All time great fighters, that could have NEVER beaten another fighter based on styles

It's well documented at this point that Hamhead had completely lost interest in the sport by time the MAB fight rolled around, and barely trained. The sentiment at the time was that it was a mismatch, and a lot of people were concerned about MAB's health. People literally thought Hamed might kill him. Hamed bought the hype that MAB had no chance, and didn't bother preparing himself at all. He seemed totally convinced that all he had to do was lay a glove on MAB and he'd fall over, and once that didn't happen, Hamed was lost.

The Hamed of the mid 90s who actually gave a shit and who had all his physical tools would beat MAB, and I say that as a Hamed hater.

 

I think prime Wright beats Williams too, but stylewise Tall Paul would always pose him problems.

 

The 'Little Prince's Big Fight' was a massive eye-opener in to just how badly Naz prepared for that fight. He clearly wasn't taking it seriously at all, Steward couldn't get anything out of him and these two little Latino sparring partners who nobody had heard of were spanking him daily in sparring. If anybody had seen that documentary BEFORE the fight, nobody would have bet a penny on Hamed.

 

which documentary do you speak of?

 

It's pretty much the first words he wrote: Little Prince's Big Fight

anyway, I don't necessarly put much stock in it. With no prior knowledge on how Naz training camps were prior to that one, and the cut that were made to make the documentary more dramatic and interesting, I dont think it's worth a lot as a gage of how prepared hamed was for MAB.

While I was a Hamed fan, I think it is way too convenient to explains his humiliating performance against by far the best fighter he fought, on mostly a lack of preparation and motivation

 

the thread topic now seems to have changed to ''which fight would have been a different result if both fighters were in their primes'' which while interesting, wasn't the original topic

 

If hamed had beaten anyone as good as MAB in his career leading up to his loss to MAB, I maybe could be convinced of this. You are basically saying that because he won a shoot-out with Kevin Kelly and knocked out bantam weight Bungu that he would beat MAB - who he actually lost to. Only a sucker for impressive performances against weak competition would come to such a conclusion.

 

Under PROPER Context and Perspective, Kelley was Considered a MUCH More Dangerous Opponent, In the Moment...

Naz's American Debut, on HBO No Less, in the BIG Room of MSG, Against a Native New Yorker...Who had 40+ Wins, a SINGLE Loss and a Respectable Run as Champion of '26 (Along w/Another Prince VICTIM by the Name of Tom Johnson), @ the Time...

All Things Considered, Kevin Kelley was a LEGIT Scalp Prince Claimed...And it Most Certainly was Deemed a RISKIER Fight, @ the Time...

Barrera Is Held Against Hamed NOW, but that's All HINDSIGHT Bullshit...NONE of the Motherfuckers Claiming Barrera Beats Prince 10 of 10 Actually PREDICTED Barrera to Win That Fight...





REED

 

Hamed actually did indeed lose to MAB because of the lose ropes (if you recall Hamed didn't do his usual front flip entrance)

 

I don't necessarily disagree with this take, actually. I was a big Naz fan and I always saw Barrera as a big threat. I do think it's a far more competitive fight against the Hamed of 96-97 though, there was a clear decline. Whilst the step up in competition plays a big part in that there was a definite erosion in his abilities as well, mid-90's Hamed was not the same fighter as the 2001 version.

 

Kelly was a riskier fight than MAB?

 

Don't forget that Barrera was coming off the loss to Junior Jones around the time Hamed faced Kelley.

Kelley was indeed viewed as a more dangerous opponent at that time.

Barrera was thought to be finished. His win over Hamed resurrected his career.

 

who cares what we predicted. We saw what happened when they both fought. And if you want to talk about hindsight bullshit, the whole prince was demotivated is exactly that. Everybody and their mothers tought Prince was in his prime at the time, while MAB was considered shot by a few (I wasn't, it was a typical overration from the pansies who think a fighter is ruined after taking a few punches).

and no, Kelley was not considered a bigger threat than MAB at the time they fought Naz respectively. Guy had a draw with bones adam and needed a miracle punch to beat Gainer, prior to the Naz fight. he was a good credible opponent, but he was far from being as highly regarded as MAB was. Let's also not forget that while a few claimed MAB was shot, he was coming off a sensational performance against Salud, and Steward (IIRC) even claimed that Naz picked the wrong mexican. Anyway, hindsight is sometime useful, and in this casse, their respective career tell us that MAB was a much better fighter than Kelley

 

