Is Prince Naseem Hamed underrated?

Losing to MAB and the HBO contract thingy in light of the American sentiment at the time, he's critiqued probably too harshly by most.

Hand issues and an absolute wrecker of a puncher makes for some interesting possibilities, had he kept up the training regimen of his younger self.

He's one of those fighters that could genuinely spark anyone out of there, if he catches them right, and at the same time, comfortably get outboxed by the sharpest of technicians and end up swing and a miss all night long as he gets frustrated by the very best.

 

Another fraud who would have been eaten alive by lots of ATG fighters!

 

I always felt like Naseem was a cringe showman and annoying. His slugfest against Kevin Kelly is probably my favorite fight of his.
Not sure if I would say he is underrated though.

 

I have been doing a career rewatch and would absolutely bump this thread. If he wasn't so outlandish (and considered an annoying knob by many) he would be rated fairly by hardcore fans.

Worn out damaged hands + having to cut 30 pounds in a short span to be weight drained for the Barrera fight is a real excuse, his body was softer and it was obvious, it should be brought up more often that it wasn't an in peak condition Prince.

His resume isn't "Kevin Kelley.. uhhh bums... got slapped around by Barrera". It's actually quite decent with 16 title wins, 14 by KO. Names include Kevin Kelley, Tom Johnson, Manuel Medina, Vasquez, Cesar Soto, Bungu, Ingle, and Steve Robinson. He held world titles including the WBO, WBC, IBF. He could've had the WBA but Vasquez vacated the belt to fight him and ended up losing dominantly. He lost all his belts by vacating them or stupid boxing politics. Anybody with this resume would and should be respected.

It is dumb to downplay Naz or just spam "Barrera whooped his ass" (That was an 8-4 fight btw, nowhere near the beating it's remembered as). Respect should be given to him.

 

No, he isn’t. Now put him back in the dustbin where he belongs & let’s never talk of the clown prince again.

 

What did Baer do to you?
Oh.
Sorry, wrong clown prince.

 

How was he a fraud?

 

Michael Spinks ended his career with a loss he didn't avenge, I don't think that hurts his legacy.

 

Yes I do think he's somewhat underrated. Had some solid top 10 wins, crazy power and was the man in the division for a number of years. And brought a huge fanbase to the sport in the 90s.
I am of the opinion that he was an immense talent but, due to poor discipline and arrogance (refusing to correct flaws in his style as they began to be exploited), he never really achieved what he could have.
But a talented, dangerous and fun fighter - at his best an interesting puzzle and potential threat for many HOF featherweights. I do think he peaked early and wasn't at his best for Barrera.

 

He belongs on the "Cartoon Network"...What a fraud!

 

You said the same comment earlier in the thread last year if you haven't got anything of substance to add to a thread except for constantly disrespecting fighters that aren't named Rocky Marciano then don't bother posting.

Imagine being a Lineal Featherweight champion and making 15 title defenses and then being called a "fraud".

Do some research on his career before you make such silly comments because you make yourself look like a fool.

 

I think he might be a little underrated at this point.

 

His legacy has little to do with the Tyson fight.

He made his bones by unifying and holding onto the light heavyweight belts.

He made history by winning the lineal heavyweight championship.

Naseem wasn’t old, past-it, with bad knees and in an unlimited weight division that was above his natural weight.

That’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. It’s apples to bicycles.

 

Naseem beat holders of every title in the weight class. Was the lineal champion. Lost to one guy. Doesn't affect his legacy imo.

Spinks was only 3kg lighter than Tyson btw. 31 year old, undefeated lineal heavyweight champion. Hardly past it. Bad knees, sure. But he took the fight.

 

Spinks was an amateur middleweight who fought most of his career at light heavyweight.

He was at the end of his run with bad knees and ran into a force of nature.

Naz was a natural featherweight who got his ears boxed off and was made to look a fool by a brawler who suddenly became a textbook boxer — who turned pro as a flyweight and had never boxed above super bantam before he took Naz to the woodshed.

Naz got his ears boxed off and was made to look a fool. All his showboating and then he got his nose rubbed in it, lol.

Barrera turned pro at flyweight and had never fought above super bantam before invading Naz’s weight division and taking him to school. Hamed was in his physical prime, mid-20s, and suddenly decided to take his toys and run away when his lack of fundamentals got exposed.

Last seen on the James Tony diet, working out at the bakery.

Not only did the Barrera fight affect Naz’s legacy … it really IS his legacy. First time someone stood up to him, he lost all interest and vanished like a fart in the wind.