Nigel Benn on Naseem Hamed

He came into my gym once in Tenerife, strutting around like he owned the place, and I had to tell him, 'Out, mate! Get out of my gym.' He was giving it large, and I just thought, 'Nah, mate, don't come in here, giving it all large. Show me some proper respect.' He might have all those Mickey Mouse guys around him, licking his ass - 'Oh Nazeem, Nazeem!' - but he's not going to get that treatment from me. What a bunch of pricks! And then you see them carrying him into the ring like he's some kind of king and they're his slaves. Have some respect for yourself!

And then, after the last Collins fight, he comes out in the papers slagging me off, saying, 'You can break my legs and rip my arms off, but I would still come out fighting.' What a load of shit - try it on with me, and I will break your legs and rip your arms off and, at the end of the day, the public caned him for what he was saying. Maybe if he'd done half of what I'd done they'd have taken their hat off to him, but they all know! I've fought everybody, but Hamed hasn't had nearly the same calibre of opponents. Everyone knows that there are fighters out there who will annihilate him, and he's just avoiding them. If you're meant to be the best in the world, Nazeem, then go and fight some of the top Americans. Prove yourself, like I did. Then you can run your mouth off. But in the boxing fraternity, we all know that he's fighting nobodies.

When I saw him at the Brit Awards, I gave him a piece of my mind: 'Let me tell you now, I'll punch you up in the air, you little shit.' Does he reckon he wants to exchange punches with me? I'll screw him up into a little ball and throw him in the waste paper bin.

That was in Benn's book (1999).

CC

... but (and I know you will disagree with this) Robbie Simms, Sanderline Williams Doug DeWitt were not the top Americans. Would've liked to have seen Benn fight McCallum, Toney, Nunn, Jones, Brown, Kalambay (not American) some of those guys. Barkley was a good win, but Brakley was not 'Great'
Can't say enough about the G-Man win though

Don't get on the defensive ;) Benn is my favourite fighter, I just would have loved to see him in with some of those guys I mentioned

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Originally Posted by WWatt

'You can break my legs and rip my arms off, but I would still come out fighting.'

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They should have had Naz for copyright... That's a sketch out of the holy grail !!

168 pound Nigel Benn must be a really brave man to pick on 124 pound Naseem Hamed.

And imo Hamed accomplished more then half what Nigel Benn did.

wait, wait... Naseem hamed is 124 pounds?... ::**;)

Naseem is like a little yappy dog... if he barks at a bigger dog... the bigger dog will still bark back and bite the nasty little fucker if he trys anything... ::**

Naz never stepped up until the Barrera fight.

In 95 and 96 he was mentioning fighting Morales and Barrera...What happened to that? Took him 6 years to grow some balls.

His best win was over Kelley, I reckon(ironically, Kev was the WBU champ at the time). And he got dropped what, three times?

Look, Naz was explosive back in the mid and even towards the late 90's, he woulda caused any of the top guys problems back at his best, but he must've been worried about getting exposed. Warren would have got him the big defining fights eventually, but they split, and Naz went back to the Augie Sanchez type opponents.

Robinson was WBO champion, Vasquez was WBA champion, Johnson was IBF champion, Medina, Kelly and Mccullough were former world champions - I don't see anybody he could've fought and didn't except Eric Morales and that fight never happened coz he lost to MAB

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

Naz never stepped up until the Barrera fight.

In 95 and 96 he was mentioning fighting Morales and Barrera...What happened to that? Took him 6 years to grow some balls.

His best win was over Kelley, I reckon(ironically, Kev was the WBU champ at the time). And he got dropped what, three times?

Look, Naz was explosive back in the mid and even towards the late 90's, he woulda caused any of the top guys problems back at his best, but he must've been worried about getting exposed. Warren would have got him the big defining fights eventually, but they split, and Naz went back to the Augie Sanchez type opponents.

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His best win was Steve Robinson. Everybody that never followed Naz's career doesn't think he stepped up until the Barerra fight. But Robinson was considered a huge step up and Naseem just made it an easy nights work.

Nigel Benns autobiography is a cracking read brutally honest reminded me of bravo 2 zero which actually gets better with every read. ( 207th )

Benn smashed up somepretty good fighters over in the states and paid his dues Naz got found out bigtime in the end he was exposed by the likes of Augie Sanchez , Ceasar Soto and finally Barrera.