But to me honest toward Hamed, I'm not sure he has no shot ever against MAB. He got beaten down, but his performance wasn't that bad, and a lot of the hate he got was due to americans racism toward arabs

 

well his performance wasnt bad per se. he was pretty heavily favored and won zero rounds, got dominated, and humiliated. other than that it wasnt bad

 

hamed beating kelley was a good win, in an excellent action fight but kelley basically pulled a win out of his ass vs gainer who was beating his ass up until the KO in his last meaningful fight prior to facing hamed. barrera was coming off a tremendous performance vs morales in one of the greatest fights of all time. i thought he would beat hamed, although not in as dominant fashion as he ended up doing so.

hamed was not in his prime at the time. he had looked like shit in a a few fights prior to the barrera match. he had gotten into fat cat status, and rumors in his camp were strong that he didnt train well in vegas and the desert was problematic.

 

I think I remember predicting at the time that Naz would pull it out of the bag in the 6th after getting dropped and dominated, because the power had been bailing him out for a while at that point. Since the Kelley fight his only good performance was against Bungu.

 

Really? Barrera was thought to be finished after beating Morales in the eyes of many? In one of the best fights ever witnessed on HBO?

 

The fan who threw beer at him during his ring entrance. What a jackass.

I could see Hamed possibly stopping an over-aggressive Barrera in 1996-97 (Barrera was fighting a division below), but I still lean towards Barrera. Barrera could box too when he wanted. The Jones rematch was very close I thought. It's not like Barrera was some skill-less guy who came forward without thought all the time.

Hamed during his younger days still had those technical flaws, particularly with his defense and balance. The Kelley knockdowns, Alicea KD, the fight with Medina. He was leaving himself so open through the Medina fight and getting caught consistently with right hands. This was with Ingle I think, back in 96'.

Hamed was better then, but still had his flaws and I think a fighter like Barrera would still be able to exploit them and win a hard-earned decision.

 

Barrera looked lousy in the next fight, so people thought after the first Morales fight, he had declined. It was thought the fight took too much out of him. Then he looked better in another fight after that.

Jim Lampley was interviewing Naseem a couple weeks before the fight and basically asked him "are you worried that Barrera isn't as faded as you thought he was when you signed the fight?"

 

Whether you hate Hamed or not, your eyes can't lie.

In the MAB fight, it was very visually apparent from the START that his quickness and reflexes were badly eroded from what they were in 95-97.

Hamed was ALLLLLLLL instinct, all improv in the ring. In a way, similar to Roy, only FAAARRRR less talented. But the point stands, against MAB he looked slow and lethargic, and was obviously out-thought.

Roy was able to stretch out his talent for so many years because he lived clean, and always trained hard.

Hamed was the opposite, so obviously he burned out quicker.

 

He looked shitty against Valbuena but he looked great against Salud. But his perceived status prior to the fight is beside the point. Bottom line is I think it is excessively generous to pick any version of Hamed over Barrera. Barrera is the better fighter.

 

I think Hamed KOs the Barrera who lost to Junior Jones twice. Barrera was vulnerable to hand speed, and Hamed had plenty of it in his prime. And though Marco had a decent chin, it wasn't infallible.

Peak Hamed vs peak Barrera... I say Hamed gets him outta tree within 7 rounds of an action packed war, with both hitting the canvas multiple times.

 

Generous to say the least. Hamed was a shrimp of a featherweight. Regardless of when they fought, MAB would have that reach and height advantage. Hamed did not adjust well to that at all. He was much better taking on short bantam weights like Bungu.

 

There is a reason hamed ducked marquez and other top feathers until hbo told him he had no choice.

 

the only chance Hamed has against MAB is to drag him in a war, cause he has way too many technical flaws to win a conventional match. A prime Hamed might be a bit more willing to try to than the one that fought MAB, but I think his chance are very slim. The kelley fight showed what a good technical boxer could do to Hamed, and the only reason he won that one is because he was able to hurt Kelley with every punches he landed. He wouldn't enjoy the same luxury against MAB.

As I said before, I don't think he has no chance to beat him ever, but I definitively wouldn't make him the favorite

 

during the salud fight, steward continuously praised barrera and suggested it was a bad fight for hamed. people thought he might have been hyping a future fight, but he was just being honest about what he was watching.

 

Barrera was a fantastic fighter, no question. PR is right though in that Naz's handspeed declined past the mid-90s. Whether that translates into a Hamed victory against Barrera is another story, I don't know, but it's definitely a different fight.

 

Hamed DEFINITELY had more than enough power to hurt and finish Barrera if and when he got him in trouble.

 

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