*MAB vs. NAZ**

[Unknowndonor]

Naz under-estimated how relentless MAB can be on the attack. I also don't think Naz or Emmanuel Steward thought Barrera could jab as good as he can. As for Naz's style, he had already strayed from true boxing, and was just trying to look pretty. I seriously think, both Manny and Naz thought Barrera had aged, or slowed, and Naz could just catch him and Ko MAB. However, they were wrong.

[Wacko3205]

Naz under-estimated how relentless MAB can be on the attack. I also don't think Naz or Emmanuel Steward thought Barrera could jab as good as he can. As for Naz's style, he had already strayed from true boxing, and was just trying to look pretty. I seriously think, both Manny and Naz thought Barrera had aged, or slowed, and Naz could just catch him and Ko MAB. However, they were wrong.

Let me say this...Barrera beat Naz & also beat Steward that night...Mannie was ruined in that corner...he could'nt come up with shat & he couldnt get Naz back in the game.

I've never seen Manny that confused...not even when Klit got the Brewster loss going.

[Unknowndonor]

Naz under-estimated how relentless MAB can be on the attack. I also don't think Naz or Emmanuel Steward thought Barrera could jab as good as he can. As for Naz's style, he had already strayed from true boxing, and was just trying to look pretty. I seriously think, both Manny and Naz thought Barrera had aged, or slowed, and Naz could just catch him and Ko MAB. However, they were wrong.

Let me say this...Barrera beat Naz & also beat Steward that night...Mannie was ruined in that corner...he could'nt come up with shat & he couldnt get Naz back in the game.

I've never seen Manny that confused...not even when Klit got the Brewster loss going.

Total agreement. That's what I was getting at, I just used more words.

[p4pking]

I don't claim to have followed alot of Hameds career or anything.. But to me it seemed like he fought everyone pretty much the same.. I mean his style was so incredibly unorthodox I think he just went in there and relied on his natural reflexes and speed to be illusive and lure other fighters off balance and catch them with his power.. He may have slacked off in training or slowed down a bit even, leading up to MAB... But theres no way the fight would have been any different.. Barerra just boxed him clean and stayed inside the box, which is what every other Nas opponent failed to do.. They'd fall for all his leans and run around after him trying to land.. Barerra just made Naz come to him and box within his range.. Any truly great fighter who did the same would have defeated Naz.. imo.

[Unknowndonor]

Morrales would have destroyed him too.

[Purist]

What in your opinion wen't wrong that night? Naz slacking off in training and depending on his power and not his form caught up to him. And Barerra's training like a demon paid off.

What happend to NAZ that night? He got beat plain and simple, he was only watching Barerra's losses in training camp and was getting beat up by sparring partners and worried about his hair watch "Little Prince, Big Fight" It will show anything and I'm a Hamed fan and after seeing how slacked he was, even I wanted him to get beat.

What did Naz do different? He tried to knock Barerra out with one shot rather then counter punch, make Barerra lead and break Barerra down like he had done in his best years.

What didn't he do? He didn't use his boxing ability, he didn't use his angles and he didn't try to break Barerra down he basically did what Lacy did against Calzaghe, rely on your power and search for a moment to use it that never comes.

[p4pking]

Yes no doubt.. I guess you never know, based on styles I would give Naz a better chance to land on Morales and he could do better, but then again he could do worse, Morales may even have stopped him. but definetly he could not win, imo.

[The_One77]

What in your opinion wen't wrong that night? Naz slacking off in training and depending on his power and not his form caught up to him. And Barerra's training like a demon paid off.

What happend to NAZ that night? He got beat plain and simple, he was only watching Barerra's losses in training camp and was getting beat up by sparring partners and worried about his hair watch "Little Prince, Big Fight" It will show anything and I'm a Hamed fan and after seeing how slacked he was, even I wanted him to get beat.

What did Naz do different? He tried to knock Barerra out with one shot rather then counter punch, make Barerra lead and break Barerra down like he had done in his best years.

What didn't he do? He didn't use his boxing ability, he didn't use his angles and he didn't try to break Barerra down he basically did what Lacy did against Calzaghe, rely on your power and search for a moment to use it that never comes.

yep, and the rest is history

[CopeAli]

What in your opinion wen't wrong that night? For me it was a horrible night, it took me 1 hour to get to my brother's house to watch the fight. I was speeding and the police gave me a ticket. To top it off, I showed up without the beer and I was hated for the rest of the night.

What happend to NAZ that night? NAZ got hit often, and he did not land as many punches. which caused the judges to give points to MAB. I

What did Naz do different? do you mean what would NAZ do different? Please clarify.

What didn't he do? I think he should have hit MAB hard and knock him out. He did not Knock MAB out.

