BoxRec

You can see why Naz was so over-confident about this one. He must have thought he only needed to turn up to win judging by these predictions. Funny how one of them said Barrera is "not what he was pre-Morales"!

Johnnie Whitehead, The Ring- Hamed KO 8 "Barrera will give him some tense moments, but he's got to navigate a minefield to get there."

Jason Levin, FoxSports.com - Hamed KO 8 "Barrera will pressure him, but he's not what he was pre-Morales."

Max Kellerman, ESPN2 - Hamed by decision "Hamed has the speed and mobility, with enough power to keep Barrera honest."

Kevin Iole, Las Vegas Review Journal - Hamed by decision "I think he's a much bigger puncher than Barrera's ever faced."

Mike Acri, promoter - Hamed by decision "He's bigger and he's going to run, I'd be stunned if Barrera gets stopped early."

Lou Duva, trainer/manager - Hamed by KO "Only because he's so fast, both could end up on the floor."

Genaro Hernandez, former 2-time jr. lightweight champion - Hamed KO 7 "Because I believe that Barrera opens up when he throws that left hook and Hamed can exploit that."

Doug Krikorian, ESPN Radio Los Angeles/Long Beach Press Telegram - Hamed KO 9 "I wonder if Barrera can take his punch and he's moving up in weight."

Dave Smith, FoxSports Radio Los Angeles 1150 - Hamed KO 6 "Too strong, Hamed is the strongest punching featherweight ever and Barrera's never fought at 126."

Robert Morales, San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Barrera by decision "I really think he showed so much against Morales, he can do anything."

Mark Johnson, two-time world champion - Hamed by KO "Barrera can't fight left-handers."

Phil Borgia, trainer - Hamed by KO "Barrera's gonna come to fight, and that will be his downfall."

Michael Rosenthal, Los Angeles Daily News - Hamed KO 6 "I think his power will be the difference."

Don Elbaum, matchmaker - Hamed by KO "He does everything wrong, but it ends up right."

Graham Houston, Boxing Monthly - Hamed KO 8 "It's not just the power, but the fact he is a natural featherweight."

Dan Rafael, USA Today - Hamed KO 5 "Hamed has too much power and more importantly too much speed."

Mel Baron, Gaming Today - Hamed by KO "Just like Felix Trinidad, he gets off the canvas to win."

Dave Cokin, Sports Radio 1460 Las Vegas/Vegasbay.com - Hamed by KO "Barrera won't shy away from battle, which means he'll lose this war."

Mike Hirsley, Chicago Tribune - Hamed KO 10 "Barrera gets frustrated by Hamed's unorthodox style, tries to set himself for power shots and gets tagged."

Royce Feour, Las Vegas Review Journal - Hamed KO 8 "Hamed's power is the difference."

Phil Woolever, Boxing Digest - Hamed by decision "In a tossup like this, wiseguy logic says go with the 'house/TV' fighter."

Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News - Hamed KO 8 "I don't think Barrera will be able to handle the Prince's power."

Steve Farhood, CNNSI/Boxing Monthly - Hamed KO 9 "Hamed hits too hard and Barrera gets hit too easily."

David Mayo, The Grand Rapids Press - Hamed KO 6 "Hamed gets up from a knockdown to win in an offensive blitz."

Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News - Barrera KO 9 "I don't think Hamed likes taking punches to the kidney and his balance is suspect. If Kevin Kelley can put him down three times, so can Barrera."

Jack Welsh, Showtime/Boxing Flash - Hamed KO 12 "Hamed has to reach deep to pull this one out."

Teddy Atlas, ESPN2 - Hamed by KO "Styles make fights and Barrera's is perfect for Hamed."

Back then Hamed looked awsom and punched harder than anyone we have seen to this day, what a difference a fight makes the americans call him Naz been. I don't think 9/11 helped ether americans racist prejudices came out after that with Naz being muslim

The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

So much for the experts! Graham Houston usualy gets em right 9 out of 10..strange looking back, when you consider how bad Naz looked in his previous fight against Sanchez.

