Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Barrera was 1 of the best 122 and 126lb fighters EVER. He beat Morales worse than he beat Hamed, but Morales got the gift decision. Against Morales 1 and Hamed was his peak, he faded by the time he goto Pacquaio and probably underestimated him seeing bigger fights round the corner. In the early rounds of Pacquaio 2 he outboxed the Phillipino, so image how a prime barrera could have taken the Great Pacman
Hamed did fade from his previous best, abandoning boxing after figuring out he could time massive counter punches to KO his opponent, this was a regression. He certainly never fullfilled his enormous potential. Despite all that he beat the WBO, WBC, WBA and IBF champions, was champion for 6years in a division that wasn't really his best, Hamed was only 5'4 and could have made 118-122 for the rest of his caree. He beat the most proven 122lber in Bungu, he beat a 3weight champ in Vasquez, beat a 5time champion in Medina, beat the top 2 Americans in Kelly and Johnson. plus all in he fought 10 champions and had 17 World Title fights. Not to mention he fought about 5 opponents in common with Morales stopping them all quicker (some went 12 with Morales). Yet retired at 27.
Bottom line Hamed>Calzaghe
Some people can't help but get a dig in at Calzaghe even though this thread isn't even about him.
Are you a politician? You're very good at spin.
Look, I'm a fan of Naz but you can twist his achievements back and forth to match Calzaghes. But for the sake of comparison, I'll take your post at face value.
1. Hamed beat the most proven 122lber in Bungu
Calzaghe beat the most proven 160lber in Hopkins. Was Hopkins faded? He was winning the most impressive fights of his life before and after facing Calzaghe, he was definitely no more shot than Bungu who, to be on a level with the Hopkins victory, should have had success at Super Feather. He didn't.
2. He beat a 3 weight champ in Vasquez.
Calzaghe beat a 4 weight champ in Roy Jones Junior, who was also a lb for lb legend. Sure Jones was past it at the time, but seriously, was vasquez in his prime when he fought Hamed? I don't think so.
3. Beat a 5 time Champion in Medina
Great spin. He was a 2 time champ when he fought Naz and already sported 7 losses by the time they fought. Not doubting this was a good win and Medina was always a good contender, but after losing to Naz he was sparked by Espinosa and Gainer, lost on points to Ingle, his next two title wins were against the highly average Lizarraga and Frank Toledo (who Barrera battered in 2rds at Super bantam) and then he edged out a win over the highly erratic Harrison before losing the rematch. Medina is a great fighter but was always going to be nothing more than a passable but tough test for Naz.
4. Beat the top 2 Americans in kelly and Johnson.
Yes they were the top 2 Americans at featherweight at the time Naz fought them, just like Mitchell and Brewer were the top two Americans at Super Middle when Calzaghe beat them, no matter how faded they were (Johnson was in his prime of course

). Oh i forgot, Brewer lost to Echols (although it was hardly convincing with the 3 knockdowns and all). But ok then replace Brewer with Lacy. Still did the top two Americans.
5. Hamed fought 10 champions. If you mean world champions at the time of the fight, Hamed only actually fought 4 officially. If you mean world champions including ex world champs then Hamed fought Polo Perez, Robinson, Medina, Johnson, Kelley, Vasquez, McCullough (at Bantam), Ingle (won title after losing to Naz), Soto, Bungu and Barrera (loss). I make that 10 because I don't count Ingle as he wasn't a world champ when Hamed fought him.
Calzaghe fought Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy, Kessler, Hopkins and Jones. Thats 9 with 2 unifications, Joe didn't get the chance to fight Collins for the WBO title so beating Eubank for the vacant title doesn't count as beating a current champ, whereas I counted Hamed beating Robinson in his 4 champs at the time of the fight.
6. Hamed had 17 world title fights. Joe had 24 officially. I know you'll say he fought a lot of dross, but you're basing your arguments on bare statistics so it's only fair you give Joe the same credit.
The argument about stopping people quicker than Morales doesn't mean a hell of a lot. That owes to the style of fight. Morales wasn't a concussive puncher and he beat one common opponent that Naz failed against.
7. Retired at 27. All that says to me was he had so much more to offer, but couldn't rebound from a loss. We'll never be able to evaluate Calzaghe on that though, because he never lost.