Naz was a talented exciting fighter but his arse went to put it simply he was funny and had a smashing right and left but he did switch off in fights and never came close to living up to his undoubted potential.

Still he achieved alot in todays sport.

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Originally Posted by P.G.H Angel Eyes

168 pound Nigel Benn must be a really brave man to pick on 124 pound Naseem Hamed.

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Naz probably outweighs Benn now !!!!!

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Originally Posted by BIG H

CC

... but (and I know you will disagree with this) Robbie Simms, Sanderline Williams Doug DeWitt were not the top Americans. Would've liked to have seen Benn fight McCallum, Toney, Nunn, Jones, Brown, Kalambay (not American) some of those guys. Barkley was a good win, but Brakley was not 'Great'
Can't say enough about the G-Man win though

Don't get on the defensive ;) Benn is my favourite fighter, I just would have loved to see him in with some of those guys I mentioned

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Well if you're a Benn fan he must've done something right, right?
True it would've been great to see Benn fight the fighters you've labelled but i take nothing away from Benn. He's one of the gutsiest fighters i've ever seen.

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Originally Posted by CopeAli

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Originally Posted by BIG H

CC

... but (and I know you will disagree with this) Robbie Simms, Sanderline Williams Doug DeWitt were not the top Americans. Would've liked to have seen Benn fight McCallum, Toney, Nunn, Jones, Brown, Kalambay (not American) some of those guys. Barkley was a good win, but Brakley was not 'Great'
Can't say enough about the G-Man win though

Don't get on the defensive ;) Benn is my favourite fighter, I just would have loved to see him in with some of those guys I mentioned

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Well if you're a Benn fan he must've done something right, right?
True it would've been great to see Benn fight the fighters you've labelled but i take nothing away from Benn. He's one of the gutsiest fighters i've ever seen.

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I don't take anything away from either, but the article said that he fought all the top Americans which he didn't!
Not his fault - was politics, but still a fact

I love Benn too, but remember when he and Eubank did the TV special and Toney was with Mickey Rourke via satellite. Benn tried to put Toney in his place by realing off his list of American conquests and Toney laughed at him ;D that was pretty funny.

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Originally Posted by Memphis

I love Benn too, but remember when he and Eubank did the TV special and Toney was with Mickey Rourke via satellite. Benn tried to put Toney in his place by realing off his list of American conquests and Toney laughed at him ;D that was pretty funny.

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Haha - and Benn said in the thickest voice ever "Thick as 2 planks of wood mate"

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Originally Posted by Memphis

I love Benn too, but remember when he and Eubank did the TV special and Toney was with Mickey Rourke via satellite. Benn tried to put Toney in his place by realing off his list of American conquests and Toney laughed at him ;D that was pretty funny.

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Wasn't that the one with Jonathan Ross where it ended by Toney tearing his earpiece out and just walking away. Eubank sat in silence and when wossy pressed chris on what he thought of toney he made some comment like "the man just insulted my mother...he doesn't even know her"

In the end Benn and Eubank shook hands and Benn whipsrede something in Eubanks ear.

Amusing

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Robinson was WBO champion, Vasquez was WBA champion, Johnson was IBF champion, Medina, Kelly and Mccullough were former world champions - I don't see anybody he could've fought and didn't except Eric Morales and that fight never happened coz he lost to MAB

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yeah...It's kinda hard to have 15 title defences and not fight some quality opponents.....I always say people look at a fighters last 3 fights and judge him from that...unless you're ALI.....Naz was a very good fighter....and backed up everything he said until MAB.....but in his defence MAB is a helluva fighter....no drop because he lost to MAB...I'm not a Naz fan but I think he was better than most want to give him credit for....

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Originally Posted by Starr

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

Naz never stepped up until the Barrera fight.

In 95 and 96 he was mentioning fighting Morales and Barrera...What happened to that? Took him 6 years to grow some balls.

His best win was over Kelley, I reckon(ironically, Kev was the WBU champ at the time). And he got dropped what, three times?

