Naz in retrospect

He did more than enough to qualify, he has a good resume and dominted a tough division and if it were not boxing polictics he would of held all 4 world championships the first ever boxer to do this.

 

Barrera beat him easily and so would Morales. Naz simply couldn't keep up with the pace at which both those guys could go at.

 

that wasn't the question mate.

 

Well he certainly has a better record than McGuigan so if thats the yardstick, he's good enough!

 

naz should qualify for hall of fame.

as far as the morles barerra matches resulting in retirement......well anyone who knew hammed closely would tell you that he was falling out of love for the sport. he didnt have that dedication anymore and didnt train as hard.

 

I used this summary in another thread:

Hamed's wins over fighters that were ranked in the top 10 by the ring when he fought them, it's worth noting that the combined winning streak of these 7 fighters was more than 25 years! Naz KOed 6 of them.

Steve Robinson - ring#3 - hadn't lost in more than 2 1/2 years
Manuel Medina - ring #3
Tom Johnson - ring #1 - hadn't lost in 6 years
Kevin Kelly - ring #5 - hadn't lost in nearly 3 years
Wilfredo Vasquev - ring #4 - hadn't lost in nearly 3 years
Ceaser Soto - ring #5 - hadn't lost in 3 1/4 years
Vuyani Bungu - ring #4 - hadn't lost in 8 years

Not to mention winning 17 title fights.

Does that constitute hall of fame? It's up to you? I never really think about HOF worthyness, not sure why, but I don't.

 

I always thought the Kelly fight rattled his confidence and he was too defensive from then on in.

 

I used to love watching the Prince and I really wish boxing had someone like him right now but I don't know that he did enough to make it to Canastota. I think the Barrera fight was make or break for him. That was his chance to become legendary and he came up short. Still a borderline pick but not a shoe-in by any means.

 

I think he is. Look at his resume. Fought nothing but contenders. By the time he fought Barrera, he looked disinterested in fighting. Still was a hell of a talent.

 

Well the fact we are talking about him long after he retired pretty much proves he is a shoe-in HOFer

 

As I much talent he had and as much as I love watching his exciting style I don't think he did enough to get in to be honest. Too many great fighters around his weight class that he never fought.

 

Naz had lots of good wins - Bungu, McCullough, Ingle, Johnson, Kelly, Medina, Robinson, Vazquez. Names like that should be enough.

However I never liked any of Naz's performances after the Robinson fight. He stopped boxing clever, got silly, became puncher only. Everything got to his head, and Barrera gave him a boxing lesson. And Naz didn't come back (not to world level) at the first obstacle (then disappeared for good). And he avoided a fight with JMM (who ended up losing his 1st title fight, to Norwood admittedly).

Naz was a big star, and this is something that shouldn't be overlooked. He brought a lot of profile to the featherweight division, passing the torch onto the likes of Barrera, Morales, Pac, Marquez.

He was an important figure in late '90s/early '00s boxing, but to me not a Hall of Famer.

 

Yes he is a hall of famer no doubt