Glen McCrory insisted MAB would beat Naz all along.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

He had the perfect gameplan, nobody here came close to calling it apart from Robert Morales but even he didn't suggest as to how Barrera would do it.

I still believe Hamed lost that fight, rather than MAB won it.

Hamed's training was absolutely woeful in the lead-up to that fight. I expect you all saw the fly-on-the-wall docu following him in the leadup to the fight, and all he was obsessed with was his ring entrance (being lowering in sat on that gay hoop) and also having some top LA hairdresser in to do his hair. He was just obsessed with the camera, and doing a bit of training from time to time…

If Naz has trained properly he’d have won in my opinion.

johnswan1 wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

He had the perfect gameplan, nobody here came close to calling it apart from Robert Morales but even he didn't suggest as to how Barrera would do it.

Both completely right. I remember being shocked when Barrera adopted that strategy... increasingly replaced by frustration when Hamed, round after round, failed to adapt his tactics and just kept looking for one big punch.
Few big fights have a defining moment (not including knockdowns or KOs) like when Barrera armlocked Naz and shoved him into the turnbuckle - seemed to be a microcosm of the whole contest.

Naz was beaten before he set foot in the ring that night. Remember the shit with the gloves, then he didnt flip over the top rope as normal.

nickd wrote:he didnt flip over the top rope as normal.

That's because he rightly figured he'd end on his arse if he did. Some joker had just drenched him in beer on his way in.

My brother and I went to Vegas for the fight.

After we went through security we went down the wrong pathway and found ourselves in the backstage area entirely by accident.

thinking we would get turfed out pretty soon, we made a beeline for the bar area and found ourselves standing next to Glenn McCrory and got chatting to him about the fight. He called it perfectly.

We nipped out with another plastic cup of beer and then went to our seats to find ourselves sitting just behind George Foreman

Mind you, I still remember the biggest cheer of the night seemed to be from allthe brits giving it up for Chris Eubank who was there to full effect in his johdpurs and monacle much to the bemusement of the yanks

Great night, up to when the fight began

Slapsie

Deserter wrote:

johnswan1 wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

He had the perfect gameplan, nobody here came close to calling it apart from Robert Morales but even he didn't suggest as to how Barrera would do it.

Both completely right. I remember being shocked when Barrera adopted that strategy... increasingly replaced by frustration when Hamed, round after round, failed to adapt his tactics and just kept looking for one big punch.
Few big fights have a defining moment (not including knockdowns or KOs) like when Barrera armlocked Naz and shoved him into the turnbuckle - seemed to be a microcosm of the whole contest.

The fiasco in the corner was also abysmal, taking it in TURNS, to give advice was absolutely uselsss. Steward was fornicating useless that night, and to be honest, I lost a lot of respect for Manny. Why didn't he just quit as Hamed's trainer when Hamed brought Suarez on board? I'll tell you why, because of one thing...money.

MightyWarrior wrote:

nickd wrote:he didnt flip over the top rope as normal.

That's because he rightly figured he'd end on his arse if he did. Some joker had just drenched him in beer on his way in.

I think it may have been a thought going through his head as he got to the edge of the ring.

"Hmm...I've just been buggering about for the last few weeks, and now there is some bastard hard Mexican stood across the ring intent on doing me damage. Sh*t....."

Wasn't it something to do with the gloves as well which did his head in? I seem to recall something about the gloves being connected with his ring entrance.

He was not happy with the thumbs on the gloves backstage as far as I recall, you may remember Barrera was kept waiting for ages while Hamed was fornicating about with his glove. Rather than fornicating Barrera's head up it seemingly had the opposite effect.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Wasn't it something to do with the gloves as well which did his head in? I seem to recall something about the gloves being connected with his ring entrance.

Your're right. I think he insisted on changing them.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

Barerra was always cautious of Hamed's power, but remains adamant that in a rematch he would charge him and go for the KO. I think he would get it aswell.

