Was Naseem Hamed an ATG or Overrated?

I'd say neither, just forgotten. I dunno why, but nobody talks about him. In fact, I probably forgot about him when making my p4p list a long time ago.

 

I think you had to be an ATG to do what Barerra did but Prince was past his best by that point. I'd still favor prime Barerra over him but it would have been much much closer. Steward tried to train some of the unorthodoxy out of him when he thrived on it. I think he beats Morales getting a few Kd's on the way with Morales taking an extra round or 2 making it very close. Marquez would be a very close fight.

 

HoF max.

elite though for sure.

 

No all time great, but he was obviously very good.
The trouble is with that unorthodox style which was mistake ridden, was exposed against the better fighters.

 

He doesn't have the defining wins to be an ATG, and he was soundly beaten by the only genuine HOF level fighter he faced.

His long unbeaten run, and host of wins over very good titlists, mark him out as a Hall of Famer. There isn't a convincing argument to rank him any higher though.

Morales and Marquez were clearly greater fighters than Hamed, and better prime for prime. It is not out of the question though that he could have beaten either if the timing had been right - ie Morales around the time of the Espadas fight, or Marquez when he fought Norwood. Obviously a big if, but if he had caught those fights at the right time and got the W, his legacy would look rather different.

That's the essence of daring to be great though. Fighters who do not do that and are selective about the risks they take, leave their careers more open to be dissected.

 

ATG punch power but not ATG fighter. He dominated a very weak Featherweight division from 97-00 beating guys who were past their prime (Kelley, Johnson, Vazquez), as soon as he fought a true elite boxer in his prime (Barrera) he got absolutely schooled and never recovered.

 

He was a dangerous, unorthodox fighter with speed and serious power but did not fight or defeat the opposition to prove himself an all time great ..

 

Does anybody know if Ingle left behind any materials on how to train fighters in that goofy style of his?

 

he still went life and death with kelley, though. that was one hell of a fight!
had he fought morales, it would have been an exciting fight. both would taste canvas, but i believe that morales would be the more durable fighter and win by late k.o. or u.d.

 

Very good fighter, fun to watch, hard hitting, huge personality. But not an ATG, and I don't see too many listing him as such. I'd always go out of my way to watch his fights, though.

 

ATG power. No doubt about that. Probably underrated these days.

 

Its probably blow back from his controversial image back in the day. It makes it hard for people to have a rational perspective on his work.

Its true he lost to Barrera, but people have a distorted view of how that fight happened. It wasn't the case that Barrera tortured him at will and won 12 to 0. In reality, Barrera fought a disciplined fight and generally controlled the affair, but Hamed did manage to win several rounds with some explosive (desperate) rallies. Barrera even conceded that Naz hit extremely hard and had him buzzed several times throughout.

Naz beat a number of world class opponents but his tendancy to be a slacker in training and his love of junk food caught up with him. I think IBHOF enshrinement would be appropriate.

 

A waste of talent .could of stayed at bantam for longer and won a title or two then gone up to super bantam and done the same the way he destroyed Belcastro at bantam for the euro title when a novice was incredible .He basically ate his way to feather weight where he had to face naturally bigger men this coupled with his lack of discipline and splitting with ingle led to him trying to KO every one he fought and talking greater risk. A real shame we never saw his true potential fulfilled