BoxRec

Man I'd love to watch this! 8)

Two fast punchers while Hamed the better skilled.

What if?

There's a similar thread on another of the Boxrec forums with a wide variety of opinions (as you might expect).

Assuming both fighters met "at their peak" my own view is Pac Man would win. However in saying that you have to ask what Hamed's peak period was....and if it was between when he won the title up to meeting Kevin Kelley then I'd give him a better chance because of his focus on the game and his punching power. The Hamed who turned up for most of his subsequent fights would to my mind have been outworked and out thought by the Pac Man/Freddy Roach combo.

I make the last point because I think Pac is capable of learning from his mistakes, and improving from fight to fight. After Hamed left Ingle he just seemed to think all he needed to do was turn up and land a big shot. The question I'm left with is (pre Kelley) "was Hamed showing better form partly because his opponents were over-the-hill or not quite good enough??"... or in other words, once he entered "Barrera Territory" did he fail to bridge a gap in class?

The "Hamed by KO" believers will put forward a viable enough case that sooner or later he'd have connected on Pac Man and flattened him. Ok, that's a possibility, but I'm not going to sit on the fence...I'd pick Manny.

J

john2345 wrote:There's a similar thread on another of the Boxrec forums with a wide variety of opinions (as you might expect).

Assuming both fighters met "at their peak" my own view is Pac Man would win. However in saying that you have to ask what Hamed's peak period was....and if it was between when he won the title up to meeting Kevin Kelley then I'd give him a better chance because of his focus on the game and his punching power. The Hamed who turned up for most of his subsequent fights would to my mind have been outworked and out thought by the Pac Man/Freddy Roach combo.

I make the last point because I think Pac is capable of learning from his mistakes, and improving from fight to fight. After Hamed left Ingle he just seemed to think all he needed to do was turn up and land a big shot. The question I'm left with is (pre Kelley) "was Hamed showing better form partly because his opponents were over-the-hill or not quite good enough??"... or in other words, once he entered "Barrera Territory" did he fail to bridge a gap in class?

The "Hamed by KO" believers will put forward a viable enough case that sooner or later he'd have connected on Pac Man and flattened him. Ok, that's a possibility, but I'm not going to sit on the fence...I'd pick Manny.

J

Do you think the fact that Hamed was no longer in England, and was now in a bigger spotlight in America had anything to do with his increase in flash and loss of substance? He struggled in every fight in America, and I think he let the bright lights get to him.

I think if it's in England, Hamed wins, not because of any judges or refs, but because it's big fish, little pond type deal. In America, he tries to put on too much of a show, and Manny's pressure style doesn't allow for it.

Great southpaw matchup though.

Decagon wrote:Hamed didn't fight very smart against Kelley. That's hardly him at his peak. Check out some of his earlier fights.

I meant that the Kelley fight was the first one in which he looked vulnerable...ie the end of his peak period.

And ref his "earlier fights", I agree...BUT the point I was making was that while he looked great, I wondered (with the benefit of hindsight) was that maybe because the opposition wasn't top drawer level

J

john2345 wrote:There's a similar thread on another of the Boxrec forums with a wide variety of opinions (as you might expect).

Assuming both fighters met "at their peak" my own view is Pac Man would win. However in saying that you have to ask what Hamed's peak period was....and if it was between when he won the title up to meeting Kevin Kelley then I'd give him a better chance because of his focus on the game and his punching power. The Hamed who turned up for most of his subsequent fights would to my mind have been outworked and out thought by the Pac Man/Freddy Roach combo.

I make the last point because I think Pac is capable of learning from his mistakes, and improving from fight to fight. After Hamed left Ingle he just seemed to think all he needed to do was turn up and land a big shot. The question I'm left with is (pre Kelley) "was Hamed showing better form partly because his opponents were over-the-hill or not quite good enough??"... or in other words, once he entered "Barrera Territory" did he fail to bridge a gap in class?

The "Hamed by KO" believers will put forward a viable enough case that sooner or later he'd have connected on Pac Man and flattened him. Ok, that's a possibility, but I'm not going to sit on the fence...I'd pick Manny.

J

Pretty much agree with this. Hamed stopped trying to improve and so slipped away into his own bravado. He was eventually a victim of his own power in that he relied so much on it that he had no plan B, and had not developed his skills.

I expected him to throw everything at Barerra with 2 rounds to go but he seemed to just be waiting for Marco to pick him back up from school.

Hamed was better skilled and less one dimensional so I go with Hamed stopping him in his prime.