I tipped Hamed (although went for Barerra when the fight was announced) because I thought he would get tagged ala Kevin Kelly (on the verge of winning) and I doubted Barerra's strength over Hamed (with him being a Super Bantam). I thought he had superior hand speed and was a better technician, but I just thought he would get tagged.

I watched the fight recently and Hamed DID catch him with some nice shots around the 7th round - Barrera didn't move, he has since gone one to show he has a fantastic chin and I don't think Hamed would have KO'd him.

If there was ever a rematch, Hamed would have got KO'd.

stujones wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

Barerra was always cautious of Hamed's power, but remains adamant that in a rematch he would charge him and go for the KO. I think he would get it aswell.

I tipped Hamed (although went for Barerra when the fight was announced) because I thought he would get tagged ala Kevin Kelly (on the verge of winning) and I doubted Barerra's strength over Hamed (with him being a Super Bantam). I thought he had superior hand speed and was a better technician, but I just thought he would get tagged.

I watched the fight recently and Hamed DID catch him with some nice shots around the 7th round - Barrera didn't move, he has since gone one to show he has a fantastic chin and I don't think Hamed would have KO'd him.

If there was ever a rematch, Hamed would have got KO'd.

Come on Stu, Kevin Kelly was never on the verge of winning against Naz. Yes, Naz was down two or three times but he didn't look hurt from any of them. If they did have a rematch back then, I think Barrera would have been foolish to change his tactics as he would be fighting Naz the way he would have liked it in the first place.

Regarding the Naz comeback, I honestly think he really will be back this time. He seems to be talking to lots of different newspapers and also seems more realistic and accepting of the defeat than he was in the past with comments like "I am still very young and have not had too many beatings. In fact for 20 years I fought as an amateur and pro and I only took a beating once against (Marco Antonio) Barrera. I was fighting the best in the division and I had a bad day, he had a good one. The fight came at an awkward time in my career where I didn't really have a proper number one trainer, but I don't want to make any excuses".

I've watched the Naz vs Kelly fight a few times, and the so called "knock downs" were bollocks. It was just the Yank media hyping it up.

In one so called "knock-down" Naz leant back to avoid a punch, slightly lost his balance and just touched the canvas with his glove. That got him a standing 8 count!! I don't think Kelly even connected.

Complete cobblers.

There is a lot of revisionism applied to Naz's career and the loss to MAB was the perfect catalyst for the " he was never any good" crowd

There were always opponents along the way who were going to be "one step too far" or were going to take him apart. when he beat them, they suddenly, off course became shot fighters who had never been any good. Tom Johnson is the perfect example. a guy with a very good record and who was going, according to most yanks, kick Naz's ass. I think that fight was probably Naz's best performance and the KO was a thing of beauthy against a very worthy fighter. Of course, as soon as the fight was over Boom Boom became a worthless bum looking for a payday. funny that

Naz took a comprehensive loss to a better man very well, but he was never beaten up by MAB despite what the revisionists would have us believe.

He just did not have a plan B and, perhaps that is the true difference between a very very good fighter and a great. But, let no one with any common sense deny that Naz was a very very good fighter indeed.

As for coming back. I wish he wouldn't. He doesn't need to. But, if he does, I am sure it will be anything but boring

Slapsie

johnswan1 wrote:

stujones wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:The thing which threw a spanner in it, is nobody expected Barrera to counterpunch, including Hamed. Had Barrera gone toe-to-toe, it could well have been a different story.

Barerra was always cautious of Hamed's power, but remains adamant that in a rematch he would charge him and go for the KO. I think he would get it aswell.

I tipped Hamed (although went for Barerra when the fight was announced) because I thought he would get tagged ala Kevin Kelly (on the verge of winning) and I doubted Barerra's strength over Hamed (with him being a Super Bantam). I thought he had superior hand speed and was a better technician, but I just thought he would get tagged.

I watched the fight recently and Hamed DID catch him with some nice shots around the 7th round - Barrera didn't move, he has since gone one to show he has a fantastic chin and I don't think Hamed would have KO'd him.

