If it wasnt for the WBA, Naz would have been the 1st unified champ

You dont become undisputed without facing elite fighters....just b/c you have your mind already set doesnt mean your right.

 

Very true, Illmatic. Naz could be a jerk sometimes, and he never really came back from his loss to MAB, but those who call him a "bum" and "joke" are just ignoring reality. His accomplishments in the ring are very impressive.

Also, he was good for the sport. Whether they were tuning in to see him get knocked out or knock someone else out, lots of people watched him fight. Friends of mine who did not consider themselves boxing fans knew of Naz and would watch him fight on HBO.

 

Well, running away after getting dogged and embarrassed by a real elite fighter, DOESNT MAKE Hamed an ATG.

It makes him what he was a good fighter, with good power, who lacked elite skill, will, and DRIVE:yep :yep

I actually give you credit for fan loyalty, but in reality?? Hamed wasnt all he was cracked up to be:good

 

Naseem hamed..ok lets look at the facts.

Apart from being an arrogant **** and
belittling many ordinary folk and fighters alike (read calzaghes book about the carl thompson incident) he won ALL of his belts against shot or over the hill fighters. WBO- steve robinson (overrated british level fighter) IBF tom boom boom johnson (well past his best) WBC cesar soto (had lost seven times when he faced hamed)

If he had faced a prime kevin kelley, he wouldnt have got back up when he was put down three times. kelley had fought 50 times when he faced hamed and was also on the slide. Barerrea kicked his hole and after one more fight, he was booed out of the ring and pissed off to count his money, leave a poor man with every bone in his body broken when he smashed into him at 100mph, run away leaving him in the wreckage, and get fat and go to prison.

Im not a yank BTW im english, but I believe he was literally a clone of herol graham, not as skillfull but a much bigger puncher, and def not a gentleman in the same mould as herol.

what made me laugh was when he slagged off nigel benn for quitting on his stool against collins (he never quit, his corner pulled him out and rightly so) how can someone like him slag off benn?? the adversity nigel faced and the wars he fought in are common knowledge.

I just think naseem wasnt half the fighter calzaghe is but yet gets tons more hype and credit. Hes a little wanker in my opinion.

 

everyone brings up things out of the ring...personally, I dont give two shits if Mayweather or Hamed are ****s outside of the ring.

1. How was Kelley past his best? The guy had 1, read ONE, loss that happened two and a half years before facing hamed and had good wins in the meantime, such as a win over Gainer.

If he was past his best in 97, he mustve been ancient in 2000 when Morales faced him, or had one foot in the grave when he fought Barrera 6 years after Hamed

2. What about 3 division titlist Wilfredo Vazquez (KO6), his kayo of 5x titlist Medina when he had the flu, his hard kayo win over Ingle who later won a title, Bungu who had a better resume than Barrera when they were both at 122 (13 title defenses, 2 wins over Mckinney)? These were damn good fighters. You dont win every title by fighting complete bums

3. How was Tom Johnson past his best? He was the highest ranked in the division, had 13 defenses of his IBF belt. Thats past prime? Your stretching it here...

Look, for four+ years if there was a guy in the division with a claim, he took em out. Thats a damn good run for any fighter.

 

ok..let me make my opinion clearer.

1. kevin kelley. I believe he was past his best. Like i said he had 50 fights when he faced hamed, and you mentioned his fights with morales and barrera both of which he was KO'd in. Also after hamed he dropped a points decision to benito rodigruez who had lost THIRTY yes THIRTY times..

2. wilfredo vasquez. another fighter who had lost 7 times, and he was 38 years old when he faced hamed. another fighter he caught at the right time.

3. tom johnson, another fighter in his thirties who had nearly 50 fights. He looked on shaky legs from the opening bell of the fight with hamed, watch the tape and see.

im not saying hamed wasnt a good fighter, he just wasnt as good as everyone says he was. and he won ALL of his belts against shot fighters and thats a fact. It says a lot about the fighter and the man, when he passed up on the rematch with barrera (there was a re-match clause in the original contract) and ****ed off with his tail between his legs. as for what he was like outside the ring, he was a total ****, whether you give a **** or not it shows that when it came to the crunch, he got a hiding and never came back!!

 

not true, his movement and defense was great when he was committed and dilligent to his training. a while before kevin kelly he started getting lazy and refused to take training/instruction from ingle and it all went downhill from there

in the barrera fight you can see he wasnt a patch on his old skills and if you read calzaghes book you would see that apparently there was something wrong with him the whole way over on the flight and before the fight

 

I agree. Unfortunately Naz's ego (by all acounts), got the better of him in the end. His brothers started messing round with the management, training etc, Brendan Ingle should have been left alone to work with Naz. It's a shame he never did face Barrerra again or an elite level fighter thereafter which makes it seem more the case that he was exposed.

Naz was his own worst enemy.