Pac ran through Barerra with crappy footwork and one dimension at 126 if you need an aggressive southpaw for comparison. I think Tank would beat Barerra at 130. Barerra wasn't great at that weight.
Pac didnt have crappy footwork. He had some of the fastest feet of all time and the quickest footwork of that era. And he was never one dimensional. His angles and speed made it look like there were 3 Pacquiaos in one ring.
At 126 when he fought Barrera the first time, he was a one trick pony. He improved his feet and punch variety later.
It's a myth that a guy who split with his trainer, who was known for his switch hitting spent a grand total of 45 seconds in orthodox against Barerra? When Emanuel Steward got to him he was massively overweight and spent most of his camp trying to lose it. No that is not prime Hamed. Hamed was disillusioned and disinterested in fighting at the highest level by the time of the Barerra fight.
He never did fight at the highest level until Barrera. He fought a single B level guy named Kevin Kelly and was in a serious fight. Then he jumped up to the A+ level and was not prepared for that level of professional boxing.
Kelly had a weak chin and was caught making mistakes very often that`s how he lost his title before he fought Hamed.
It can be both. I think it probably is. He got his real opportunity at the worst possible time. He didn't love it anymore by then. He'd probably lose to Barerra anyway, but claiming that this Naz is prime Naz, no.
Naz was a freak of nature in power and athleticism but I have not seen someone in a while who can torque and leverage power in the hook Davis landed to end the fight with that delayed reaction in a long long time....it would be interesting
His decline after Hamed was pretty swift. He was good until after that fight, regardless of his absolute peak.
He was good, granted, but he'd seen better days when he met Naz. Goes to show ho good Kelly was that he gave Naz hell when they met. Very underrated boxer. Shame we never got Naz/Junior Jones back then. That would have been good.