Look who was at the football match at the weekend

REAL_DEAL · Post by **REAL_DEAL** » 17 Jan 2005, 08:22

http://cache.gettyimages.com/comp/51997 ... 5AE85A779B
looking a bit cosy there

Bard of Boxrec · Post by **Bard of Boxrec** » 17 Jan 2005, 10:11

i so hope amir stays the hell away from frank. this is one career i do not want to see ruined. What other options he has however i have no idea.

knockout · Post by **knockout** » 17 Jan 2005, 10:32

Dennis Hobson has done a great job with clinton woods getting him FOUR GENUINE WORLD TITLE SHOTS with very little help from TV

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 17 Jan 2005, 10:41

Yes, Hobson must be some talker to have gotten him so many title shots, it's not like Clinton is a huge draw either, that man must either really have the gift of the gab, or he has something on the IBF president, because much as I like Clinton, can you really say he deserves a fourth title shot?

However, his two performances against Johnson look better than ever with hindsight, and he acquitted himself well against Jones, trying his best to take the fight to him.

I wish Clinton the best of luck, he's going in to a title fight for the first time as the more experienced campaigner at top level.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 17 Jan 2005, 11:04

I don't see Khan going pro with Warren as a bad thing at all. If you're good enough you'll get the legit title fights. Khan looks to have too much talent to end up as a paper WBU champ.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 17 Jan 2005, 11:09

His bank balance certainly won't suffer as a result of it.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 17 Jan 2005, 12:30

As much as i hate to admit it Kilburn is right, i don't think Khan will settle for that WBU rubbish. On another note it seems almost inevitable Amir will be turning pro soon probably this year.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 17 Jan 2005, 12:40

But if Khan goes with SN, it's likely to be the 2nd rate WBO at best.

Calzaghe and Hamed were both steered towards the WBO, even though they were good enough to have fought for any of the other more legit titles.
And the only reason Hatton is not fighting for the WBO title is because Sr Cotto looks just as dangerous as anyone at 140.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 17 Jan 2005, 12:50

Come on, would you say Warren ruined Naseem's career, or Hatton's for that matter? Naseem had nobody but himself to blame, and it looks like Hatton is about to get his shot, so let's put things into perspective.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 17 Jan 2005, 13:02

But look at the WBO champs today - Anchondo, Corrales, Cotto, Cintron. These are shit hot guys. It's not so easy to pick up a WBO belt if you're not one of the best in your division.

Remember when Barry Jones beat (or rather, scraped a virtual home towner) that Columbian journeyman for the WBO 130 title? Wouldn't happen now.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 17 Jan 2005, 13:13

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Come on, would you say Warren ruined Naseem's career, or Hatton's for that matter? Naseem had nobody but himself to blame, and it looks like Hatton is about to get his shot, so let's put things into perspective.

Well I don't think he helped exactly.
Naz should've picked up one of the superbantam titles for starters, when he was young enough, and good enough.
But instead, SN moved him to feather and a dead easy to make fight with fall guy Robinson.
Hamed was good enough for a shot at one of the real, recognised world titles. But instead we got what was little more than a domestic title fight.

Then SN followed that up with the 10 second farce against Lawall -
PPV would you believe?

Not really the way to move a super star in the making.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 17 Jan 2005, 13:18

To be fair had Barrera not got himself walloped by Junior Jones then Naz would have surely had his first superfight less than 18 months after beating Robinson.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 17 Jan 2005, 13:25

Kilburn wrote:To be fair had Barrera not got himself walloped by Junior Jones then Naz would have surely had his first superfight less than 18 months after beating Robinson.

yeah that might have happened I guess. Naz was ringside for that one, along with best buddy ( at the time! ) Steve Bunce.

Bunce's bizzare write up in the telegraph (?) went along the lines of

"Naz shows Junior how to beat Barrera"

Bunce somehow gave all the credit to Naz for Jones' win - saying Naz showed him the punches to throw in his dressing room!

ILikeBeer · Post by **ILikeBeer** » 17 Jan 2005, 13:58

Amir, stay away from him for goodness sake. Or at least if you want a good career. Even if he can make you shed loads of money.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 18 Jan 2005, 06:07

MightyWarrior wrote:
jamesmcdonnell wrote:Come on, would you say Warren ruined Naseem's career, or Hatton's for that matter? Naseem had nobody but himself to blame, and it looks like Hatton is about to get his shot, so let's put things into perspective.
Well I don't think he helped exactly.
Naz should've picked up one of the superbantam titles for starters, when he was young enough, and good enough.
But instead, SN moved him to feather and a dead easy to make fight with fall guy Robinson.
Hamed was good enough for a shot at one of the real, recognised world titles. But instead we got what was little more than a domestic title fight.

