Greater/Better: Tszyu vs Hamed

I remember there being talk of a rematch if Phillips beat Sharmba Mitchell, but Mitchell got the decision and the eventual shot instead.

 

As Punk Stated, Tszyu DID NOT Want Any More of that Vince Phillips Smoke...

It Got to a Point Tszyu Told Jim Gray "Please Do Not Be Rude to Me" Just for ASKING Why He Wouldn't Entertain a RE w/Phillips...




REED

 

While this is a good point and an excellent post as well, you have to also remember that Tszyu was clearly the best fighter of his division for a while and he took on all comers. Hamed's status was always a bit questionable as he didn't seem eager to face Marquez etc

 

I could be wrong, but isn't Hamed responsible for being the first featherweight to earn $1 million on a fight? Therefore he's greater than Tszyu

 

Hamed is greater. If lack of discipline didn't derail his career he was set to win titles all the way up to middleweight. So tszyu would've been a victim along the way

 

Who was questioning it at the time, though? Marquez wasn’t even a major name by that point. The most ink he’d gotten came off the back of his debatable decision loss to Freddie Norwood the only time he challenged for a legitimate belt. Hamed was already well into his reign by then. He was also one of the most popular boxers in the world. The general consensus among the boxing public would’ve been overwhelmingly in favor of Hamed in the late 90s, and rightfully so.

Not to mention I’ve heard it said just the opposite in regards to who avoided who.

 

Marquez was wbogus mandatory for a few years and Hamed avoided the fight.

 

Yea that was a super easy one to make at any time from the loss over the next few years. Phillips was hanging around hoping for and counting on that payday

 

I agree, George. But I also believe Hamed was vastly overrated.

 

Tszyu, both.

 

Both get overrated, often. Tszyu gets way overrated sometimes.

But Hell, I've also seen both get underrated, and when I see that, I call it out.

 

I think Hamed is better/greater...both guys seem to have factions that both over and under rate them, but Hamed seems to generate a lot of venom and hostility from some circles as well. I don’t think there is a great deal separating them, but think Hamed edges in both categories.

 

I’d say Hamed gets a lot more underrated by hardcore boxing fans nowadays. I’m not trying to make him a mainstay in the ATG conversations again, but people talk about him like he was a parlor trick or a hack champion with no substance. So he annoyed you. Get over it. He’s been retired long enough for us to make an honest evaluation.

 

I agree. Hes not a top 10 atg featherweight, but I do think a lot of hardcores tend to shit on him too often.

 

Hamed "lost at the end of his career" because he quit. He and MAB were both 27 when they fought. Hamed got the brakes beat off him then quit.

Kostya lost at 28, rebounded and regained his title and had another decent title reign. Retired at 35. Not sure why this is a conversation. Hamed was over rated.

 

Context is extremely important here, and I think you know it.

Hamed had been a world champion for 6 years when he lost to MAB. He turned pro at a much earlier age than Tszyu, and had already compiled a solid resume.

Tszyu was only champ for like what, less than 2 years when he lost to Philips? Hadn't really accomplished much before the Philips defeat, so yeah, I hope to Hell he would continue.

Even Punk is on here admitting that Tszyu hurt his legacy by ducking the Philips rematch.

So no, this isn't nearly as cut n dry as your post indicates - in fact, the whole age thing is really a poor argument.

Especially when you use the word "quit", cause Tszyu quite LITERALLY quit against Hatton.

 

So much wrong here. Quitting the sport at 35 after a long amateur and pro career is not in the same realm as quitting at 27 after the first sign of distress. Second, if not rematching Phillips hurts Kostya's career, what does leaving the sport entirely after the first loss mean?

When Bungu is in the running for his best career win, a guy best a division below, pretty much puts a bow on this discussion.

I was also surprised to discover Handfed and Tszyu turned pro the same year (1992) and won major world titles the same year (1995).

Bloop.

 

I dont think Hamed was distressed.

Let's not forget, he DID fight one more time after MAB - against Calvo. Then he disappeared.

I just think Naz was crazy rich, and had no more desire for the sport. The writing for that was on the wall BEFORE he lost to Barrera.

There's never been reports of Naz slipping into some deep depression, so we probably think that the Barrera loss affected him more than it did.

I suspect that Naz thought long and hard and said to himself, "If I'm gonna beat a top guy, I have to train hard, and I just don't wanna do that anymore."

 

I’d say Kelley was pretty clearly Hamed’s best win.

 

I think the WAY Hamed dispatched of Bungu was impressive.

Bungu had taken the best shots from Kennedy Mckinney and Danny Romero, two murderous punchers.

Naz just goes out there, hurts with him every single punch he lands, then lays him out cold with one left hand.

It was impressive.

 

Exactly, as I said before, I do think Naz was quite overrated (but then, so was Tzsyu) but I fail to see how him quiting boxing after his 1st loss discredit all he did before it. And sure Hamed got a lot of undeserved hype because of his style in theatrics but so did Tszyu by being a big fish in a small pond (twofold, first by fighting in a pretty weak division all of his career and secondly by fighting out of Australia where he was basically the only elite fighter ther)

 

Hamed had looked like shit against Augie Sanchez, in his last fight before MAB.

Yeah, he put Sanchez out on a stretcher, but he looked pretty flat in that performance.

The writing was on the wall.

 

Rewatched Zoo vs Judah and Phillips, watching the Bergman fight (I love Aussie commentators looool) and I think he was undoubtedly a better technician than Hamed, and a very underrated one in general.

But Hamed was definitely better IMO. Naz woulda destroyed somebody like Phillips, and he did on multiple occasions.

 

Hamed's style was just more creative, and far less predictable than Tszyu's. So while he wasn't as technically pleasing, yes, you could argue he was more effective.

 

If it is, it says a lot imo.

MTF

 

It's easy to shit on him. He was an extremely dislikable character when he was on the go. Thanks btw. Obviously it worked. Cheers

 

Yes it would especially considering where Kelly was at that stage of his career.

 

Cheers! Glad it worked.