A Look Back at Naseem Hamed

[bugs]

That is not a contradiction

[safeerah]

IMO the best British boxer there's been. And certainly the most entertaining. loved his style. Amazing power. Shame he retired so young. As for Barrera, for me it was within Naseem to beat him. Not a certainty, but quite possible. Naseem fought terrible in that fight, balance was off, he looked nervous, strategy was all wrong and as for the preperation... Was a shame. All that and it was a points loss, with clear scope for improvement.

Nonetheless, he acheived a huge amount overall. One of the best.

Sorry mate. Simply can`t agree with most of your post. Especially when you finish off contradicting yourself.

The best British boxer theres been

Maybe he means one of the best world wide and the best brit, who cares. One thing for sure Naseem was one of the most entertaining fighters we have ever produced and pound for pound the biggest puncher, in my opinion he would beat Barrera
9 times out of 10, but on the night, he was not the same fighter, badly trained, not prepared, mentally not right, he never even flipped over the ropes, everything was wrong that night, if he was right he would have sparked Barrera, but he lost the hunger, also his hands were wrecked, they swelled up after his fights, the pain was really bad for him, so he just decided to call it a day.

Then you say

One of the best

[safeerah]

I just didnt like the mocking of LAwal one of his fellow muslims wasnt he?

Not sure if Lawal was. But didn`t naz make a statement that he would never fight a fellow muslim

So he may well have been, because Naz wasn`t too clever really was he ..

don't think lawal was a musim as he had a witch doctor in the ring trying to put some sort of voodoo on Naz, then when Naz shouted out Quranic verses to Lawal the African's face went into a state of fear, then Naz destroyed him.

[safeerah]

I just didnt like the mocking of LAwal one of his fellow muslims wasnt he?

Not sure if Lawal was. But didn`t naz make a statement that he would never fight a fellow muslim

So he may well have been, because Naz wasn`t too clever really was he ..

A lot more clever then you mate, he was smart businessman and salesman, he managed to convince the world and made a lot of money, it would be interesting to see what you have done in your life that is so clever. I don't think Lawal was a muslim as he had a witch doctor in the ring trying to put some vodoo magic on Naz , it did not work, thats for sure, in fact Naz looked into his eyes, whilst yelling Quranic verses in his direction, then Lawal face was a mask of fear, you know what hapened next, pure destruction.

[fist]

IMO the best British boxer there's been. And certainly the most entertaining. loved his style. Amazing power. Shame he retired so young. As for Barrera, for me it was within Naseem to beat him. Not a certainty, but quite possible. Naseem fought terrible in that fight, balance was off, he looked nervous, strategy was all wrong and as for the preperation... Was a shame. All that and it was a points loss, with clear scope for improvement.

Nonetheless, he acheived a huge amount overall. One of the best.

Sorry mate. Simply can`t agree with most of your post. Especially when you finish off contradicting yourself.

The best British boxer theres been

Maybe he means one of the best world wide and the best brit, who cares. One thing for sure Naseem was one of the most entertaining fighters we have ever produced and pound for pound the biggest puncher, in my opinion he would beat Barrera
9 times out of 10, but on the night, he was not the same fighter, badly trained, not prepared, mentally not right, he never even flipped over the ropes, everything was wrong that night, if he was right he would have sparked Barrera, but he lost the hunger, also his hands were wrecked, they swelled up after his fights, the pain was really bad for him, so he just decided to call it a day.

Then you say

One of the best

Id agree with all of that.

And yep, there was no contradiction in what I said - IMO he was the best ever British fighter. As for world wide - yep I'd say he was one of the best, certainly one of the most powerful, and most entertaining.

[safeerah]

Sorry mate. Simply can`t agree with most of your post. Especially when you finish off contradicting yourself.
Maybe he means one of the best world wide and the best brit, who cares. One thing for sure Naseem was one of the most entertaining fighters we have ever produced and pound for pound the biggest puncher, in my opinion he would beat Barrera
9 times out of 10, but on the night, he was not the same fighter, badly trained, not prepared, mentally not right, he never even flipped over the ropes, everything was wrong that night, if he was right he would have sparked Barrera, but he lost the hunger, also his hands were wrecked, they swelled up after his fights, the pain was really bad for him, so he just decided to call it a day.

