Hamed's resume

Kelley was very good, in 1991-94.

I've not idea what this star thing is about.

Hamed seemed to fight fighters who were always past their best and worn, while he was very young and explosive.

 

Tom Johnson, McCullough, Kevin Kelley were probably his best wins. In hindsight, he does have a pretty shallow resume but that may be because back then, there were no stars and "legends" at those weights. In a way, Hamed paved the way in those weights. He made MAB into a star, and in turn MAB brought that stardom to the division because now there is a point of reference. Oh Morales beat MAB who beat Hamed, I know that Hamed guy.

 

McCullough and Kelley are 1&2, in either order. Vásquez would be up there but he was pretty far bast his best and naturally much smaller, but he was very very talented.

 

I think Steve Robinson was his best win.

He was really young at the time.

He took him apart.

 

As much as I dislike Hamed a lot of the greats around that time weren't lining up to fight him, we are all geniuses after the fact but he was seen as dangerous.

 

His reaction to being knocked down for the first time was quite hilarious. Pretty sure it was against Daniel Alicia. He was asked after the fight how it felt and he said it was beautiful.

Tom Johnson was well hyped up by sky. I wasn't familiar with him at all and wasn't really impressed at the time. The Kevin Kelley fight would be on a list if I made lists. Kelley, ''I'm going to smoke his boots.'' haha I love that line. And unlike Johnson, he really gave it a go. Most impressive.

''Wayne McCullough is made of steel.''

Can remember staying up to watch the Barrera fight. Wasn't planning to because I had to go to Manchester very early on Sunday morning, but of course, you always do end up staying up. I dunno, I think I was educated enough to know that Barrera was favorite, at least in my mind. But I wouldn't have expected such a mismatch. Prince Naseem was destroyed.

 

Tom Johnson I'd never heard of. He looked average.

Steve Robinson beat everyone. He never eclipsed that. The Morales', Barreras, Azumah Nelson's and Mayweather's were around for him.

 

i know a guy who fought Robinson
tough guy and had ring smarts

 

He was without doubt talented & a real showman ( his ring walks were often as entertaining as his fights ! )
He threw punches from bizarre angles and often touched the canvas while avoiding being hit ( the Kelley fight is a prime example ).
He often kept his hands low, in an almost arrogant way, trusting his speed and snake hips to avoid being hit.
However, it didn’t always work, he was put down a few times.
Always enjoyed watching him but he was just too arrogant for me as a character.
His resume isn’t the best I’d say, seemed to somehow avoid the very best, Barrera & Kelley aside.

 

MAB was an underdog with the bookies in the UK and by a fair margin.

 

He beat a lot of good fighters contenders and world champions. He had freakish unnatural power which initially you wondered exactly where it came from because it was not obvious like an Azumah who you could was not just an excellent boxer but was also an extremely powerful man. It would have been good for him to rematch Barrera , face Marquez and Morales but his interest had waned by then. He was very good by British and world standards he was better than McGuigan and the outstanding Pat Cowdell also better than Paul Hodgkinson and the talented Colin McMillan. Perhaps he falls short of the lofty levels of Salvador Sanchez, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler and Azumah Nelson but I think it would be very wrong not to rate him a great fighter. The sad thing is he could have achieved more but for a period of time there is no doubt he was the best featherweight in the world.

 

What some may forget is after Hamed lost, later that year the 9/11 terrorists attacks happened and there was alot less market for a extremely arrogant Muslim quoting the Curran after his fights. It seemed like a good time to bow out.

 

Pretty sure he said hand injuries finished him. That power came at a price.

 

This. He was constantly spending more and more time outside of the ring and gym nursing hand injuries. His left hand was gone by the time he fought Barrera.