BoxRec

After watching big fight live last night i checked out some of Barry Mcguigans old footage and came across this 15 second video.

And it got me thinking - who would have won between these two in their peak if put in the ring together?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D0l0N-PC-s

Naz would of blown McGuigan away by the 5th round.

teddy009 wrote:Naz would of blown McGuigan away by the 5th round.

x2 if not quicker

McGuigans's non-stop pressure (you guys forget what an incredible pace he set and maintained), thumping left jab (like a right hand) and solid chin would have made life too difficult for the punch-picking, heavy handed Naz. Hamed was probably quicker but McGuigan just kept driving forward and punching - hard. Plus, he was a huge featherweight, much bigger and stronger than Naz, much busier.
McGuigan was the best featherweight in the world long before he licked the great Eusebio Pedroza for the WBA title in 1985. He also licked men of the calibre of unbeaten Bernard Taylor and Juan Laporte (who nearly beat Julio Cesar Chavez). Who did Naz beat? Steve Robinson, Manuel Medina and a fading Tom Johnson.
Naz doth protest too much in this clip, methinks.

Naz beat loads of good fighters

Bungu, Vazquez - champs moving up with big reputations, albeit old
Ingle, Robinson, McCullough - strong pressure fighters with excellent workrate
Johnson, Kelley, Medina - experienced and slick if ageing vets

but definitely, he could have had big problems under McGuigan's pressure. McGuigan only had 3 or 4 fights at world class though didn't he?

Autobarn wrote:Naz beat loads of good fighters

Bungu, Vazquez - champs moving up with big reputations, albeit old
Ingle, Robinson, McCullough - strong pressure fighters with excellent workrate
Johnson, Kelley, Medina - experienced and slick if ageing vets

but definitely, he could have had big problems under McGuigan's pressure. McGuigan only had 3 or 4 fights at world class though didn't he?

Naz looked terrible against most of them. McGuigan burned out quickly because of his frenetic style but he still beat a helluva lot more than three or four world class fighters (Nati, Caba, DeVorce, Chiteule, Orozco and Tomas Cruz, to name but a few) . Prime for prime as this is, McGuigan would have walked cocky Naz down. He was just too big, strong, durable and busy.

Naz would keep timing bombs on Mcguigan and KO him, the power and reactions were something else at FW. Naz could have been better than Pacquaio, which says allot

Naz by ko imo

bennie wrote:

Autobarn wrote:Naz beat loads of good fighters

Bungu, Vazquez - champs moving up with big reputations, albeit old
Ingle, Robinson, McCullough - strong pressure fighters with excellent workrate
Johnson, Kelley, Medina - experienced and slick if ageing vets

but definitely, he could have had big problems under McGuigan's pressure. McGuigan only had 3 or 4 fights at world class though didn't he?

Naz looked terrible against most of them. McGuigan burned out quickly because of his frenetic style but he still beat a helluva lot more than three or four world class fighters (Nati, Caba, DeVorce, Chiteule, Orozco and Tomas Cruz, to name but a few) . Prime for prime as this is, McGuigan would have walked cocky Naz down. He was just too big, strong, durable and busy.

true, naz abandoned all his boxing skills after the robinson fight but in his own awkward way he did deal with pressure. over 15 rds it'd definitely be hard for Naz

I agree with Naz on the video......

Naz would have had too much for McGuigan and knocked him out within 6 rounds.

Naz would have beaten him easy. Lets be real here chaps

I respect your opinion, Bennie, but Naz was also very strong physically, in addition to punching extremely hard. McGuigan was very good, but not as good as Barrera, and even MAB knew he would have been tailor-made for Naz if he had used his old come-forward style. He adapted and won, whereas Barry, unable to adapt, would have been picked off and eventually stopped by Hamed.

I think Naz would be to powerful and unpredictable and KO McGuigan before the 7th round he couldnt deal with him IMO

Watch McGuigan throw about a million shots for 15 rounds against Pedroza and then say Naz would have handled him. McGuigan peaked that night so it is a good analogy. Naz had superior power and speed but McGuigan had the superior aggression and desire. He was mentally and physically stronger than home boy Naz.