Look, Naz was explosive back in the mid and even towards the late 90's, he woulda caused any of the top guys problems back at his best, but he must've been worried about getting exposed. Warren would have got him the big defining fights eventually, but they split, and Naz went back to the Augie Sanchez type opponents.

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His best win was Steve Robinson. Everybody that never followed Naz's career doesn't think he stepped up until the Barerra fight. But Robinson was considered a huge step up and Naseem just made it an easy nights work.

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Robinson had something like 9 losses, and was ordinary. Robinson! Pull the other one.

Sure, it was a step-up from who else he was facing at the time, but overall Robinson was cooked.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Robinson was WBO champion, Vasquez was WBA champion, Johnson was IBF champion, Medina, Kelly and Mccullough were former world champions - I don't see anybody he could've fought and didn't except Eric Morales and that fight never happened coz he lost to MAB

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Robinson, as I said, was nothing special, had been beaten already second-tier fighters (albeit a couple of years earlier), and he was PATHETIC in the Naz fight. Not to be disrespectful, but I recall him failing to mount even an effort. Prince was brilliant, but Robinson looked like a total bum in there. He didn't try anything, he came with nothing.

You're throwing these names at me, these alphabet champs. It doesn't mean anything. Everyone knew the Barreras, the Morales, the McKinneys were out there and they were at the top but Naz snubbed them. Just as he snubbed a Mayweather offer back in 2000.

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

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Originally Posted by Starr

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

Naz never stepped up until the Barrera fight.

In 95 and 96 he was mentioning fighting Morales and Barrera...What happened to that? Took him 6 years to grow some balls.

His best win was over Kelley, I reckon(ironically, Kev was the WBU champ at the time). And he got dropped what, three times?

Look, Naz was explosive back in the mid and even towards the late 90's, he woulda caused any of the top guys problems back at his best, but he must've been worried about getting exposed. Warren would have got him the big defining fights eventually, but they split, and Naz went back to the Augie Sanchez type opponents.

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His best win was Steve Robinson. Everybody that never followed Naz's career doesn't think he stepped up until the Barerra fight. But Robinson was considered a huge step up and Naseem just made it an easy nights work.

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Robinson had something like 9 losses, and was ordinary. Robinson! Pull the other one.

Sure, it was a step-up from who else he was facing at the time, but overall Robinson was cooked.

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You obvously know about as much about Robinson as you have read on his record - and not much else. Robinsons early losses are due to the fact that he was just a journeyman taking fights at 24 hours notice and never really taking the game serious as anything other than making a few quid. When he got drafted in at late notice to fight for the title he took his chance and went on to become an excellent fighter. He wasn't Naz's best opponent, but he was very good and honest world champion and very underrrated. Had he had the opportunities Naz had right from the start he may would of become one of the greatest fighter ever to come out of Wales imo

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Originally Posted by BIG H

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

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Originally Posted by Starr

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

Naz never stepped up until the Barrera fight.

In 95 and 96 he was mentioning fighting Morales and Barrera...What happened to that? Took him 6 years to grow some balls.

His best win was over Kelley, I reckon(ironically, Kev was the WBU champ at the time). And he got dropped what, three times?

Look, Naz was explosive back in the mid and even towards the late 90's, he woulda caused any of the top guys problems back at his best, but he must've been worried about getting exposed. Warren would have got him the big defining fights eventually, but they split, and Naz went back to the Augie Sanchez type opponents.

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His best win was Steve Robinson. Everybody that never followed Naz's career doesn't think he stepped up until the Barerra fight. But Robinson was considered a huge step up and Naseem just made it an easy nights work.

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Robinson had something like 9 losses, and was ordinary. Robinson! Pull the other one.

Sure, it was a step-up from who else he was facing at the time, but overall Robinson was cooked.

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You obvously know about as much about Robinson as you have read on his record - and not much else. Robinsons early losses are due to the fact that he was just a journeyman taking fights at 24 hours notice and never really taking the game serious as anything other than making a few quid. When he got drafted in at late notice to fight for the title he took his chance and went on to become an excellent fighter. He wasn't Naz's best opponent, but he was very good and honest world champion and very underrrated. Had he had the opportunities Naz had right from the start he may would of become one of the greatest fighter ever to come out of Wales imo

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The fact is he put up a terrible effort against Naz, and what did he do after that fight? When he stepped up again, he got beat.

