Prince Naseem vs Manny Pacquiao

I admit Im ignorant then because I had no idea that Hamed beat 10 world champions, the ones I can name from memory are Soto, Johnson, Vazquez and Robinson.

Not sure if Robinson counts though, since he was only the wbo champ in the early 90's, not exactly the biggest prize in the sport at the time.

Vazquez was a good fighter, but wasn't he like 37 years old at the time Hamed beat him?

Nobodies is a relative term, in comparison with the fighters Manny fought and beat, Hamed's opposition consists of a bunch of nobodies, I stand by that claim.

I'm sure you know more about Hamed than me though, I admit I never really looked in to his career with much interest. So if you prove me wrong I will happily admit it.

 

There was also Bungu who was a champ for 7 years at 122. McColough was a bantam champ and deserved to win the super bantam belt in many peoples views, which would have made him an undefeated 2 weight champion.
Kelly was an ex champ coming off beating . Medina won the FW title 5 times. Ingle who would go on to win the IBF belt against Barrera conquror Junior Jones. And there's Perez who was an ex super fly. Sanchez will go down as a nobody but beat Mayweather in the amatuers.

Yea I think Robinson was nicknamed the Cinderella Champion after his rough start. He beat McKenzie who was a 3 weight world champion and the current British Champion. He beat the ex champ McMillan too. All of them were favoured to beat him. He wasn't the best in the world but maybe he was top 5 I'm not sure. Sadly Robinson's contract meant he didn't make much out of the big money Hamed fight.

Yea he wasn't prime but he was still a champ at the time and a 3 weight one at that.

Manny certainly has beat better guys in Barrera, Morales and Cotto for sure (never beat Marquez as far as I'm concerned). The rest considering the state of some of them weren't of a higher standard. Hamed underachieved too, he could have had a better resume if the division was better and/or he fought past the age of 27. The likes of Morales and Marquez turned down fights with him too holding out for better offers. He would have fought Barrera earlier if it were for Junior Jones derailing that fight. Marquez turned the fight down because he had silly management and lost to (closely) Norwood during the period

 

You are right about Bungu, my mistake. The others weren't champs when Hamed beat them. And a lot of them were moving up in weight to face Hamed to. Medina was quite decent I think. If I remember correctly I think he actually lost to Manny's brother Bobby late in his career.

Look my maybe I was to harsh when I called them nobodies, I meant it relative to Manny's competition. Most of them were on a level i think, good but a step or two from being world class.

Interesting, I don't know to much about him apart from the Hamed fight.

Yeah, a three division reigning champ is always a good win.

Fair enough, I think you are underestimating Manny's competition a bit. I rank Bradley higher than any win of Hamed.

 

Yes I was stating champs as a whole, which makes them relevant to some extent or another.

Yea but bare in mind Hamed was 5'4 and started at Super Fly, winning his first belt at Bantam himself in his 12th bout. He only went to featherweight because Robinson boxed for the same promoter but was campaigning at 122 before that. He certainly wasn't a big guy picking on small guys type of thing.

You must be confusing him with someone else. Medina is very much underrated, deserved the nods over Espinoza and Tapia. He definitely landed more punches. Not a big puncher but a skilled very busy type of boxer.

Bradley is a good all rounder but he's less skilled than Medina and Kelley for instance. Maybe he makes up for it with strength and infighting arguably and he's more of an athlete than Medina. Plenty of fighters could have beat Ricky Hatton who outside of his big 3 fights was very much protected.

Roach has made Manny look better than he is through picking styles that suited Manny. He said he wouldn't have picked Marquez in their first bout but the promoter signed it without asking him. He admitted he didn't want Manny to face Joan Guzman because Guzman was a bad style for Manny. Look how many movers and counter punchers Manny's been put in with. Look at the way they wouldn't go for a straight rubber with Marquez after the second fight and waited until he was 39 (or however old he was) while asking him to come up 2 divisions.

 

I got it wrong, it was Kelly who lost to Bobby Pac. Way to late in his career to have any meaning though.

The Hatton win is overrated I agree, Ricky had the perfect style for him and had already been ko'd. It was an impressive performance though. I view it like sort of similar to most of Hameds good wins.

Well moving counterpunchers gave Manny trouble, true, but Hamed was no Marquez or Mayweather.

You make some good points, but I feel the cards are stacked against Hamed here. Resume isnt the only thing in Mannys favour. He is bigger, much faster, a murderous puncher himself with unbelievable workrate and aggression. I dont see anything in Hameds career that proves he can handle a fighter like Manny.

 

Wow shocking to see everyone's views on Hamed. Would most say kelley is his best win?

 

Ahhh right he beat a few other once Mexican contenders who were past their best too. Bobby wasn't very good though so I wonder if they wore the cuffs (threw the fight) or were just old.

While not the same, Hamed was a counter puncher though, who could make you miss and pay. I consider him elite and up with the rest despite the Barrera loss.

Manny is taller/rangier. He isn't stronger or more powerful though. He has quicker hands but Hamed has quicker reactions and better timing and a better defense. Plus if you're talking about workrate, well the more punches Pacman throws gives Hamed more counter opportunities to knock him out with. Notice Barrera made sure he didn't give Hamed any counter opportunities. He boxed conservatively.

I won't knock anyone for picking Manny. But as much as Hamed didn't faced anyone like Manny, he hasn't handled anyone like Hamed either

I'd also say Hamed underachieved and Manny overachieved for what it's worth.