Naz was a terrific talent with a unique style, big personality, amazing power and a great chin. Look at the legs on him and you will understand were the power and solid chin come from. The thing with Naz is that he made a lot of money very young and lost his hunger while still in his 20's. He was already 2 years past his best when he fought Barrera, i take nothing away from MAB because he may still have give Naz a lesson even if at his best. But in the MAB fight a tell tale sign that all was not well is the simple fact he had 2 main corner man giving him instructions in alternating rounds. That really is'nt normal in any level of boxing, especially the top level. The dissapointing thing was he did'nt try to put things right and left the sport with a whimper, but like i said if the hunger is not there anymore, what can you do? It's a shame about Naz because he was a star that shone brightly, just not for very long like he should have.
No, but it's hating when a person calls him a hype-job that fought bums all the time...despite not bothering to review his early career. It's almost the same as viewing Mayweather as a welterweight only, and branding him as a fraud who fought cherry-picked opponents his entire life.
He didn't "duck" Erik. By the time he was required to fight him, he unfortunately not only lost his fight to MAB, but more importantly he also lost his hunger to further his career. He was on a downward spiral of about 6/7 fights before that even occured. You can't "duck" someone if you've turned your back on the game all together. Furthermore, it's well known that Naz wanted Erik for the Sanchez fight, but for whatever reason, it didn't materialize. Not that it mattered, because Naz by that time was there for the taking. Whether it was JMM, MAB or EM that got their hands on him, he would have lost and gone into obscurity anyway.
naz won all the title in the featherweight division, if he was ducking those fighters why didn't they become the mandatory or hold atleast one of the belts?
:good Greatest Naz description ever... me I would have called him a a worthless **** nut that was more concerned about shaking his ass to entrance music than being a warrior like a true ****ing ******
He was an arrogant Brit of middle eastern decent who fought sloppier than any fighter I can recall in recent years. His whole appeal was based on the fact that people thought he was a dick and kept watching to see if he'd lose. He did and then he was gone. End of story.
If he could have combined that power with some sort of assemblance of traditional boxing style, he may have been able to beat Barrera and reach loftier goals.
I think trying to instill traditional boxing skills into him played a big part in his downward curve.
Yes. This is what Manny Steward tried doing with him. He made him plant his feet more. But I do agree though, that when Naseem's reflexes began fading, he should have had the fundamentals in place to fall back on. But unfortunately, he just didn't give a **** by then.
I doubt there will be another like Naz - he was funny, cocky, could back it up and definately could hit. Plus his ring entrances were sheer entertainment - I remember he had Kevin Kelly going **** nuts.