Do you think Prince Naseem retired because of Barrera

He had made a lot of money got rid of the ingles and stopped training properly .Went power mad trying to ko every shot he threw Lloyd honeygan did similar.I remember before the fight with Barrera he was staying in a posh hotel suite moaning about the service and then all.that religious rubbish going into the ring

 

Funnily enough I was watching Hamed vs Bungu yesterday. The commentators were saying Hameds last 3 performances had been poor and he'd need to put a good display to show he still had it.

Sometimes because a fighters still winning we don't notice the cracks that are beginning to show, it's only when he loses that things become more apparent.

 

A bit far to say he's one of our best. He's top 10 of our best certainly, but one of THE best Brits, no. He isn't up with the Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe, Bob Fitzsimmons of this world.

 

I do agree that he SHOULD have been our best ever, however.

 

Top Ten is pretty high, I think. And at least you see that Calzaghe was one of the very best. But it seems I hear a lot of hate for Lewis, JC and Hamed (who I really disliked during his run but admit was pretty phenomenal).

 

I remember around 1996 after Hamed won the WBO Featherweight title and Barrera had won WBO junior featherweight belt the year before Boxing Monthly had them on the cover hyping the fight. But, like has been said, events conspired for the fight not to happen. Hamed then fought a lot of reasonably shopworn featherweights (Manuel Medina, Tom Johnson and Kelley, of course) and often struggled against them. He'd feasted on lower level opposition early in his career and thought he could knock everybody out. I think he found out that with the step up in quality came a step up in durability as well.

 

You never just know how a fighter who is used to blowing away the competition, is going to take their first major loss.

Sometimes they can get back behind the wheel, and sometimes they never quite get over it.

 

The hunger had gone by the time the Barrera fight had came around.

Turning his back on Brendan Ingle all but ended him as a fighter and he lost his love for the game. You can't blame him for losing focus, it's easy to forget just how big a deal Naz was at the time and he had achieved fame and fortune beyond anyone's wildest dreams before he turned 30.

I'm glad it ended and there weren't more fights like the Calvo disaster so he'll forever be remembered as one of the most polarising and entertaining fighters of all times.

 

concur ^.

 

I think it helped IMO he was exposed as overrated against an up and comer prime fighter he would have been out of the picture with Paq and others coming around.....he didn't want to fight these guys his power could only carry him so far.....he didn't have the fire or resolve to fight the up and comers

 

Tbh I think Calzaghe and Hamed are in the same bracket.

 

People easily forget the Ingle's were in his corner for the Kelley fight, once the comp stepped up his talent was found wanting.

 

This is a great post, Jel!!!! Nicely done.

 

Why SHOULD he have been though? Naz was obviously a flawed boxer. Technically Naz wasn't a great boxer due to lack of fundamentals. He had no where near the level of technical skill of a Ken Buchanan or John Conteh, or even a Howard Winston or Walter McGowan . Yes, Naz had amazing natural talent but so did Jimmy Wilde who unlike Naz wasn't flawed technically. I also believe Benny Lynch had more natural talent than Naz and is a much better example than Naz of a Brit fighter who SHOULD have been our best ever.

 

The loss to Barrera definitely dented his confidence. Plus, he'd been boxing since he was a kid and had millions in the bank and a young family. Clearly, as others have mentioned, he didn't have much tolerance for training anymore and had problems with his hands. He looked borderline shot in the Calvo fight and probably made a shrewd decision in not fighting again. I think Hamed achieved a lot but unfortunately he'll always be remembered as something of a disappointment because he promised so much more. The Hamed of the Robinson fight in 1995 seemed to have incredible potential.