Then you say

That was his own fault for not training properly. If a journeyman comes in out of shape and disinterested then loses on points we don't turn around and say, "If he could have been arsed he would have won so I'm taking that as a win."

Boxing is about retaining focus, most true greats peak a few times because of this, Naseem wasn't one of them.

[safeerah]

That was his own fault for not training properly. If a journeyman comes in out of shape and disinterested then loses on points we don't turn around and say, "If he could have been arsed he would have won so I'm taking that as a win."

Boxing is about retaining focus, most true greats peak a few times because of this, Naseem wasn't one of them.

Rubbish ! Many great nights, then one bad night and you hate him, I don't think you know your boxers

[Bricks]

I just didnt like the mocking of LAwal one of his fellow muslims wasnt he?

Not sure if Lawal was. But didn`t naz make a statement that he would never fight a fellow muslim

So he may well have been, because Naz wasn`t too clever really was he ..

don't think lawal was a musim as he had a witch doctor in the ring trying to put some sort of voodoo on Naz, then when Naz shouted out Quranic verses to Lawal the African's face went into a state of fear, then Naz destroyed him.

Im not going to attack naz unfairly. He became a deeper practicing muslim far later in his career and would undoubtedly have not fought lawal at that stage or administered a knockout of excessive force.
I dont recall that scenario with said lawal....do you have any sources to quote as i stand corrected if you do and would nontheless be interested to read more about the witch doctor thing.

On an aside. Naz= terrific businessman, clean family man and deep down a lovely kid who looked after his parents and family. But in terms of his gimmick, he realy was lapped up by ignorant media hacks as coming around circa 92 just as the whole asian "wigger/ali g" thing was in full flow (had started around late 1989), yet he was yemeni british.
I would say his whole gimmick was clearly a total rip off of his heroe Hector Camacho which lazy english journalists of the time never realised. It was clear the 12 year old Naz had been intoxicated by seeing id hazard a guess Hector Camacho's 1987 appearence on prime time ITV and copied his leopard skin trunks, his little hair curl, his whole flashy street persona and it was clear naz watched many camacho tapes growing up.
Naz lacked any sophistication or wit in his verbals as well, he just in my opinion did not have anything approaching the intelligent trash talking of a Eubanks or lol ALI. It was embarrasing the way early Naz tried to do the Ali prediction thing! hahah

[safeerah]

Not sure if Lawal was. But didn`t naz make a statement that he would never fight a fellow muslim

So he may well have been, because Naz wasn`t too clever really was he ..

don't think lawal was a musim as he had a witch doctor in the ring trying to put some sort of voodoo on Naz, then when Naz shouted out Quranic verses to Lawal the African's face went into a state of fear, then Naz destroyed him.

Im not going to attack naz unfairly. He became a deeper practicing muslim far later in his career and would undoubtedly have not fought lawal at that stage or administered a knockout of excessive force.
I dont recall that scenario with said lawal....do you have any sources to quote as i stand corrected if you do and would nontheless be interested to read more about the witch doctor thing.

On an aside. Naz= terrific businessman, clean family man and deep down a lovely kid who looked after his parents and family. But in terms of his gimmick, he realy was lapped up by ignorant media hacks as coming around circa 92 just as the whole asian "wigger/ali g" thing was in full flow (had started around late 1989), yet he was yemeni british.
I would say his whole gimmick was clearly a total rip off of his heroe Hector Camacho which lazy english journalists of the time never realised. It was clear the 12 year old Naz had been intoxicated by seeing id hazard a guess Hector Camacho's 1987 appearence on prime time ITV and copied his leopard skin trunks, his little hair curl, his whole flashy street persona and it was clear naz watched many camacho tapes growing up.
Naz lacked any sophistication or wit in his verbals as well, he just in my opinion did not have anything approaching the intelligent trash talking of a Eubanks or lol ALI. It was embarrasing the way early Naz tried to do the Ali prediction thing! hahah

Mugabi, the leopard skin shorts were not copied from Hector Camacho, in fact he wore them because of the Yemeni Leopard, which the Yemenis compared him with, Camacho wore many different outfits to the ring, including an Indian chief outfit. Eubank copied Naseems antics and jump over the ring, Naseem was intelligent in his banter, he out did the Americans, who else does that, where he lacked intelligence was with the over confidence and arrogance, that in the end cost him dearly.