I'm not dissing Robinson, in terms of, I think he was a good fighter. But you're making out like he is this shining beacon on Hamed's record. He's not. Hamed beat him, like he shouldv'e.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Had he had the opportunities Naz had right from the start he may would of become one of the greatest fighter ever to come out of Wales imo

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But nowhere near Jimmy Wilde, Tommy Farr, Joe Calzaghe or any number of cardiff city fans. ;D

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Robinson was WBO champion, Vasquez was WBA champion, Johnson was IBF champion, Medina, Kelly and Mccullough were former world champions - I don't see anybody he could've fought and didn't except Eric Morales and that fight never happened coz he lost to MAB

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Robinson, as I said, was nothing special, had been beaten already second-tier fighters (albeit a couple of years earlier), and he was PATHETIC in the Naz fight. Not to be disrespectful, but I recall him failing to mount even an effort. Prince was brilliant, but Robinson looked like a total bum in there. He didn't try anything, he came with nothing.

You're throwing these names at me, these alphabet champs. It doesn't mean anything. Everyone knew the Barreras, the Morales, the McKinneys were out there and they were at the top but Naz snubbed them. Just as he snubbed a Mayweather offer back in 2000.

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Please enlighten us to the offers that Naz snubbed ???

In 1997 -98 he was fighting world champions like Tom Johnson & Wilfredo Vasquez, MAB was losing to Junior Jones and Fighting Richie Wenton. Paul Lloyd and Pedro Torres & McKinney was losing to Espinosa and Bungu who Naz destroyed, so I think Hamed was mixing in pretty could comparitive company. I can't think of anybody he should've fought and didn't except Erik Morales

Except for Morales? Are you kididng me?

As I said in a previous post, around 95' Naz was mentioning Barrera (Who was one of the very best super-bantamweights in the world at the time) after he destroyed the hapless foes he was endlessly knocking over. He said it would happen soon.

Marco didn't lose till what, late 96? Early 97? I can't remember. Either way if Hamed was so intent on fighting the very best he surely could have fought Barrera's victor Junior Jones. Did he? No.

Bungu did beat McKinney, but alas, styles make fights. McKinney beat the man, who beat the man (Jones) and should have topped Hamed's list of prospective opponents.

Instead he fights Kelley, suffers three knockdowns en route to a crushing 4th round KO, jets back to England, where he rests on his laurels. Come on. Take off the rose-tinted glasses.

He did actually fight MAB did you know - and 2001 MAB was a lot better than the 1996/97 version losing to Junior Jones.....and who did Naz have the opportunity to fight but snub ????

From 97 onwards Hamed's opponents had a collective record of 386-29 (14 of those 29 losses were 2 guys)

He beat

Tom Johnson
Wilfredo Vasquez
Wayne McCullough
Vuyani Bungu
Kevin Kelly
Manuel Medina
Paul Ingle

.... All were current or former World champs and stand up againt Kennedy mc Fukkin Kinney

Fight naz didn't fight:

Morales - fight never was on the cards
JM Marquez - was fighting stiffs at that tiime and never moved to world class till 2003
Espinosa - over the hill!!!

No rose tinted glasses - just facts

Yeah, I did know. DID YOU KNOW what happened?

Plus, the reason Hamed finally did accept it I reckon was because he watched the MAB-Morales fight, saw how reckless and open Barrera was when he came in, and felt he would walk into a bomb.

He didn't of course and Hamed got exposed once and for all.

My point was, why did Hamed say he wanted the fight, that's the one he wanted, then ducked out? Waited till a fledgling Barrera came upto 126, 6 years later?

As for the guys you mentioned. Hmm, let me see.

Johnson was fast approaching the twilight of his career. After Hamed it was downhill. That's my point. Mostly Naz caught these guys at the right time. When he actually did step up and fight the guys in their prime (McCullough, Medina) he had a much tougher time of it than most thought he would have. Hell, he could of got knocked out in that Medina fight at times, he got caught so much. If Manuel was a KO puncher Naz could well have lost his unbeaten record that night, he looked awful.

