Rafael feels IBHOF voters are ill-informed on Prince Naseem Hamed and biased

[Weebler I]

Q. Most writers feel Hamed was a protected fighter who rarely left England and got smashed when he fought a top opponent in Barrera.

Dan Rafael: 1st off, he fought several times in America so that is just wrong. Besides where does it say a guy has to fight in America? Nowhere. Second, he fought all four reigning titleholders and beat them easily and should have had all the belts at the same time except for politics prevented it. He was the lineal champion for 3 years and made like 15 title defenses, scored massive knockouts (maybe best featherweight puncher ever) and changed the economics of the smaller divisions. That counts for something. He MADE boxing fans AND was a top-notch champion for many years.


Q. Outside of the loss to Barrera, no matter how lopsided, and his brash style outside of the ring, what is the main knock against Hamed? Do most writers not vote for him because they didn't "like" him?

Dan Rafael: That is my feeling. A lot of writers are just clueless on his career and all he accomplished and hold one defeat -- to an all-time great, by the way -- against him. In his prime, Naz was DOMINANT and fought most everyone.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/49797

Makes a decent case.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Prince is def a hall of famer,,,,,, not Atg but def a hall of famer

[Hougigo]

Gatti made it, why not Prince?

[samir191]

Simple: Naz was too vocal about his religion

[Weebler I]

Simple: Naz was too vocal about his religion

You think US writers cared about religion that much? I doubt it tbh, they're quite tolerant of the various religions over there.

I think it's more ignorance regarding his pre-Barrera/Kelly career. There is, or was, pre-internet, a commonly held belief that you're unproven until you come to the US. A lot of semi-casual boxing fans still hold this belief, the better read fan understands it's the opponents that matter not the venue.

I'd say Nas was like a British version of Broner to many of the IBHOF voters, someone they never believed in and were waiting and hoping for to get beat just so they could say he was never good in the first place. Hamed was of course, significantly more proven than Broner but that's lost on most of them (Rafael and one or two others excepted) and the fighter he lost to over 12 was an atg in Barrera, not a Maidana.

[BEDROOM BULLY]

Most boxing fans are the same... they have no clue how good he was..

He lost to Barrera.. who people rank as an ATG? i actually remember the scores being fairly close after the point deduction.. but yeah Barrera won clean.. I think Hamed would have had an easier fight stylistically with Morales or Pac.

Lets not forget Hamed was at that stage not training properly and lost his love of boxing.. even Manuel Steward said this.. Just look at the way Naz has blown up since he retired.. its pretty clear he isn't that dedicated to ANY training whatsoever LOL..

But yeah people have short memories.. or are new fans.. who just remember his last meaningful fight and forget all the other stuff..

If Gatti is in.. Hamed should be already in

[tyotfo]

Most boxing fans are the same... they have no clue how good he was..

He lost to Barrera.. who people rank as an ATG? i actually remember the scores being fairly close after the point deduction.. but yeah Barrera won clean.. I think Hamed would have had an easier fight stylistically with Morales or Pac.

Lets not forget Hamed was at that stage not training properly and lost his love of boxing.. even Manuel Steward said this.. Just look at the way Naz has blown up since he retired.. its pretty clear he isn't that dedicated to ANY training whatsoever LOL..

But yeah people have short memories.. or are new fans.. who just remember his last meaningful fight and forget all the other stuff..

If Gatti is in.. Hamed should be already in

Great natural talent and destructive puncher who got schooled at elite level.

[Duckweather Jr.]

America is not at all tolerant to Muslims.

Blame 9/11 and Elie Sechbak for the IBHOF slight.

[IMDAZED]

I can't say I disagree. Plus Hamed had several tough opponents during his title reign like Soto, Vasquez, etc. And a lot of exciting ones too and almost always somehow found a way to pull it out with a spectacular KO. Damn, bring back Naseem.

[samir191]

You think US writers cared about religion that much? I doubt it tbh, they're quite tolerant of the various religions over there.

I think it's more ignorance regarding his pre-Barrera/Kelly career. There is, or was, pre-internet, a commonly held belief that you're unproven until you come to the US. A lot of semi-casual boxing fans still hold this belief, the better read fan understands it's the opponents that matter not the venue.

I'd say Nas was like a British version of Broner to many of the IBHOF voters, someone they never believed in and were waiting and hoping for to get beat just so they could say he was never good in the first place. Hamed was of course, significantly more proven than Broner but that's lost on most of them (Rafael and one or two others excepted) and the fighter he lost to over 12 was an atg in Barrera, not a Maidana.

Thats my opinion bro, i vividly remember Larry Merchant admonishing Naz in his post fight interview after the Bungu fight for shouting 'Allah Hu Akbar' in the mic pre fight, and this was pre 9/11, i dont believe HBO or even showtime would tolerate that now