RETHINKING NASEEM HAMED

He was an unusually gifted athlete, a world class hot-dog, seemed like a real jerk and got his head bounced off the turnbuckle by Marco Antonio Barrera. Then he basically decided at 28 that he'd had enough. Many of us, me included, have really enjoyed making Hamed a boxing punch line and an example of what happens when a flashy, gifted front runner runs into a far less physically gifted but far harder man. In some ways I/we have made him out to be an example of what I/we DON'T want from our fighters.

Buit is that viewpoint really fair? Let's do a quick review. Lightning hands, fast feet, stunning power, a technical disaster and unbelievably short arms.

In his first eleven fights The Prince faced two men with winning records. Then he took a major step.

Vincenzo Belcastro-He is the reigning Euro bantam king and is ranked #8 in the world. The Italian has gone the distance with Robert Quiroga and Thierry Jacob. Hamed floors him twice and shuts him out. UD12.

Freddy Cruz-Two time challenger for straps at 122. Lost both by decision. Hamed cleans him out. TKO6.

Steve Robinson-Ranked #10 at featherweight with wins over Colin McMillan, Freddy Cruz and Paul Hodkinson. He is the WBO strapholder. Hamed dominates him, wins every round and the ref stops it in the eighth. TKO8 and Naseem is a beltholder.

Manuel Medina-Ranked #3 the Mexican warrior has been in everybody and has wins over Troy Dorsey and Tom Johnson. He fights Hamed tough, no surprise. But the outcome is never really in doubt. TKO11.

Tom Johnson-#1 ranked and generally thought of as the top dog at featherweight. He is the IBF strapholder and has defende that belt 13 times. It's the same story. The Prince is just too fast for Boom-Boom. TKO8.

There is nothing "lineal" about it, but it is at this point that many regard Hamed as the finest 126 in the world.

Jose Badillo-He isn't ranked, but he's lost only once and that was a real tussle with Tom Johnson. TKO7.

Kevin Kelley-The Flushing Flash is ranked #4 and holds a strap at 126. He has beaten Smoke Gainer and Jesse Benavides and Gregorio Vargas. Kevin Kelley is one heck of a fighter. This is Hamed's real introduction to the US. Kelley puts up a great fight for three rounds and drops Hamed THREE times Then Hamed lands a HUGE straight left twice in the fourth and KO's Kelley. A GREAT fight! KO4.

Wilfredo Vasquez-The Puerto Rican is the lineal champion at 126 having taken that crown from Eloy Rojas two years earlier. It's the Naseem Hamed show and he is now the lineal featherweight champion. TKO7.

Wayne McCullough-Ireland's Pocket Rocket" is the #4 122 in the world. He had lost a VERY tight split decision to HOFer Daniel Zaragoza six months earlier. McCullough is always tough and he fights courageously, but Hamed is just too fast and dominates the action. UD12.

Paul Ingle-The fellow Brit is unbeaten, the Euro champ and ranked #3. He will go on to win a strap at 126 and beat two fine fighters in Manuel Medina and Junior Jones. Ingle survives a bodyshot knockdown early to come on late and he seemed to have Hamed exhausted and in trouble late. But one short left hand by Hamed saved the day TKO11.

Cesar Soto-Ranked #5 the Mexican holds a strap at 126. This is a dirty, rugged streetfight. At one point Hamed throws Soto to the ground, at another they both tumble and the ref has to worn Soto's corner against yelling derogotory things at Hamed and both guys are using their heads. It is a highly competitive fight but Hamed breaks Soto's nose and hurts him to the body but can't finish him. UD12.

Vuyani Bungu-Ranked #3 and a longtime strapholder at 122. He's beaten Kennedy McKinney and will go the distance with Lehlo Ledwaba in his next fight. But this isn't competitive. TKO4.

Augie Sanchez-Ranked #6. Another good fight, another mismatch. TKO4.

He's 27 and that's really it for the Prince. Barerra just ruins him mentally in his next fight.

But let's look at what he's done.

-Lineal and legitimate featherweight champion of the world with five defenses of that title.
-Wins over eleven ranked fighters.
-He showed real grit and toughness in the Kelly, Soto and Ingle's fights. The Prince was NOT just a frontrunner.

