The Illusion of Naseem Hamed’s Greatness
July 5th, 2009
By Giancarlo Malinconico: The media tends to praise “punchers” because they are in exciting fights and attract mainstream attention to the sport of boxing such as Mike Tyson did in his day. But many of these punchers are just the proverbial “flash in the pans,” or their star burns out very quickly. Moreover, most of these “punchers” are overhyped and overrated. Naseem Hamed is the perfect example of this phenomenon.
To many boxing fans, particularly those in the United Kingdom, Hamed was beloved because he was never in a dull fight. And that is undeniable. But let us never confuse being a great performer (such as Arturo Gatti) with being a great fighter. They are two very different concepts. And boxing historians ought to remember Hamed as the former. Furthermore, it was not the fact that he was not as great as most would like to admit, it is that he never attempted to seek out the best possible opponents. And after he was soundly beat by Barrera, he did what he had previously done his entire career: sought out another match against a D level fighter in the United Kingdom.
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naz made his opponents look shot…
People always ask why Naseem Hamed never came back for a rematch after the loss to Barrera but you got to ask yourself if it is any point in a rematch if your heart is not in it any more? If you don’t have the desire to train hard there is no point fighting Barrera again and lose again. Why didn’t Barrera fight Naseem when he was in his prime and training hard?
Another clueless contributer.True Hamed was schooled by Barrera and i would have liked him to seek a return,but he did beat a lot of good fighters. With that power there was always excitement.He was arguably the hardest hitting featherweight ever.This Brit basher has got it wrong most of us know Hamed fell just short of being a truly great fighter,but none the less he was a very good one.
The truth is Naz bought into his own hype and paid the price, the sad part is we will never know how good he was neither will he, cos i believe he was world class and if he had continued after the berrera loss it would av been the best thing to happen to him, cos i think he would av been an awesome world champion and a true world class fighter if he could av picked himself up, but we will never know how good he was, a real shame, he should have stayed with Brendan Ingle,
Hamed could fight no question about that, some great wins quality opposition, Johnston etc. I think he was destroyed mentally by his defeat against Barrera.
if you are looking for profe he is a great, here it is.
how long ago was is last fight?
your still talking about him.
ok the man was a total prick, but he was one of the biggest names in world boxing of the last 15 years for good reason, he was totally unique.the real shame is that we wont see another like him, you know someone yo wanna see lose so badly it hurts.
prince naz is a legend
Barrera is/was a world calss fighter but he got destroyed in two fights when he was undefeated. So what? Did that make him a bum? Very few boxers retired undefeated. Why?Because most stay on too long. yet if they retire early people say they ducked someone.
Naz was great but e went off track like Tyson did and stopped being so disciplined. Ali realized that when his natural athletic skills went he had to reinvent himself. Super Roy and Naz are yet to realize that. Ali gained a few lbs and relied on more strength and guts. Of course he paid for it in the end with brain damage.
Naz had those sublime skills and a great chin. He got kncoked down because of the very awkward angles he used to slip punches. But he always got back up and punished the fighter for it. As Cosby once said, I do not have the key to success but the key to failure is trying to please everyone. By this I mean, Naz please most people but he can’t please everyone. Not everyone loved Ali and he was one of the greatest (top 5) boxers ever!
Screw you !
Nas = world class
naz was quick powerful and confident. barrera beat him fair and square but nobody can deny that hamed was a world class boxer. he underestimated barrera and for that his carrer was over because he didnt have the mentality to get back up and fight on and prove how good he was.
some of the comments below are nothing short of hillarious. Nas -world class ??? get a grip . An overhyped sky product -nothing more! amir Khan will be shown ,or already has (prescott),to be the exact same !
Naseem Hamed was an exceptional boxer that lost his desire to train and prepare properly for big fights towards the end of his partnership with Brendan Ingle after becoming financially secure.
Before he got carried away with 1 punch finishes and cutting corners in pre fight preparation, the excitement he generated brought a lot of interest to the sport of Boxing from people who would have typically not been interested in the sport and as with any successful and entertaining sportsman he had plenty of people who were desperate to see him lose and criticise him at any opportunity.
I have absolutely no doubt that Hamed would have beaten Barrera comfortably and gone on to become a boxing legend if he had continued his successfull relationship with Brendan Ingle, listened to those that mattered and maintained his desire to train and prepare thoroughly for each fight.
A real shame as he had exceptional talent that will never be completely fulfilled.
I have to laugh when I hear argument “in his prime” lol every fan of a fighter always says in his prime he would have done this or that… let’s talk about reality not “would have” that’s for children. What Nas “would have done” is what he did… avoided Morales and others and got exposed by Barrera end of story
Wow Uknsodoff brilliant, thoughtful argument (NOT!)Another poor attempt of circular reasoning by a fan who doesn’t want to accept any legitimate criticism about a guy who’s best wins are against guys people don’t even know existed outside of that little small boxing circle in the UK. The list includes: Tom Johnson (who? lol and he was washed up at the time) Stevie Robinson? (again who?) Never wanted to fight Morales was just balking, avoided JMM.. his best win his against who? lol let’s be serious here… UK fighters are protected very well and milked for money… Nas = no defense, Amir Khan looks like another protected bum who will never fight anyone with power now that his glass jaw has been exposed mark my words Khan will fight light hitter for 99% of his career… put him in there with Prescott again or Valero and it’s lights out again…
This is just a pointless counter article to the other one about Hamed from the other day.
