Nelson - Barrera

The MAB of the Hamed fight narrowly outpoints Nelson, and would do so in a rematch.

 

I think Nelson may be a little to strong for MAB. I think the power of Azumah would see him take a close decision.

 

I can't agree with you addie that Barrera was "blindingly fast".That's really overstating things imo.

He had good to very good handspeed with fluid combinations.I don't think his single shot speed better than Nelson's.He was better at throwing in extended combination, especially with textbook punches i'd say, with Nelson having the heavier, slower more unorthodox combo's.

 

Azumah was a very hard puncher but i think many of you are underestimating Barreras chin. He had a great Chin, the only time i ever saw him put on ***** street was by Jones, and that is cause he didnt respect him and got caught by a very clean shot against a pretty damn good puncher in Junior Jones. Barrera took Everyting and the kitchen sink from Pac before getting stopped in the 1st fight.. Also his wars with Morales and he never went down. He would respect Nelson and come into this fight like he did Naz, by boxing smartly and i dont see barrera getting stopped here. Hurt maybe but i dont think hed get stopped.

 

He was "blindingly" fast in combination. I had a hard time counting how many shots he'd throw sometimes in the Tapia fight because they came so fast, in so many numbers, and so suddenly. One of the best combination punchers I've ever seen, certainly. For single shots, Marco wasn't special in any regard really. He almost threw exclusively in combination, except for the jab.

 

I think Marco hit hard i remember him walking through some good fighters like Benavides and Toledo and making short work of them. Not to mention a few of his fights at the forum. For the most part he wasnt a one punch bomber but he could still crack and get anyones respect. Also that shot he knocked out Esteban Ayala with was a 1 punch ko.

 

I underrated his right hand in the early days. He was knocking out a lot of fellas with it. It would come on and leaps and bounds still though.

 

Nelson was a well rounded fighter though unlike some of those guys you mentioned. He could box just as well as he could slug and Marco would wind up the one coming forward into Nelson sneaky counters. That being said I still think Barrera is big and physical so thats a factor that makes this fight closer adding to your point about his chin. Barreras definitely not faster nor is he a far better boxer than Azumah.

 

He certainly didn't seem too interested in doing anything but surviving though from about the third round on against Pac when he started tasting Manny's power. I'm talking about the first fight of course. He was never in it to win it the second time round.

Nelson may not knock him out clean, but I can definitely see a TKO.

 

I can see a point win for Marco too, who, contrary to the comments in this thread, had a lot of tools himself.

 

Yeah, i thought Marco looked like he more or less wanted to quit against Manny.It was the Honeyghan vs Curry of this decade in a way, only as a more protracted beating.

I don'tbelieve the level of heart a fighter shows is a "constant" and set in stone, so i'm wary of criticising fighters too much who show a lack of heart in..say one big fight, but that performance does worry about Marco's will to win when putting up against the better offensive forces around the weight/

 

That was a bad showing of heart on Marco's part, taking a beating for a sustained period of time as opposed to quitting? Much bigger fighters would fall at the hands of the same opponent years later, but Marco stayed in there. That wasn't "the" Barrera in there that night anyway, all great fighters have bad nights, and that was Marco's. Again, no point comparing, Nelson is a whole different style and fighter to Manny.

 

I don't really disagree too much, though it did seem like he choked in thre face of Manny's firepower and stopped giving 100% to me.Slightky worrying, but i'm not going to base his will to win on purely that fight when he had other nights that were impeccable.

 

I don't watch much Youtube, I usually resort to DVD's...I am also technologically impaired so don't particularlly know how to upload a video from there to here! Having said that they have some of both guys that I am sure you can go and check out!

I would be willing to say that the speed advantage although I think Nel;son still holds a slim one is negligable either way! I also think both guys fought opponents with similar hand speed and they have been able to offset that with their own skill set and fundementals.

I just see azumah's defense as something MAB would struggle to penetrate, when he tried to apply pressure I see nelson being able to counter with his own speed. Unless Barrera could apply like fenech which i don't see happening here, I don't see that as his best option. barrera was a skilled counter puncher in his own right, but I don't believe he would want nelson relentlessly stalking him all night either. I believe his best bet would be to try and stick and move, but am not sure he would be able to keep Nelson at bay for ever, nor do I think he would try.

I hope it does not sound like I am selling short MAB, I think he was an excellant fighter, I just don't see this as a match up he would win, we can agree to disagree.

I think the Bantam weight Barrera would have better hand speed, but the 27+ y/o FW, version while still quick, I don't see as fast or as mobile as the Nelso of sanchez through Gomez etc., while if we are talking the nelson of fenech through leija Nelson would certainly appear slightly slower, I just think of the FW versions Nelson getsa a slight edge, although I wouldn't call it a huge disparity!

Peace