While in some ways the way he is thought of is his own doing, Prince Naseem Hamed was one hell of a fighter, a tough guy and a fine champion. Being dominated by a great, great fighter like Barerra doesn't wash all that away.

He is something to ponder. How would you like to have seen the one handed, badly balanced athletic powerhouse that Manny P. was at 126 matched up with Naseem Hamed? Think that would have been fun?

I think a lot of people still have him rated pretty high, some even say he's a HOF fighter...

I can watch Hamed-Barrera all day. Barrera refusing to touch gloves with Hamed after bouncing his head off the turnbuckle puts a smile on my face. Hamed accomplished alot but when he finally got outclassed he just didnt have the desire to fight anymore. He did take the fight so i give him credit for that.

one of the hardest hitting feathers ever

always seemed to be in entertaining fights that Kevin Kelley fight was AWESOME

but man if there is a thread for first loss ruining a fighter Naseem should be number 1 on the list cant remember who he fought after Marco but i remember he looked like shit

think it got to the point where Manny couldnt tell him anything in training and Nas did it his way and payed for it with his career

I can watch Hamed vs Kelley all day, including the entrance

Pac vs Hamed at 126 would have been awesome but i think Hamed wins it

Birdofthad wrote:

Pac vs Hamed at 126 would have been awesome but i think Hamed wins it

Idk about that, Kelly dropped him

and Pac absolutely wrecked MAB at 126

Pac wasn't the great two handed fighter he is today at featherweight, Hamed would have a chance to catch Manny when gets wreckless.

gomez1012 wrote:

Birdofthad wrote:

Pac vs Hamed at 126 would have been awesome but i think Hamed wins it

Idk about that, Kelly dropped him

and Pac absolutely wrecked MAB at 126

I don't have any idea who wins. But those two technically clueless punchers would have hit each other about a gazillion times until somebody couldn't get up.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

I don't have any idea who wins. But those two technically clueless punchers would have hit each other about a gazillion times until somebody couldn't get up.

I agree, no clue who takes it, both would fire away with the left hand bombs...who's left standing no clue

It would be a KO ending right? lol

gomez1012 wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

I don't have any idea who wins. But those two technically clueless punchers would have hit each other about a gazillion times until somebody couldn't get up.

I agree, no clue who takes it, both would fire away with the left hand bombs...who's left standing no clue

It would be a KO ending right? lol

When I think about it it has to be a Foreman-Lyle kind of deal. The ref counting knockdowns so many times he needs a calculator.

I honestly think Hamed beats the version of Pac we saw at 126.

I think Pac v. Hamed gets decided by who gets the worst of a clash of heads.

I've always thought he was a borderline HOFer and if excitement counts for anything in the selection process he should get in.

captainanddew wrote:

I honestly think Hamed beats the version of Pac we saw at 126.

Could very well be. We never really saw Pac face a sort of mirror image of himself have we?

Hamed, such a waste. Self-destruction at its finest


Manny was giving him hell for his training habits, especially before the Barerra fight.

Then he loses the fight and disappears for a year
Lethargic performance in the comeback fight and disappears again
3 years later he drives obscenely fast and causes a major accident, severely injuring people, resulting in jail time, etc....

way too often it seems like those with amazing talent are the ones with an amazing ability to piss it away

From limited reading on the guy the Nigel Benn Destruction of Gerald Mclellan changed Hamed's attitude towards the sport. Naz's trainer Brendan Ingle was in G Macs corner that night. After Naz lost to Barrera and looked sluggish in his comeback he may have felt that if he continued he would endure permanent damage. He made hismoney and got out. He had been fighting since he was six. He became very wealthy and had his health and i think he didn't want to lose either of them.

hardcoreBEE24 wrote:

From limited reading on the guy the Nigel Benn Destruction of Gerald Mclellan changed Hamed's attitude towards the sport. Naz's trainer Brendan Ingle was in G Macs corner that night. After Naz lost to Barrera and looked sluggish in his comeback he may have felt that if he continued he would endure permanent damage. He made hismoney and got out. He had been fighting since he was six. He became very wealthy and had his health and i think he didn't want to lose either of them.

