Only his own motivation diminished. His supposed physical deterioration is an excuse manufactured by his fans. There where little evidence to suggest otherwise. And if at that age you already lost motivation when you are knocking on greatness, then all I can say then it was not meant to be. Talent is not what separate great ones from good fighters. It is the mental toughness, hunger, drive and self motivation. Hamed lacked it even it was obvious he could have achieved more. But his heart said otherwise. That is on him, not some supposed physical deterioration. The guy was 26 and rarely in tough rounds, let alone a whole fight. Stop making excuses. He is what he is - lost motivation when he got knocked down. He decided it was too much for him. Enjoyed his fights and much respect as a fighter but....
The issues with his hands is pretty well known. No one is saying he got old or shot, but he DID have serious hand problems,and this may have had something to do with his lack of motivation,and poor training habits. He was actually had good heart. He was knocked down several times in his career like against Kelley and Sanchez but he always got up. I dont think an 8-4 loss to an ATG was really what pushed him over the edge. I think between the hand problems, and the vast money he already made, his motivation just left him. For years after, he was saying "im coming back this yeat" "Watch this space" etc etc. But he never followed through. The guy is still only the same age as Marquez!
:deal The whole hand issue thing seems like a tired excuse as well, it's a fairly common thing for fighters to get and everyone else seems to be able to fight through it and often for many years.
Never seen that interview, thanks. It was interesting that Hamed was watching that Eubank fight -- I never noticed him in the crowd before.
LOL...he was never great...if he did not take the rematch clause against MAB...the guy who gave him his first defeat...he CAN NEVER BE CONSIDERED GREAT... Hatton's & Froch's legacies will be ranked higher than Princess Naseema... I mean imagine what people would say about Mayweather if he retired after losing the Oscar fight...in the same fashion...people would call him a hype job... Yes Hamed was exciting but great....NEVER
:yep Very overrated he was GOOD was he great no, he did not prove he was great had a chance but did not and yeah its easy to say he diminished because he lost, fact is he lost to fighter 10x better than any other he faced, what if Ali quit after Frazier he did not he continued, Hamed had rematch clause and did not take it, he is not GREAT!!! As I wrote Ali had more reason to run away from the sport after Frazier loss he diminished alot over 3 year ban period but did not quit, every truly great fighter continued after he lost Naz run away thats why he can never be compared to truly great fighters!!!
I don't know the statistics, but Naseem Hamed was a standout world champion during his reign at Featherweight. Numerous title defenses, dramatic stoppages, and he fought a number of very good opponents like Kevin Kelley, Vuyani Bungu, Wayne McCullough, Manuel Medina, etc. It's of course no coincidence that he failed in his biggest test. MAB was an offensive monster in addition to being a cute boxer. Great timing, underrated jab, and by 2001 he was a two-fisted threat. There's plenty of very good, or even great Featherweights that have been and gone who would have struggled with the same opponent. In that respect, it's no shame in losing to Barrera. Still, bowing out of the sport after your first professional defeat is not going to win your any favours among fighting fans and so-called experts. Very good fighter, but just fell short of the greatness he had often talked about.
Can't blame him for it, that's how you get the big money. You have to respect the Prince, he brought the cashola for all the fighters at the lower weights. He was NEVER on a level to beat any of the three Mexicans though, and I would have thought that was clear by now after seeing their ATG careers. Naseem just isn't on that level. No shame in that, only a handful of fighters in history can make that claim. He did have some ****ing scary power though.
Kevin was past washed up, if Naseem had fought a prime Kelley he would have been stopped. The other guys are decent titleholders, not much more.
Fact is Hamed stopped giving a **** well before the MAB fight. Watch the documentary that followed him before the fight - he was delusional. The haircut scene is just painful to watch. Was given too much to quickly and had no hunger left - he made more money that almost all the featherweights in history combined. You can see now that he is fat, happy & rich. Will never be known as a ATG (but he could have been) but a sure HOF'er and more deserving than many. His power & chin are among the best I have ever seen P4P. And his style was unique and totally ridiculous.