[Counter-puncher]

Naseem was intelligent in his banter, .

what, as in 'I'm cool, calm and collective' ????

[bripez]

There is no doubt that Naz provided us with some amazing nights entertainment, however ....... in my opinion the sign of a true great / champion / legend etc. is how they come back from defeat.

Unfortunately, the Naz legacy will always be tainted because of this, and rightly so in my opinion.

On a personal level, I also think that he is a pr!ck.

[fist]

There is no doubt that Naz provided us with some amazing nights entertainment, however ....... in my opinion the sign of a true great / champion / legend etc. is how they come back from defeat.

Unfortunately, the Naz legacy will always be tainted because of this, and rightly so in my opinion.

On a personal level, I also think that he is a pr!ck.

You mention the sign of a "true" great is how they come back from defeat. I dont think it is as black and white as that - its not a science, its not a universal proven aspect of being a champion that you have to handle defeat in a certain way. Its a subjective opinion, which is fine, and which yes makes sense to an extent. But to disregard him because he retired after one come-back fight, IMO is unfair and simplistic. He made a choice to retire, that was up to him. Its a bit like when some say that unbeaten champs cannot be considered great as they have not lost and had a chance to demonstrate how they come back from defeat - strange logic. If anything, its simply frustrating he did not come back as he had so much to offer, but I wouldnt say that stops him being considered great, cos he was a great fighter!

Naseem's skills, movement, power, ability to entertain, ability to dominate, his wins, his belts, his knockouts, should not all be negated because he did not fulfill his potential or indeed attempt to come back. It is what it is....he was an amazing fighter, who was world class, a world champ, who gave us plenty of entertainment and yes, whom lost one fight on points after a poor performance and significant lack of training, to of course another world class fighter. People read far too much into that loss.

[Bricks]

don't think lawal was a musim as he had a witch doctor in the ring trying to put some sort of voodoo on Naz, then when Naz shouted out Quranic verses to Lawal the African's face went into a state of fear, then Naz destroyed him.

Im not going to attack naz unfairly. He became a deeper practicing muslim far later in his career and would undoubtedly have not fought lawal at that stage or administered a knockout of excessive force.
I dont recall that scenario with said lawal....do you have any sources to quote as i stand corrected if you do and would nontheless be interested to read more about the witch doctor thing.

On an aside. Naz= terrific businessman, clean family man and deep down a lovely kid who looked after his parents and family. But in terms of his gimmick, he realy was lapped up by ignorant media hacks as coming around circa 92 just as the whole asian "wigger/ali g" thing was in full flow (had started around late 1989), yet he was yemeni british.
I would say his whole gimmick was clearly a total rip off of his heroe Hector Camacho which lazy english journalists of the time never realised. It was clear the 12 year old Naz had been intoxicated by seeing id hazard a guess Hector Camacho's 1987 appearence on prime time ITV and copied his leopard skin trunks, his little hair curl, his whole flashy street persona and it was clear naz watched many camacho tapes growing up.
Naz lacked any sophistication or wit in his verbals as well, he just in my opinion did not have anything approaching the intelligent trash talking of a Eubanks or lol ALI. It was embarrasing the way early Naz tried to do the Ali prediction thing! hahah

Mugabi, the leopard skin shorts were not copied from Hector Camacho, in fact he wore them because of the Yemeni Leopard, which the Yemenis compared him with, Camacho wore many different outfits to the ring, including an Indian chief outfit. Eubank copied Naseems antics and jump over the ring, Naseem was intelligent in his banter, he out did the Americans, who else does that, where he lacked intelligence was with the over confidence and arrogance, that in the end cost him dearly.

I still think the Camacho thing is far too much of a coincidence down to the odd hairstyle (ie curl at the front of his hair early on). But if you say that the yemeni leopard was the thing i trust you on that.
I do also think Hamed was deeply disturbed on the way to the ring to fight barerra when the fat mexican thug threw a pint of beer all over him hence invalidating his cleanliness (wudhu) as a muslim ready to say the prayer he intended to say before the fight. I think naz was totally upset that that happened to him and it threw him off.