Kinda hard to demean that isn't it?

I'd be fine if that's why he left. But he didn't have to be a douche and blame it on 9-11 and American intolerance towards a Muslim athlete after the incident. The guy had piss thrown at him before 9-11, I think it's because he was an arrogant asshole, not because of 9-11.

Good fighter, no way in hell an HOF'er.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

hardcoreBEE24 wrote:

From limited reading on the guy the Nigel Benn Destruction of Gerald Mclellan changed Hamed's attitude towards the sport. Naz's trainer Brendan Ingle was in G Macs corner that night. After Naz lost to Barrera and looked sluggish in his comeback he may have felt that if he continued he would endure permanent damage. He made hismoney and got out. He had been fighting since he was six. He became very wealthy and had his health and i think he didn't want to lose either of them.

Kinda hard to demean that isn't it?

Absolutely. From what I understand all the shit he did in the ring was his act. Tearing away the layers he was a huge fan of the sport and was humbled to be in the pound for pound conversations of the time. I liked the guy and would have loved to see more of him. The Brits in general crack me up, they don't seem to take themselves too serious and they generally have good senses of humor. Had he continued with same dedication and ferocity he displayed leading up to Barrera he might have been in the Calzaghe conversation as the best from Britian...maybe.

KrazyHorseBennett wrote:

I'd be fine if that's why he left. But he didn't have to be a douche and blame it on 9-11 and American intolerance towards a Muslim athlete after the incident. The guy had piss thrown at him before 9-11, I think it's because he was an arrogant asshole, not because of 9-11.

Good fighter, no way in hell an HOF'er.

The whole reason he became a fighter was because he got picked on for being Pakistani. So that excuse is bullshit i agree. I just think he lost a step and probably couldn't come to terms with it at the time and blamed 9/11. Poor taste in excuses.

If Floyd is shit on for his "ducking", imagine the crap Naseem should have had tossed at him then. He only managed to fight Barrera out of all the really good fighters at that time that resided within a few pounds of him.

Maybe I am flawed in looking at him the same way I look at Kostya Tszyu. What was Naseem's biggest win? He had a solid resume but who exactly did he beat in his legacy-defining fight? Kevin Kelley? Tom Johnson?

I'm not at all calling him shit but he's a very very very clear step below of all of the great fighters at that weight at the time.

KrazyHorseBennett wrote:

If Floyd is shit on for his "ducking", imagine the crap Naseem should have had tossed at him then. He only managed to fight Barrera out of all the really good fighters at that time that resided within a few pounds of him.

Maybe I am flawed in looking at him the same way I look at Kostya Tszyu. What was Naseem's biggest win? He had a solid resume but who exactly did he beat in his legacy-defining fight? Kevin Kelley? Tom Johnson?

I'm not at all calling him shit but he's a very very very clear step below of all of the great fighters at that weight at the time.

Hamed defeated eight men who were, at one time or another top five featherweights. There is really nobody obvious missing on his resume from 126 when he was there. That is nothing to sneeze at. His biggest wins? Vasquez, Johnson and Kelly. Not too shabby. I think saying "within a few pounds" is just unfair as a criteria. He was like Hagler or Monzon or Attell. He fit perfectly into one division, was disciplined enough to stay there and he shouldn't be punished for not moving.

Having said all that of course Hamed probably isn't one of the top say 20 feathers of all time. But a fine fighter nonetheless.

Wasn't Marquez his mandatory for the longest?

KrazyHorseBennett wrote:

Wasn't Marquez his mandatory for the longest?

JMM was ranked #8 in 2000 and #7 in 2001. He broke into the top five in 2002 after Hamed was done.

I have NO idea what the WBO Mandatory was and I just don't care what those alphabet thugs say

marbleheadmaui wrote:

KrazyHorseBennett wrote:

Wasn't Marquez his mandatory for the longest?

JMM was ranked #8 in 2000 and #7 in 2001. He broke into the top five in 2002 after Hamed was done.

I have NO idea what the WBO Mandatory was and I just don't care what those alphabet thugs say

Marquez would have been HUGE for him.