Then SN followed that up with the 10 second farce against Lawall -
PPV would you believe?

Not really the way to move a super star in the making.

I think Naz's career was a masterstroke of promotion to be honest.

Naz is by far the biggest star stateside from this country's boxing scene in my time, he was far more popular than Benn and Eubank ever were over there, and Lewis too. He made an absolute fortune at a time when the little guys were earning peanuts, and changed the face of boxing below welterweight.

Had Naz had the determination to come back from the loss to Barrera he could have been an even bigger star, after all, it hasn't hurt Barrera to lose in his career too much.

I still get emails from American fight fans asking me when Hamed is going to be back.

MightyWarrior · Post by **MightyWarrior** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:01

jamesmcdonnell wrote: I think Naz's career was a masterstroke of promotion to be honest.

But wouldn't you agree that was more down to him than anyone else?

The OTT ring entrances, personality and ( in the early days ) jaw dropping skills inside the ring. Even when he was on the slide, he gave fans some of the most exciting featherweight fights seen in years.

I reckon Derek Trotter could've promoted him and he'd have still been a star.

dbf · Post by **dbf** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:10

and lets not forget his unheard of knock out power at featherweight.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:12

I think you have to give credit to both parties. Sports Network had a good product, but they also pushed it well, and gained huge exposure for their charge on both sides of the Atlantic. If you were to ask Jay Larkin at showtime, he'd tell you the same thing.

Sure, it wasn't a case of polishing a turd, as Naz was pretty easy to promote, but Hamed chose Sports Network for a reason, and the fights had to be made to get him the exposure, which they did.

Ultimately, I blame Naz' downfall on his personality, and the fact that ultimately money took away his desire, and religion blinded him to what really made him good, he really seemed to believe that Allah had put him there for some sort of divine purpose.

tonyevs · Post by **tonyevs** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:18

jamesmcdonnell wrote:
MightyWarrior wrote:
jamesmcdonnell wrote:Come on, would you say Warren ruined Naseem's career, or Hatton's for that matter? Naseem had nobody but himself to blame, and it looks like Hatton is about to get his shot, so let's put things into perspective.
Well I don't think he helped exactly.
Naz should've picked up one of the superbantam titles for starters, when he was young enough, and good enough.
But instead, SN moved him to feather and a dead easy to make fight with fall guy Robinson.
Hamed was good enough for a shot at one of the real, recognised world titles. But instead we got what was little more than a domestic title fight.

Then SN followed that up with the 10 second farce against Lawall -
PPV would you believe?

Not really the way to move a super star in the making.

I still get emails from American fight fans asking me when Hamed is going to be back.

I`m sure some even ask about Bruno also.
The people I talk to don`t hold him that highly, much like Hatton really.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:30

No American fight fan has ever asked me about Bruno....

nickd · Post by **nickd** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:34

Bollocks. Hamed was widely regarded as the best featherweight for quite a while - on both sides of the pond. How can you compare that to Hatton?!

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:47

Yes, whilst there were always doubters, he was the favourite going into a fight with Barrera, and the only guy being heavily touted to beat him was Marquez, but hardly anybody knew who Marquez was outside of hard core fans.

tonyevs · Post by **tonyevs** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:51

007 wrote:Bollocks. Hamed was widely regarded as the best featherweight for quite a while - on both sides of the pond. How can you compare that to Hatton?!

Do you read what the Americans say of Hatton concerning only fighting in his own back yard??

Did Naz prove his worth when he went to America?? Or again in his own back yard??

Naz got found out in America, the general consensus is that Hatton will go the same way.

There I`ve compared it

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:52

Naz fought good names but most were either on the decline, not good enough or not experienced enough to seriously win.

The ONLY two fighters I would say fought Hamed when at their peak (no weight problems etc) were Medina and Barerra.

tonyevs · Post by **tonyevs** » 18 Jan 2005, 08:58

It has been said here a post or two ago, He was a favourite over Barerra, Marco was seen on the slide after his loss, thats why they took the fight, warm up for bigger fights.

Medina was seen much the same.
But agreed these were his stiffer tests, though they were not expected to be, Kelly almost spoilt it remember that, and Kelly also was big into decline.