McCullough - good win. I like Wayne. But wasn't that his first fight at feather? He jumped weight after losing his super bantam strap, and Hamed's weight proved the difference. Plus of course, Wayne was too brave and come-forward for his own good. Stylistically there was only going to be one outcome there.

Kelley was a good win, as I said Hamed got dropped three times, and Kelley didn't even have an alphabet title, he was WBU champ, and I'd hazzard a guess at what, #5 in the division?

Ingle didn't even DESERVE that shot. Hamed should have been unifying, fighting the best in America, instead he's fighting a guy with barely 20 odd wins, and who just won the E.B.U title. Please!

And interesting that you mention JM Marquez. Naz ducked him like the plague. I can't remember the exact year, but I distinctly recall Marquez being Naz' mandatory at one point. Hamed shamelessly avoided him. And the only reason Juan stepped up in 2003 was because a little Philipine had the balls to give him a shot - and we saw that night why exactly he had been ducked for so long.

Fair enuff - we aint gonna agree on this, but I will make 1 final post:

Do you really think that after seeing the fight with Morales that it was a cowardice decision by Hamed to fight MAB at that time? MAB was frightening in the 1st Morales fight, besides that the Hamed fight was 14 months after that anyway

Tom Johnson was 42-2 and unbeaten in 6 years and his only 2 defeats were a TD and an SD. He was coming off something like 12 defences of the title he had held for 4 years. Yeh he went down hill after that fight, but that was after he was destroyed for the 1st time in his career.

Don’t know why Naz would’ve avoided Marquez around that time, coz Marquez wasn’t operating at the same level and when he did step up in 1999 he got beat. Marquez peaked about 6 years after Naz did!!

And paul Ingle was a superb fighter as Medina and Jones found out, and went on to become IBF champ, his career was cut tragically short or imo he would’ve been a fantastic world champion

I have never claimed that Naz beat any "Greats" but who ever does "Greats" are "Great" coz they don't lose, and when Hamed came up against a "great" he fell short. What I don't agree with is that he ducked people. He fought everybody out there apart from Morales and Espinoto (and JMM who I have already said brought nothing to the party in 1997-98 whatsoever)

You're right, I don't think we're going to agree.

When I made the point that Naz choose M.A.B on the basis of the first Morales fight, I knew you'd come back with that point. But as I said, Naz saw clear errors in Barrera's make-up - they were there to see. Took too many shots, waded in, left himself open. It also must've interested Hamed that Barrera had stayed at super-bantam for so long. That was his natural weight, he had been comfortable there. Perhaps Hamed thought the Mexican coming up to feather would give him a big advantage. Remember, Hamed's always been very strong, very physical (yeah, that body slam!). He's been in the trenches, he's heavy handed.

It's obvious to me that they choose that fight based on Barrera's style. Stylistically they felt he was tailor-made for Hamed - and who knows - perhaps THAT version of him was. But of course, Barrera was clever, and radically altered his style for that fight. Hamed was befuddled.

Either way, I know Tom Johnson's record at the time, and yes, impressive, but to me he was just another alphabet champ. He was hand-picked. I never recall him beating any top name before or AFTER Naz, save for Manuel Medina two years before Hamed.

Marquez was clearly class at the time. He's always been. Any self-respecting champ wouldv'e gave him a shot. Hamed should have. Afterall, Juan Manuel was his mandatory at one point (of that I'm sure) but Naz opted out.

Bottom line is - Hamed didn't duck people is nonsense. He did. He ducked MAB back in 95 when they coulda made it at super bantam, he ducked Marquez, he never sought out a Morales, hell he even ignored Mayweather when in 2000 Pretty Boy said he would take Naz on. Instead he took on a fledgling super-bantam and got schooled thoroughly in every department.

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

You're right, I don't think we're going to agree.

When I made the point that Naz choose M.A.B on the basis of the first Morales fight, I knew you'd come back with that point. But as I said, Naz saw clear errors in Barrera's make-up - they were there to see. Took too many shots, waded in, left himself open. It also must've interested Hamed that Barrera had stayed at super-bantam for so long. That was his natural weight, he had been comfortable there. Perhaps Hamed thought the Mexican coming up to feather would give him a big advantage. Remember, Hamed's always been very strong, very physical (yeah, that body slam!). He's been in the trenches, he's heavy handed.

