Calzaghe or Hamed - who has the better legacy?

Hamed could have been greater but he wasn't end of story

 

calzaghe 3x more than hamed

 

I disagree with the common ESB opinion that Tyson has a better legacy than Tyson. Tyson is a bigger celebrity than Lewis that's about it.

Naz is a bigger celebrity than Calzaghe, but when i think of Calzaghe i think of an unbeaten two weight champion who beat everyone over a long career. when i think of Naz i think of a fighter with a much greater potential than Calzaghe and acomplished as much as Calzaghe in a shorter period of time, but Naz quit in him mid to late twenties because he lost one fight.

I have respect for fighter who loose and return victorious.

 

Name me one world-class fighter he beat. Wayne McCullough? Ingle? I don't think so.

The arselickers in the British press - and let's be honest, they were all up Hamed's arse - liked to paint him as Sugar Ray II, but he never really achieved anything major. He was an exciting fighter, there's no doubt about it, but only mainly because he was such an awkward puncher. Most of his wins were against B-class fighters who couldn't handle his crude power. As soon as he stepped up to fight an elite counterpuncher, he got utterly annihiliated.

Contrast that with Calslappy. I'm not his biggest fan, but at least you can say he consistently performed at the top level. And he beat two world-class fighters in Kessler and Hopkins, and a past-it Roy Jones.

Hamed was a self-publicist and a crook, who made waves with his flashiness and his arrogance, and his repeated comeback announcements. He never beat anyone truly credible. He doesn't have a legacy, other than his diving-into-the-ring gaffs.

 

What is the definition of a world class fighter? Are you on crack? You seriously saying that Hamed won world titles without fighting world class fighters? Maybe he never defeated elite fighters but that is a different story.

 

Calzaghe.

 

all hamed accomplishment has been accomplished by calzaghe in two or three years...crazy but it's true

 

**** it I say Naz.

I know Calzaghes undefeated and has some good names on his resume but legacy, well loads of people who arent even big boxing fans will still watch Naz fights and go on about him in 10-20 years time and he only lost once, on decision to an ATG and theres no doubt for me if Cazlaghe had taken more risks he wouldnt have the 0.

 

Yeh i never got the Haters idea that Hamed got schooled/destroyed..... I think most just say it without actually watching the fight, It was 7-4 MAB got his nose broke and Hamed was never hurt in the bout. I would have loved to see a Hamed v MAB II/III

 

I agree to a degree, but I also think the difference in coaching/preparation in the fight between Barrera and Naseem was very significant, and yes, Barrera had the skills to expose some of Naseem's flaws, however that does not necesarlly mean he had more skills than Hamed. If they had fought a rematch, i think Hamed would have had every chance of winning, I'll explain:

I just re-watched the Berrara/Hamed fight again, all the way through, and you know what? It wasn't nearly as one-sided as I though it had been at the time.

The big difference between the two fighters on the night was the way they were prepared and the way they were coached during the fight.

Barrera's team had very clearly gone to town on studying Naseem's previous fights, and worked on a game plan that worked to perfection: all night, Barrera circled round Naseem's right foot, keeping away from Hamed's left power punch, jabbed with the left, at the same time waiting for Naseem to attack before Barrera would counter-punch instantly. The same tactic all night, and it worked all night.

However, in Naseem's corner there seemed to be no game plan, no special preparation or tactics to deal with Barrera specifically. In my opinion, Emanuel Steward that night was absolutely terrible in Hamed's corner, was no help whatsoever, and Hamed would have been better off without him being there: all night, Steward was so negative, criticising Naseem's fighting style. I mean, Jesus, if you don't like your fighter's style, work on it before hand, but to constantly criticise him during the fight itself, and what's worse, keep telling Naseem every round he was losing the fight, this doesn't help at all. Naseem was so very clearly a confidence fighter, he fought best when he was cocky. Barrera was fighting a tactically flawless fight, and what's worse, Steward then spent the whole fight denting Naseems's confidence between rounds. The first 9 or 10 rounds of this fight were a lot closer than people think. If Naseem had been coached properly before the fight for Barrera specifically, and coached better during the fight, Naseem could well have won. Because looking back on that fight now, there really wasn't much to choose between them - at the time it was more the shock of how competitve/physical Barrera was against Hamed, rather than him being totally dominant.

There was no chemistry between Hamed and Steward, there didn't seem to be any connection. In fact, the only impression I got was that Steward just didn't like the way Hamed boxed, and therefore the worst guy to have in your corner during a fight. He was so negative, he got in Hamed's head arguably more than Berrara ever did. The only positive Emanuel said to Naseem during the fight was to "go for your power punches". Even this was questionable advice. Yeah, go for the power punches, but those one shots were what Hamed had been trying to do all night with no great effect.

The best points during this fight for Naseem were few and far between, but he looked good when he was the one stepping round Barrera left foot, and then firing off punches - forcing Barrear back. Steward never picked up on this, but just kept saying "go for your power punches" as if that was thier only tactic. Perhaps it was, which means poor coaching in Hamed's corner cost him the fight as much as he himself did on the night.

As I said, the rematch would have been great, and not a whitewash which is what a lot of people think.

 

Good post.

I agree, Hamed had no gameplan at all against a prime ATG fighter, pretty much asking to lose.

Glad to see some people as well are realising it wasnt quite the domination made out and was not a destruciton.

A lot of it looks bad because nas is leaning on a funny angle and the punch moves him as hes moving, but it doesnt actually hurt him it just looks like it does.