Hameds greatness is no illusion simple as that. Its not even worth arguing because we all know why this article is here.
Say what yous all want Mike tyson falls into exactly this section of fighters. His best wins were over an old holmes and a lighter spinks I think that says it all.Sensational yes great no way
Naseem Hamed is the best
Oh My god, r all u people stupid,Naz woz d best boxer in the world, He would’ve destrpyed Barrera in hiz prime. Its no illusion, He would destroy floyd mayweather and manny pac.
Hi Everyone!
I have been a boxing fan purely coz of Naseem Hamed, it was coz of him that i started to become a die hard fan of boxing… He brought attention to the sport, and excitement to the fans.. he was the most entertaining boxer that ever entered the game, after Ali.. I understand this writers opinion, but Naz used to call Barerra and Morales out all the time, he wanted to fight them early on in his career,and i wish he did coz he would have proved alot of people wrong. He also called out Azuma Nelson,espinosa, even one interview he mentioned Oscar de la hoya!!, He wasn’t scared of anyone and had a heart of a lion, another thing to note, i read someone say he had a glass jaw! that made me laugh, he never got buzzed in his whole career.. never… even a primed barrera didnt buzz him … He was faster and much more elusive in the earlier couple of years… The only criticism i have is that he didnt put his 100% as time went on, the way Pacman, Hatton, Mayweather,khan train is something to respect, and if Naz did the same it would have only benefited him… Im sure he realises alot of things now…He fought all the top fighters of his weight and of his era, if Barrerra and Morales agreed to fight him earlier, there wouldnt have been much more he could do.. apart from retire…With £30 million in the bank at such a young age, your passion and drive for the sport can diminish slightly…
Overratted….was what i meant to say lol.
One of the most OVERRAYYED boxers in the last 15 years in the uk i knew his downfall beofre it began.
a mere flash in the pan….and in regards to him being a leghend greatenss blah blah blah…..as soon as he fought anyone of any REAL significance and also posing a REAL threat he was beaten!
He should have had two losses but he avoided JMM.
naz fought a lot of bums.
prine naz is the g.o.a.t
thing with him is he had no chin.
sorry dude,these naz fans are sending me dodgy!
Hahaha,ben must be a pele reid fan or summit!
blade any chance u can pull urself away from crackas$$s c#ck and get ur own opinoin? ur talking like a bloody women ” oh my god” haha
I agree with crackass,and oh my god how boring is mark f!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where u from,Numptyville????
Mayweather a legend,possibly one of the greatest,a pugilist purist,any boxing fan would appreciate the guy is quality
floyd mayweater is another example, except hes not very exciting, and will be exposed if he ever decides to grow a pair
Aff?Who are you,obviously some blinded Naz fan!Totaly stupid to suggest Naz was avoided,you obviously don’t know your boxing,after the Kevin Kelly fight Naz was exposed for what he is,a fake!He was a great showman yeah but he couldn’t fight and had a glass jaw,he was fortunate against Paul Ingle for gods sake and don’t make me laugh by even mentioning Morales,next you be saying he’d have beat Pac Man,get some learning done!
aff destroy floyd and cotto? two welterweights naz was a featherweight for christ sake! and the only reason khan looked so fast against barrera was because barrera was old and fighting at two big a weight for him. when barrera fought naz if you have actually watched the fight u will see the speed he had then compared to now its actually quite frightning the amount of speed he has lost.
usual bullsh88 article from a thick yank,hamed was a world class fighter ,u forget to mention how he destroyed any man put in front of hom,boom boom tom johnson was destroyed for the ibf belt augie sanchez.manual medina,basically hamed was avoided like the plague by the likes of morales,he had the wrong game plan against barrerra,he should have fought him like amir khan id,speed destroys barrerra prince was the most famous and well repected champion in his day.he would destroy the likes of floyd,paqqiou,cotto,marquez,all in i night,long live the prince
You are entitled to your opinion like everyone else. However, you lost credibility when you compared Gatti to Naz. Gatti’s face never saw a punch that it did not like or wanted to test. His idea of defence was to take many shots so he could land one.
Naz was a gifted fighter who could evade punches with such radar like skill at the very last milli second. He could also hit with concussive one shot power. Gatti had to engage in phone booth warfare but had cumulative power.
If we did not know it was a boxing match we might think it was a staged WWE event. The action was back and forth with one fighter seemingly out on his feet. Then the other took turns doing the same to the other. It was, maul, brawl, lead with your face, bleed, bleed some more until one guy had enough, or the ref/doc stopped it.
That was not boxing. It was exciting in the same way in our primal lust we watch car racing hoping to see a huge crash. Or how we are are attracted to a car accident on the highway or to a burning house, hoping to satisfy our insatiable instinct.
Instinctively, we run to see such carnage. We do not see it as some artistic or creative work of a genius. Naz was a genius with sublime, radar like skills. Gatti was an accident or carnage, waiting to happen. He was a time bomb waiting to explode.
Puhleeeezzzee! Never mention them in the same breath again. And don’t even formulate such a thought or worse, dare to write such garbage again; not if you call yourself a boxing writer. Now go to confession!!!!