Much like Mike Tyson Naz peaked at a young age as fighters who depend on speed/reflexes. He clearly had lost a few steps by the time he faced MAB. Not sure he would have beat MAB when his reflexes were sharper..maybe. But I think Morales would have beat him anyway.
Please stop with the myth that a prime Naz would have beaten Barrera, it's utterly delusional. The famed Wincobank style looks great against c/d class fighters but step up against elite fighters of the calibre of Barrera, Morales, FMJr and you're going to get exposed big time. Naz had devastating one punch power but couldn't box for ****, all of Brendan Ingle's fighters have the same fundamental flaws, low guard, poor balance, **** footwork. You watch, Kell Brook will be exposed the minute he faces a genuine top ten welterweight...
Naz would have been tooled by any of the three top Mexicans. Barrera was the easiest matchup for him stylewise and he was soundly whipped. Marquez and Morales both stop him - Morales in brutal fashion.
Nah, Morales is the Easiest for Naz out of those three for sure. Barrera at 122 appeared a sound bet for Naz (who was trying to figure out ways to avoid JMM at the time) but the Barrera that showed up that night was a different animal, and far superior to any 126 version of Morales. Erik wouldve done what Barrera was expected to do; be wide open. Although at that stage Naz was probably too lackidaisical to get the job done, but I don't know about 'brutal stoppage'.
Naz was brilliant,just for his sheer entertainment value and unorthodox style. sure,he would have had more of a chance had his head been focused on the fight,but i imagine barerra probably would have won still. No shame in losing to a legend like Barrera!.
the only version of naz i'd have given him a chance against barrera with is the 95 hamed at super bantam. he was mandatory for barrera's title and warren bottled it of course. :yep
You should have posted this in the General. The British forum is full of bitter flag wavers who actually buy into the "Hamed wasn't himself" bollocks. Hamed got slapped about by a superior fighter and then retired with his tail between his legs. Sorry guys, that's the truth.
LP 1985 stop making yourself look silly, blinded by your hate for a gifted elite British fighter. Peak MAB fought him at the right time, thats about it, and thats lucky for him. He wouldn't have got away with it against Naz on anything near his best night (you reading that addie )
It does make me laugh that the fight was considered a schooling even tho 2 scorecards read 115-112. Barerra won the fight no doubt, but i think history was a little hard on Naz to be honest. Could he have beaten Marco in his prime? We can go round in circles on that one. But what if he had fought Erik Morales that night rather than MAB. Would Erik try to box on the outside, or would he go to war with Naz. If it was the latter, Naz's explosive power could have taken it's toll. Suddenly history remembers him a lot differently. Ps Naz would the event by server beatdown :deal