:good:good:good And if it had been Barrera lazy and with no gameplan and Hamed motivated with a top gameplan then who knows
I think even by that stage Hameds best years had gone. The fifth round was good though I think he troubled Barrera with his power a couple of times.
Come off it! A good British boxer is someone like Jason Booth, Billy Hardy, Ian Napa etc... Or even the likes of Richie Wenton and Paul Lloyd as described by Jeff earlier. An elite fighter is someone at the top pound for pound level and Hamed may not have been that. This is something over and above being simply "world class". However, suggesting Hamed was not world class is a bit absurd to me. To be a world class feather/light/welter/whatever weight indicates the ability to be competitive with the top people in that weight division. I don't, therefore, understand how the undisputed top guy in that weight division for five years can not be regarded as able to be competitive with the top guys in that weight division. As for "an opponent Hamed beat who was in that bracket (i.e. elite) that's simple, there were none at featherweight from the time he first won his title until his first loss when he was substantially past his best. However, to give him his due, he still made it a reasonably close fight. Barrera himself (vs Pac and Jones), Mosley (v Forrest), Morales (v Raheem), Trinidad (v Hopkins and Wright) to name just a few have been beaten up in their prime in far more convincing manner than Hamed and these guys are still regarded as elite. An 8-4 points loss when past your best to a modern legend is nothing to be ashamed of.
For me, to be the best you have to beat the best and Naz didnt. As I said in my main post above, for one reason or another he only got one shot at top level opposition and didnt take it. TKO - he's obviously a level or two above Napa's etc. But for me he's nowhere near the top bracket of fighters. Now maybe there's a difference in definition. I suppose world class meaning 'able to compete on a world level' makes sense. But I'm using it to mean a genuinely quality boxer. Not someone who can beat down the also rans but then bottle it against the top flight.
Try ten levels! The rest of the post is fair enough and kind of makes sense. I still think you're setting the bar too high in most instances (Soto, Kelley, Johnson etc... as also-rans? Really?) but there you go. Good points anyway.
Hamed was the NO 1 Featherweight in the World.........and he was not World Class???????? :huhscaredas:atsch:smooch Barrera was probaly the best of his era........a pound for pounder Hamed beat a string of World Class fighters you complete fool........ Steve Robinison Manuel Medina Tom Johnson Kevin Kelly Wayne McCollough Wifredo Vasquez Paul Ingle Vuyani Bungu etc etc :good
Hardly any fighter ever beats a modern great like Barrera or Morales at their peak That because they are so good ..........modern greats Just because Naz never beat a elite type modern great like that dont mean he is not world class Everyone who fought a peak Roy Jones lost.....apart from that cheat Montell.........no-one is gonna beat a modern elite like that It dont mean that everyone is not world class though There is no shame in Hamed lsoing to Barrera...........he is still easily world class
So next thing going by Paddys standards............ Ricky Hatton is not world class because he lost to Mayweather James Toney is not world class because he was trounced by Roy Jones etc etc Both Hatton and Toney were NO 1 at their weight the fact they were beaten by a elite............and will never beat a elite............is no shame They are still world class easy There are very few "elite" pound for pound greats about anyway..........the standard is so high And no Naz is not the greatest as he said he was But easily world class
I went for Johnson, despite what other posters have stated. I may not have been that old at the time, but I can remember the fight being sold as a huge unification clash. Johnson looked in awesome shape when they met, and hit Naz with a great shot at the end of the 3rd, after he has been totally smashed up (credit must go to Johnson for this, his legs looked completely gone, I thought he would never make it to the end of the round). Naz only showed flashes of brilliance as Johnson came back into the fight, landing a few great single shots on Naz in the 6th. But Naz came back even stronger in the 7th, before finishing off Johnson’s last bit of resistance in the 8th.
Well it was, and if it was a case of pure good marketing from Sports Network, then fair play, they sold it to me, and millions of UK casual boxing fans hook, line & sinker.