Why didn't Naseem Hamed ever fight properly again after Barrera?

Earned £40 million and couldn't be arsed.

 

Because other than possibly Kelly, Barrera was the only top boxer Naseem ever fought. He got his arse kicked and he didn't have the heart to continue.

Naseem was a 2nd tier boxer. End of story. He had a career fighting other 2nd and 3rd tier boxers and the only 1st tier opponents he had were Barrera and Kelly. He didn't have the heart to fight a real opponent again.

 

I think if you watched his career you'd know his heart clearly wasn't the size of a pea. That's fairly ridiculous. He had a pretty full career by that point, hit huge numbers, had huge success. I think he was also suffering terrible hand problems by then and decided it all led to retirement (with many mentions of coming back to the media when interviewed, for years).

 

believed his own hype so not trained properly and as said already his hands were by that point in a bad way

 

Posing as a turkey float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in America for good money.

 

It was a combination of what's already been mentioned above. He could command huge paydays so the hunger drained from him eventually. Bad hands & believing his own hype & his family pandering to his ego helped erode his desire & Barrera schooled & mocked him which I think just shattered his confidence. He was dreadful against Calvo.

Go to youtube & search for Hamed v Barrera documentary - it will give you an insight to his camps mentallity at that point in time just before they fought.

 

I admire and respect Naseem Hamed. Regardless of how it all ended, he was still an impressive world champion. He had a lot of charisma. Also, perhaps more importantly, he took defeat like a man. I've never once heard him offer excuses for why he lost to Barrera. He gave his opponent full credit and didn't dodge or duck any post-fight interviews. He did one for both American television and for the Brits back home. He was extremely gracious. Respect.

 

Yeah, he's from my county & I liked him also as a fighter. I thought he had the potential to be one if not the best fighter from UK we had seen early in his career & still achieved an impressive record. Like you stated he didn't dodge the bullet after he lost but he had problems mentally.

He started to believe he was above people. I know some guys who trained with him & also people who encountered him in the outside world as well, he could be very arrogant & bought into his self inflated ego at times, which may have affected the bearing on his career. He was exciting to watch though.

 

I hate it when people confuse charisma with 'acting like a *****.'

Of course Hamed accepted defeat graciously. So did Dereck Chisora. It's because it's the only road left after being exposed.

 

I would agree with this!

 

One argument I could offer is Zab Judah against Tzsyu but that's splitting hairs really

 

1. It was his hands. His hands were a mess after each fight according to Manny Steward.
2. He was already settled and sitting on a fat load of cash
3. The loss to Barrera perhaps took away his killer instinct. But let us not forget that his last opponent Calvo had a world class chin.
4. I also think it was the lack of support of the fans to be honest. Everyone loved to boo a guy who actually was extremely good for the sport of boxing.