The Disastrous Defeat of Prince Naseem - video

[mikeeod]

This was the first fight where you could see MAB’s transformation and elevation to the next level of fighter. He was always a great fighter, but he was more of a seek and destroy, walk you down, JCC type fighter earlier in his career. The first HBO after dark fight I watched was his war with Kennedy McKinney, another really good fighter who matched up well to provide a great kickoff to the show/series.

I think MAB fell in love with that style and thought everyone would wilt against like McKinney had- this is especially true for Junior Jones, who had wilted against John Michael Johnson and had shown vulnerabilities against Darryl Pickney. Junior had MAB’s number though, and styles make fights and something about Jones’s right had a different effect on MAB and Barrera lost two in a row.

Credit to MAB for going back to the drawing board and modifying his style to be a perfect blend of tactical brilliance combined with bursts of pressure and toughness. His jab became such an imposing/daunting weapon that he could completely control the fight with the jab alone- this was the first fight where you started to see that and he only improved until he ran into a young Manny Pacquiaou.

Hamed was a great fighter but he had already started to decline by the Barrera fight- he was better when he was more of a British star/fighter and had suffered from the trappings of success. Or his training suffered. Either way- I don’t feel his heart was in it at this point and he never got back to the top again.