If there was ever a rematch, Hamed would have got KO'd.

Come on Stu, Kevin Kelly was never on the verge of winning against Naz. Yes, Naz was down two or three times but he didn't look hurt from any of them. If they did have a rematch back then, I think Barrera would have been foolish to change his tactics as he would be fighting Naz the way he would have liked it in the first place.

Regarding the Naz comeback, I honestly think he really will be back this time. He seems to be talking to lots of different newspapers and also seems more realistic and accepting of the defeat than he was in the past with comments like "I am still very young and have not had too many beatings. In fact for 20 years I fought as an amateur and pro and I only took a beating once against (Marco Antonio) Barrera. I was fighting the best in the division and I had a bad day, he had a good one. The fight came at an awkward time in my career where I didn't really have a proper number one trainer, but I don't want to make any excuses".

I'm not sayin the knockdown, but the boxing lesson Kelly was giving him.

Listen to Kelly's corner, they told him in the fourth to go for the kill cause Hamed is there for the taking. I think had Kelly waited a few rounds sticking to his game plan then 2-3 rounds after Hamed might have been. Kelly was stupid thinking Hamed was prime for the taking, but I did think he was going to do it.

One KD was dodgy, technically a correct call but dodgy.

It's easy to forget that Naz was the favourite going into that fight, revisionist history would have it that it was Naz stepping up for the first time against a legend. Whilst he's undoubtably a great, MAB wasn't held in the same esteem at the time of the fight, the Naz win helped elevate his reputation.

As far as predictions go, I remember James Lawton of The Independent called the fight almost spot-on.

Loftgroov wrote:I've watched the Naz vs Kelly fight a few times, and the so called "knock downs" were bollocks. It was just the Yank media hyping it up.

In one so called "knock-down" Naz leant back to avoid a punch, slightly lost his balance and just touched the canvas with his glove. That got him a standing 8 count!! I don't think Kelly even connected.

Complete cobblers.

In just about every knockdown Hamed suffered it was a case of poor balance more than anything - the problem with those unorthodox shots he used to throw was that if he got clipped while unloading he was frequently unbalanced and so would go to the floor even though he wasn't stunned.
I can't recall any knockdown where his eyes or legs went and he seemed on the verge of a genuine stoppage.

Slapsie Maxie wrote:There is a lot of revisionism applied to Naz's career and the loss to MAB was the perfect catalyst for the " he was never any good" crowd

There were always opponents along the way who were going to be "one step too far" or were going to take him apart. when he beat them, they suddenly, off course became shot fighters who had never been any good. Tom Johnson is the perfect example. a guy with a very good record and who was going, according to most yanks, kick Naz's ass. I think that fight was probably Naz's best performance and the KO was a thing of beauthy against a very worthy fighter. Of course, as soon as the fight was over Boom Boom became a worthless bum looking for a payday. funny that

Naz took a comprehensive loss to a better man very well, but he was never beaten up by MAB despite what the revisionists would have us believe.

He just did not have a plan B and, perhaps that is the true difference between a very very good fighter and a great. But, let no one with any common sense deny that Naz was a very very good fighter indeed.

As for coming back. I wish he wouldn't. He doesn't need to. But, if he does, I am sure it will be anything but boring

Slapsie

Spot on.

Boxing fans, whether they be British or American, can be very fickle.

Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News - Barrera KO 9 "I don't think Hamed likes taking punches to the kidney and his balance is suspect. If Kevin Kelley can put him down three times, so can Barrera."

lol this makes me laugh, probably gets paid a nice wedge for insights like "I don't think he likes taking punches to the kidney"... hmm thats a surprise, because MOST guys absolutely LOVE taking punches to the kidney don't they!

For what its worth I remember Duke 'channel whore' McKenzie picking Barrera in the sky pre-fight, he was the only one who said Hamed has slipped under Steward and could very well lose this one. I think the predictions above show just how highly rated Naz was at one time, before the revisionists got their way that is..