People forget how cood Barry was for 3 a year period.

Prime for prime, Naz within 5-6 rounds.
Too much power.

barry gets knocked down 2 times but wins wide 15 round fight as he knocks hamed down twice...too much pressure , hamed blowing out arse in 10 rounds

Can I ask, just when was Naz's prime? I mentioned Paul Ingle in the Hatton/Hamed threat and that was past his prime..... so was it just the Steve Robinson fight. Was he already past it by Kelley.

Naz had huge power, but what alarmed me in the Barrera fight - something that I don't think different training can alter alot was the speed difference between the two. Barerra beat him to the punch time and time again, even Kelley, who wasn't the same force after Vargas, was quicker than Hamed.... Hamed needed his get out of jail card, and also Kelley lost his gameplan.

Hamed looked electric against Robinson and a faded Tom Johnson.... but there is a world of difference between them and McGuigan. Tough fight to call, Hamed never beat anyone as good as a prime McGuigan IMO.

Naz could undoubtedly whack but McGuigan whacked a bit himself (in bunches) and shrugged off a couple of right-handers from Juan Laporte that Naz would never have have taken. Naz was a great fighter but I always thought he was a little bit 'chinny' and a bit of an 'on top' fighter.
Like McGuigan, he is mostly remembered for one fight, the Barrera one, of course, where he was outclassed over 12, while McGuigan was ahead on points going into the 15th round against Stevie Cruz in the Nevada desert disaster.
One thing we can be sure of: both those losses 'broke' them.

Would never have said Naz had a questionable chin.
All the knockdowns he suffered were to do with him being off balance. I thought he had a good chin and was tougher than some here are giving him credit for.

BARNEYKX wrote:Chiteule had mcguigan beaten that night the fight was stopped late on by referee Barney Wilson,why it was stopped i,ll never know as Chiteule was in no trouble at all,i think mcguigan would have naybe beaten naz though

Barry's usually perfect left hook to the body was straying low and he was lucky not to get slung out, but Chiteule was hurt and finished (in my opinion) in the 10th round, just trapped on a corner post and shipping punishment. I seem to recall that as soon as the fight was stopped, Chiteule rested both his arms across the ropes for a wee while, too exhausted to move.

yiddo14 wrote:Would never have said Naz had a questionable chin.
All the knockdowns he suffered were to do with him being off balance. I thought he had a good chin and was tougher than some here are giving him credit for.

The Kevin Kelley fight is hard to overlook. He had a refreshing fearlessness about him but even the light-hitting Medina seemed to hurt him and if you caught him right (Daniel Alicea), he went down.

stujones wrote:Can I ask, just when was Naz's prime? I mentioned Paul Ingle in the Hatton/Hamed threat and that was past his prime..... so was it just the Steve Robinson fight. Was he already past it by Kelley.

Naz had huge power, but what alarmed me in the Barrera fight - something that I don't think different training can alter alot was the speed difference between the two. Barerra beat him to the punch time and time again, even Kelley, who wasn't the same force after Vargas, was quicker than Hamed.... Hamed needed his get out of jail card, and also Kelley lost his gameplan.

Hamed looked electric against Robinson and a faded Tom Johnson.... but there is a world of difference between them and McGuigan. Tough fight to call, Hamed never beat anyone as good as a prime McGuigan IMO.

i'd say naz's prime was when he moved up and fought steve robinson. though robinson was made for him, naz never looked that good again. it's hard to be sure of his prime because once he won his world title he turned into a power crazy maniac and forgot all about his boxing skills and his defence. became such a messy fighter

I think Naz too

Prime for Prime McGuigan wins for me. McGuigan fought in the days of same day weigh-ins unlike Naz who could come in heavier than his opponents e.g. the McCullough fight. Under todays rules McGuigan by fight time would be bigger and stronger than he was in his own era. With his reach and workrate he keeps Naz unbalanced throughout the fight and wins on points because Naz resorts to the tactics he used against Soto. McGuigan finishes off what busy agressive fighters like Ingle & McCullough failed to do.