No matter how hard Naseem Hamed tried to knock out Barrera that would not and did not happen. Any version of Hamed would not knock out Barrera in the form that Barrera was in at that particular stage of his career. I've elaborated on this subject many times, but as has been mentioned Naz was neglecting his training etc and the documentary (as already mentioned) went some way to show how self interested and delusional Hamed had become. He was more concerned with getting into the best hotel suite available than the apparently small matter of facing the best featherweight in the world at that time.

How Hamed thought he could knock out Barrera with a single shot is beyond me and i think that he underestimated Barrera a great deal. Simply put, Barrera acted in a professional manner and won the fight by a clear margin showing his class.

I'm pretty sure that Naz may not have been best advised building up to and during the fight and may have been putting a little too much emphasis on the fact that Barrera was knocked out by Junior Jones... Mistake!
Also, the ridiculous Saurez/Steward partnership must have been causing only confusion with both vying for the role as head trainer! I lost a bit of respect for Manny Steward during this period as clearly he was interested in the money which is why he carried on working in that ridiculous role IMO and Hamed had stated that he considered the inexperienced Saurez as head trainer which is insulting to Steward. Manny Steward should have stated from the offset that either he trained Hamed as head coach or not at all because he clearly was not happy with the seemingly bit-part role that he played.
I think the appointment of Steward was aimed at sending a message to Hamed's future opponents that he had the Alleged best trainer in the world working with him, yet this failed to help him develop as a fighter and indeed he regressed IMO which further highlighted the fact that it was a mistake to part ways with Brendan Ingle over no more than money and ('supposedly') lies told in the book 'The Paddy and the Prince.'
However, many fighters part with their long term trainers but i'm of the opinion that if that is to be the case then money should not be an issue and progress as a fighter should. When i initially heard the stories that Hamed was going to appoint Steward i believed that this would help him develop further as a fighter which never turned out to be the case, and from what i've heard, Brendan Ingle was better off without the disrespectful Hamed.

All that said, i believe that the dedicated Hamed who defeated Steve Robinson was quite capable of beating anybody, including Marco Antonio Barrera (if not by KO).. and as i've said before, had Hamed spent more time on his ring craft then he did on his ring entrances (in the latter part of his career) then he would have gave himself a greater chance against Barrera.

[BrooklyniteQueen]

If Naz had the dedication of a PBF who puts as much in his entrances but trains like a dog then he wouldn't have had to worry. Thing I like about PBF is that he talks so much trash but it only means he trains that hard. But he gets real frustrating sometimes and goes over the line. Would have been fun to see Naz and PBF fight at Super feather. But at that time Naz was pretty much a one punch guy.

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Y'know Starr is right.

Tactically Barrera's crew got it right and Naz didn't. Barrera has often said it was mentally probably his toughest fight because they had a strict gameplan to stick to, which was essentially, back off and make Hamed lead, do not get involved and leave yourself open to bombs. When barrera got a little enthusiatic and began to trade I think it might have been about round 5 or 6 his corner gave him a slap for doing what he want is more his thing.

By this time in Naz's career he was relying on single shots and I don't think having Manny in the corner made any difference as it appears naz didn't listen to him while training anyway.

[Saddo]

alot of Naz's success was because most of his punches came from odd angles and they say the ones you done see coming are the ones that knock you out.... this was old hat and Barrera worked it out and took over from where Kevin Kelly left off... unlike Kelly, Barrea never got involved and just boxed his head off.

also Manny tried to turn Naz into a boxer and not the wild exciting swinger he was. which i now find strange because if you look at the Kelly fight Manny is comenting on it and says when Naz is outhodox he is losing

or there is the other thing that the beer that was thown at him on his enterance got in his eye

but to say Naz never beat some good fighters is tosh... he did.

what he didnt do is show the belly of a fighter by getting straight back on the horse after falling off

[jbirdy]

naz got battered that night yeah. but he wasnt on form and he had been slacking in the training. he was more concerened about his hair style and his gay ring entrance thing he did with the circus thing bloating down to the ring. and he didnt flip the ropes which he always does, he wasnt on the ball and paid the price. but he was a very talented quick little boxer who could have beat the barrera we have seen a few times e.g the junior jones 1 barrera or maybe the pac man barrera

[LaceEmUp]

Naz's showmanship became the biggest show of arrogance ever....turning off even his own supporters.

The climax was the 'Great Allah Show' for the Barrera fight.

I reckon he actually started to believe he had the gift & divine right to win against anyone.
As Barrera said pre-fight I am also a very good catholic ....but in the ring Allah won't be there to help, it will be 2 men against each other.

Naz relied too much on sharp reflex rather than establish a defence...also that he could pick his best shots to land on anyone, which never happened with MAB.

MAB boxed very directly, with good defense & excellent counters....that defeat was coming to Naz at this stage & I was glad it was Barrera who taught him.

[The_One77]

what he didnt do is show the belly of a fighter by getting straight back on the horse after falling off

and that's the bottom line
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