Calzaghe or Hamed - who has the better legacy?

Almost exactly how I see it :good

Purely in terms of in the ring....Calzaghe has a better legacy.

Widen 'legacy' to include popularity, impact on the sport, and mainstream exposure as well as boxing accomplishments, then I think Hamed takes this quite easily, all things considered.

 

Yeah, my mistake on the Toney thing. I thought he moved up a lot later than he actually did. But that wasn't really my point, I was just suggesting that if Calzaghe was to a fight a certain calirbe of opponent then its understandable that he would (and did) struggle, the same way that if Hamed had fought JMM and Pac he would have had a hard time of it as well. But to be fair, Pac and JMM - as we know them now - are a different era to Hamed. I mean, JMM and Pac were nobodies, nowhere when Hamed was in his mid-90's prime.

 

Thread doesn't close until Hamed makes a sensational comeback which results in him winning this poll :deal

 

I think Naz would (and did) always struggle with balanced, technically strong, fighters like Barrera. Not to suggest that Pac isn't good technically, but I think Pac's come-forward & aggressive approach would have been perfect fodder for Hamed.

It would have been a bull-matador scenario. Hamed was always elusive and hard to hit, and even though Pac has great speed-of-hand, I think prime Naz's reflexes were second to none and he would have the edge in terms of both power and movement in any potential match-up with the Pac-Man. A close fight, with KD's against both fighters, but Naz wins on points.

Morales-Hamed is really hard for me to predict. But I'd strongly favour Morales UD in most instances. A close, tense, probablly uneventful fight actually. Hamed would certainly take Morales out of his grove and Naz's power would mean a lot more cautious and controlled approach for EM. If it did eventually explode into life, I'd favour Hamed to land the KO blow (although I don't think a stoppage is a likely scenario in this particular match-up).

JMM & Barrera would always be tough, tough fights for Hamed. But if they fought an number of times, there would be 'L's and 'W's' for each.

 

My main problem with regards to EM/Hamed was always how EM would approach it. I see what your saying about him wanting to go toe-to-toe. But he seemed to shy away from doing that quite as often, once an opponent had got his respect. You see that in the trilogies with Pac and MAB. So, if EM came out all guns blazing against Hamed, then you're right, he could well get 'caught out'. I don't think he would do that though, stylistically I think they would basically neutralize each other, with Hamed showboating and landing power shots from the outside, and EM working the jab well, but not being very effective with anything else.

It's weird that Naz didn't rate MAB, and, as you mention, maybe because of the JJ debacle. But maybe also because Hamed felt MAB (and EM) was ducking him (see his comments after the Sanchez fight) so that might have given Hamed a false sense of security (to go with the ever-present feeling of invincibility) that eventually led to his downfall.

 

I've grown to respect Calzaghe's achivements. But I'll always question his heart and attitude, and especially the way his career played out.

Yeah, Hamed made a mistake, like we all do. And he went to prison for it.