It's obvious to me that they choose that fight based on Barrera's style. Stylistically they felt he was tailor-made for Hamed - and who knows - perhaps THAT version of him was. But of course, Barrera was clever, and radically altered his style for that fight. Hamed was befuddled.

Either way, I know Tom Johnson's record at the time, and yes, impressive, but to me he was just another alphabet champ. He was hand-picked. I never recall him beating any top name before or AFTER Naz, save for Manuel Medina two years before Hamed.

Marquez was clearly class at the time. He's always been. Any self-respecting champ wouldv'e gave him a shot. Hamed should have. Afterall, Juan Manuel was his mandatory at one point (of that I'm sure) but Naz opted out.

Bottom line is - Hamed didn't duck people is nonsense. He did. He ducked MAB back in 95 when they coulda made it at super bantam, he ducked Marquez, he never sought out a Morales, hell he even ignored Mayweather when in 2000 Pretty Boy said he would take Naz on. Instead he took on a fledgling super-bantam and got schooled thoroughly in every department.

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And yet after all of that Naz was favourite with every bookie round the world to beat Marco Antonio Barerra one of the p4p greats, so he was doing something right

Anyway like we have said agree to disagree :)

Indeed. Debates like this are what the sites about.

But I wouldn't say Barrera was a p4p great before he fought Hamed.

And the bookies were blinded by Hamed's unbeaten record, his extravagant, cocky persona, and the fact that he was the natural featherweight. Hamed had a great P.R machine.

Marquez was beaten by Norwood which blew his shot to face Hamed anyway.

Please.

Hamed could have fought him before that.

Besides, Marquez was Hamed's mandatory before that loss. I think. The info's out there, I know Hamed ducked him at one point. He relinquished a belt to avoid him actually.

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Originally Posted by The_Mac10

Please.

Hamed could have fought him before that.

Besides, Marquez was Hamed's mandatory before that loss. I think. The info's out there, I know Hamed ducked him at one point. He relinquished a belt to avoid him actually.

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I just don't see how fighting Marquez would've improved Hamed's stock circa 97/98. He didn't hold a belt, hadn't fought for a title, had no notable scalps, and just generally wasn't mixing at the highest level at that time. Why would Hamed duck him ??

He didn't hold a belt but he was Naseem's MANDATORY. Don't you get that? You say Hamed didn't duck anyone but he ducked Marquez.

Of course, in light of what we know now about Marquez (and even if you watch Marquez circa-98,99 you can see quality) had Hamed taken him on props would be due.

He hadn't fought for a belt because he was working his way up Hamed's rankings. When he was finally installed as mandatory, he didn't get his chance. Not through fault of his own, of course.

Naz, I feel, ultimately looked for flaws in his opponents. He liked choosing battle weary, ageing fighters, fighters who he felt he could toy with, fighters he felt were too simple, too unimaganitive for his wild style. Marquez wasn't. He was a textbook Mexican box-fighter who Hamed would have rather body swerved.

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Espinosa - over the hill!!!

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When did that stop him?

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Espinosa - over the hill!!!

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When did that stop him?

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Ha!

Thanks someone for mentioning keving the flushing flash kelly dropped him 3 times, naz to me always looked horrendous in their he fought mosly over seas ::** he got demolished by barrera and would have gotten demolished by morrales, and I cant even find the word for the domnation he would have gotten form pacquio, while were at it rock juarez could have beat him... who else oh that dude that pac had a draw with and who else let me think..

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

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Originally Posted by BIG H

Espinosa - over the hill!!!

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When did that stop him?

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I refer the right honourable gentleman to the response I gave some moments ago ;)

I am not sure who I think was better , Naz or Benn. My pick would probably be Benn. The guy had wars. He was talked about as an opponent of Thomas Hearns and Ray Leonard. I loved his fight with Watson even though he lost, but then he beat Barklay and Dewitt and fought Eubanks. I just think Benn was an incredible fighter. Naz was more attitude than fighter, but Benn was all fighter. His punching is up there with Julian Jackson and Thomas Hearns and John Mugabi. They all have different punching styles, but all of them punched too hard for most guys.

Nige and Naz were the shit, both of them.