Prince Naseem Hamed

About 22 or 23 all time featherweight and as a puncher maybe number one all time at 126.

Although he could be a douche at times i gotta say i miss the little ****er.

 

He is not so little now

 

He seemed to have it all when he was in his pomp. Good head movement,fast hands and feet,decent chin and power. After a while though,he seemed to become solely reliant on punching holes through his opponent - the Kevin Kelley bout is the main one that comes to mind here. It was an up and down exciting fight - almost like a mini Foreman-Lyle slugfest but for Naseem's benefit it need n't have been that way. If he'd utilised his skills he could have beaten Kevin more cleanly and maybe quicker.

I rate him in the bottom half of the top 20 feathers of all time.

 

That is true, Noel.
No getting away from the fact, he was a fantastic talent.
But his arrogance spoiled it for me personally.

 

That is exactly how i felt back in the day Fergy but now i have mellowed towards him.His arrogance turned a lot of people off and i feel they let that cloud their judgement when ranking him in a thread like this

 

Could be that, mate.
I do see how skilled he was.
He took the boxing World by storm I know that.
His fights s were big events.

 

I was a big fan as a young ex-pat Aussie staying in London in 1995-96. I saw him whip Steve Robinson then destroy Said Lawal with two punches and totally bought into the hype. Then I saw some flaws against Daniel Alecia where he was floored and then his obnoxious personality made me run cold.

The guy had some serious gifts re power and reflexes but the more he advanced the less amazing he looked.

Still a very good fighter and all time great puncher but the best guy he fought whipped him. Past best or not, he was still undefeated and heavily favoured to win and simply got exposed for his limitations. He was good. But not half as good as he (and his apologists) think he was.

 

We did see how he responded to his first defeat.

He took his ball and went home. Didn’t want to stay in the sandbox and play.

Boxing reveals character.

 

Could it possibly be that he had enough money by then, felt himself slipping a bit, and valued his health too much to keep on fighting?

 

Yup.

It was so satisfying watching him get his beating, just watching his lips quivering afterwards when he was drinking a bottle of water was hilarious to see, he almost cried his little arse off...

 

Timing is pretty odd for it to be that. Right after he gets taken to school he packs up his books and says ‘I’ve learned enough’ lol.

 

Very hard hitting and strong. Could of gone so much further if he hadn't disappeared up his own 4rse.

 

Outside top 30 is harsh Hamed made 15 title defences reigned for 6 years, was lineal champion, and beat some solid former world champions, Olivares's best win at Featherweight was vs Bobby Chacon. And lost to all the best fighters he fought at that weightclass Arguello, Pedroza, Kotey, Lopez, i don't see how Olivares can be rated above Hamed at Featherweight.

Hamed should be rated maybe at the low end of top 20 or maybe just outside it, but no way is he outside the top 30. And H2H he would do well against quite a few of the old time Featherweights, he hit like a truck and would be dangerous for alot of Featherweights.

 

I think Hamed gets underrated. Sure his skills were questionable, but like a lot of very talented fighters, he used his unorthodox style to his advantage. There is no doubt that he had amazing reflexes, lightning hand speed, and crushing one punch power with either hand. He could fight southpaw or orthodox, could attack, counter, or box. Yes he was hittable, but given how solidly he got hit at times, I think he proved he had a good chin. He was decked, but never stopped, and won all the fights in which he was dropped. He was the first million dollar featherweight for more reasons other than just marketing and good matchmaking. He fought some really tough, high quality featherweights, had some great fights, and only lost once, to another all-time great.

 

Excellent post