 so he must have only been 29 or 28 whe he retired....

[StarshipTrooper]

Because he got exposed as a fraud by the first fighter with a pulse that he faced.

Poet

[ghns1133]

did the barrera loss discourage him thaat much.....

if so....

thats pretty weak

[young_robbed]

Poet Nailed it.

To preserve his already shaky, and ALREADY exposed legacy.

Barrera took his mind, soul, and body. Hamed really had no answer for a skilled, fundamentally sound, and great all-around boxer like Barrera.

[Sugarj]

Some tough replies here. I'll try to offer a slightly softer take:

1) He was already ridiculously rich
2) He was having problems making the featherweight limit, he hated the dieting, he made comments in the Barerra documentary that he was looking more forward to the after fight meal than the fight itself (his shape now is evidence of his love for food!)
3) He hated being away from his wife and young children months at a time in training camps
4) He had severe tendonitis and problems in his hands and had to have regular cortizone injections. His uncanny power had really taken its toll on the weapons of his trade....and when the injections wore off, the pain was something else
5) He was badly booed in his comeback fight against Calvo. That has to discourage a man from continuing
6) He never really liked his training/roadwork full stop
7) His style never looked as good under the tutorage of Suarez and Steward
8) Muslims were having a hard time in America after the 911 attacks
9) A few years later he was jailed for reckless driving after leaving a guy with every major bone in his body broken

Granted, the Barerra fight will have factored in too. Despite the fact that Hamed did win rounds......those that Barerra won were much more dominant. There were times when Hamed looked silly, it was a humiliating defeat!

I was a fan and followed his entire career. I do rate him as one of the most talented and gifted boxers that I have ever seen. At his best he was extremely difficult to catch cleanly and his combination work was superb. I think that the Hamed of 1995-97 would have looked much better against Barerra. Its a shame that he started to neglect his combinations, relying on single punches. His reflex based defense only really suited the Hamed of his early 20s.

Its sad that he'll be more remembered for the Barerra loss than all his exciting victories. I was disappointed that he didn't knuckle down (no pun intended!) and pursue the Barerra rematch that was in his contract.

[Jeff Da Maori]

Because he got exposed as a fraud by the first fighter with a pulse that he faced.

Poet

Go and look through his resume in detail. It might stop you from making such stupid statements in the future.

[Sugarj]

He did face some good fighters:

Tom Boom Boom Johnson, Cesar Soto and Wilfredo Vasquez were still pretty useful world champions. Manuel Medina became a world champion one or two times after losing to Hamed. Kevin Kelly was clearly in his prime when he met Hamed. Vuyani Bungu, really should have offered more of a challenge (his record and credentials were excellent with wins over Danny Romero and Kennedy McKinney). Steve Robinson was a good fighter, Paul Ingle was a future world champion.

Augie Sanchez had beaten Floyd Mayweather as an amateur and was clearly dangerous.

Hamed also faced a few unbeaten prospects such as Remigio Molina and Daniel Alicea and simply decimated proven European level opponents barely losing a round when doing so.

Granted, Barerra was the only legend/ATG he faced. But its a measure of the regard of how high Hamed was held, that he was the bookies favorite against Barerra......and that after Barerra's sterling performance against Moralles.

I nearly forgot Wayne McCullough too, he might have come up short against the best fighters of his generation.....but only by decision.

[The_Demon]

Because he had stopped training properly,long before the Barrera fight,and simply didnt have the passion like he once did

He achieved a hell of a lot,beat a lot of good fighters in an explosive fashion,and gave us fans years of pure enetertainment-legend

[Prince Mongo]

Hamed had made a lot of money at the point he fought Barerra. So he was in a position to choose to retire which is really what he did. I think the Berarra loss was a shock to the system and his low hands style relied on superb reflexes and his reflexes were fading as he got older.He had a huge ego and a lot of pride and I think he wanted to avoid further humiliations in the ring.

[LightzOut]

he didn't have the passion as he once did.. and i'm guessing the barrera loss broke his spirit lol