I also think since Sept 11 happened just after hameds islamic prayer saying agaiant barrera he may have realised he was finished as a box office boxer in america, and wouldnt be able to compete there due to the backlash so he just decided to call it a day

[jamesmcdonnell]

hamed is both over and underrated....if that makes sense.

[bripez]

There is no doubt that Naz provided us with some amazing nights entertainment, however ....... in my opinion the sign of a true great / champion / legend etc. is how they come back from defeat.

Unfortunately, the Naz legacy will always be tainted because of this, and rightly so in my opinion.

On a personal level, I also think that he is a pr!ck.

You mention the sign of a "true" great is how they come back from defeat. I dont think it is as black and white as that - its not a science,

But to disregard him because he retired after one come-back fight, IMO is unfair and simplistic.

He made a choice to retire, that was up to him.

People read far too much into that loss.

I am not trying to be scientific - it is just my opinion !!

Throughout history, all the great boxers in anybody's top 10 boxers ever have one thing in common - they all got beat, and they all came back to achieve greater things (for the pedants out there, I am clearly not including Marciano or Calzaghe in this comment ......).

He was a great talent, but the fact is that his whole own being was built up on bragadacio (always wanted to use that word) and when he was beaten he was beaten mentally and could never come back.

He did not choose to retire - he was mentally broken and would never be the same again.

It it therefore not possible to read too much into the loss as this single event signalled the end of his career.

[banjo]

Barrera at his best beats Naz at his best for me.

no way ! ( Jr Jones )

Barrera improved (you think he was at his best in 97?) and eventually defeated better opponents than Jones, so I don't understand your point.

Also fighters just have bogeymen who they either always lose to or if they win - never look good against.

[Khaosai-Galaxy]

Would Naseem Hamed have carried on for longer if 9/11 hadn't happened?



I reckon he would have gone on for at least another 3 years. Sadly thr post 9/11 environment was not a great time to be shouting about "Allah" on the way to the ring.

[Quixall]

These threads always descend into people talking utter bollocks on both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, Naz will always divide opinon, the same as Mayweather, so any kind of attempt at objectivity goes straight out of the water !!

[safeerah]

RE: Naseem being a businessman that 'fooled the world' to 'make his money'.

Sorry, that's not true. The bloke is genuinely an utter shit. It wasn't an act.

You genuinely are a hater, don't let it cloud your judgement. Nas is very rich so it worked

[Bricks]

whether u like him or dont like him in the ring or his personality. I dont think anyone with any fairness can question he is a fantastic family man, son, brother and husband and a wonderful success as a businessman, I understand he owns 50 or 60 houses.

[Emmseegee]

Not many average boxers would get a 4 page topic solely about them in my opinion.

[safeerah]

These threads always descend into people talking utter bollocks on both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, Naz will always divide opinon, the same as Mayweather, so any kind of attempt at objectivity goes straight out of the water !!

Smart Arse, everyone else is wrong but him, he knows what it is about Lol

[safeerah]

Hamed was a fantastic talent and lit up boxing. I'm not sure what I think of his ahcievements - he looked amazing in some fights; but was he a guy who looked amazing against inferior fighters but would struggle against the best? (EG like a better Witter.)

I'm not sure. But I do miss the excitement, the boasting, the skills.............

Looked good against inferior fighters, like about 7 world champions and strugle against the best ?

[Quixall]

These threads always descend into people talking utter bollocks on both sides of the argument. Unfortunately, Naz will always divide opinon, the same as Mayweather, so any kind of attempt at objectivity goes straight out of the water !!

Smart Arse, everyone else is wrong but him, he knows what it is about Lol

It's true..........

He wasn't an all time great and yet neither was he some domestic plodder. The proof is in the pudding, who did he fight and who did he beat compared with his contemporaries. He was a good world champion who perhaps could have done more in the fight game. As for what he was like as a person, Johnny Nelson sums him up. Johnny says that a bloke approached Naz in his Bentley when they were both in the car and this guy had a small child with him. The guy asked Naz for an autograph and Naz told him to Fuk off. It was enough for Nelson to give him the rods. I personally met the guy and he was a dick.

[hitman_hatton1]

needs to get his finger out and do an autobiography.

enough time has gone by.

he certainly has a story to tell.