Fighters Who Left The Game Too Soon....

[La_Vibora]

Same here. Doesn't sound like it's going to be all doom and gloom but more or less about people who went to prison or lost heart too early. I did expect the prisoners but not the people who died. Chico should be on that list. The man had style!

I love Chico to death as a fighter, but I thought at the time of his death that he was clearly on the downside of his career.

[jmyersdtn]

I'd agree with that assessment. He was exciting, but I think he'd already fought his best fights.

[KostyaTszyu44]

I love Chico to death as a fighter, but I thought at the time of his death that he was clearly on the downside of his career.

definitely agree with that

[Mugwump]

Rubbish. he was past his best which is why Marco finally gave up his diet shakes, but far far from 'washed up'. He was still a big puncher and would have given a few people trouble.

But that's hardly a glowing endorsement.

Look, I suppose it depends on your PoV. In my opinion, a great fighter should stick with boxing for as long as he retains the majority of those mental and physical faculties which got him to the top. Perhaps I'm being ******ly sentimental but nothing depresses me more than seeing a shell of a former great fumbling pathetically for the tools of his trade from under a heavy pummelling.

Hamed was at his absolute peak in Cardiff against Steve Robinson. I'm not sure there's ever been a FW who could have lived with Naz that night. Bad enough for an opponent that he be one of the hardest hitters P4P we’ve seen over the last thirty years. Even worse that he was also teeing off as quick – if not quicker – than anyone else in the division. But the REAL killer was his unorthodoxy. It seemed like the guy could rain combinations and/or bombs down from any angle or position – including impossible ones.

It’s little wonder fighters were regularly leaving the ring horizontal sucking down huge quan****** of bottled oxygen. Even a moderately heavy hitter stands an above-average chance of scoring a clean KO if he catches you flush and completely unawares. But Hamed almost always landed *******-strength (with punches that started off somewhere around the left ankle). It was in this area that many boxing writers drew comparisons to Roy Jones, although they were never like-for-like (Jones was never as concussive a hitter as Hamed P4P, although he probably was faster) – even if they did amount to pretty much the same thing.

After the Robinson fight it was downhill – and fast. Skip forward a couple of years to the Kevin Kelley fight. Now, there are those who claim the reason Hamed looked so ropey in that fight was the standard of opposition: he’d never been tested against an opponent of this calibre before.

Whilst there is a modicum of truth to that argument, it is by no means the clincher. Yes, Kelley was a top-class fighter. But he himself was similarly on the downhill slope. Even at his best he could never hope to compete with Naz’s A-game.

How Naz went from being the most feared sub-MW fighter on the planet to the lurching, off-balanced slugger that Barerra picked to pieces is a big question. I know that after the Robinson win he pretty much had more money than he knew what to do with. It wasn’t long before he adopted a rock’n roll lifestyle (which has killed the passion and desires of many a professional athlete), began believing the press of his own power and figured himself invincible.

Within 18 months he was a shot fighter.

[alframsey]

Maywether Jnr.!!!

[stefjonno1]

Naz did retire too soon, obviously nobody told him its the way you comeback after a loss which makes a champion great! He was still capable of winning more titles. Now he'll always be rememberd as the guy who got put into retirement be Barrera.

[The Jackal]

Naz did retire too soon, obviously nobody told him its the way you comeback after a loss which makes a champion great! He was still capable of winning more titles. Now he'll always be rememberd as the guy who got put into retirement be Barrera.

Ya couldn't have put it better shame its a sign of a good fighter to overturn defeat as we know another example is Felix Trinidad but different circumstances but as for Naz some fighters careers are only taking off at the age he retired.
I heard he was going to make a come too late though at 32 there were talks of a 6 fight deal with Frank Warren Colin Hart said he'd be better to stay retired hew wouldn't be able to compete his reflex gone & speed + all the weight to boil off he shouldn't have retired he was good box office which is good for the sport so is Trinidad a big puncher & a crowd pleaser at least he made a few come backs but shouldn't have retired he lost what he had.

[Sugarj]

Funnily enough last night I watched Nazeem Hamed vs Manuel Calvo, his one comeback fight after the Barrera loss. To be honest I was quite impressed with Naz, there were definitely rounds where the crowd were booing, obviously baying for a knockout, but Calvo absorbed some sickening shots.

Naz didn't lack speed and his reflexes looked good, some of his defensive work was very eyecatching and it was good to see Naz doing the Ali shuffle before landing blows. Its a shame that he didn't continue, he'd have beaten good fighters on that form.

The one area where Naz seemed lacking was in his combination punching though, he seemed to load up on every punch in his last few fights. When he fought Robinson everything was combinations in threes and fours, some light quick punching, not every blow was a knockout blow and it was artistically superb, plus he got the KO anyway and lets face it Robinson had a good chin. The Naz that faced Robinson would have given Barrera a much better fight, such a shame that his style evolved for the worse.

I'd still like to see Hamed make a comeback, he is not too old at 34, he doesn't have many miles on the clock, the two areas he needs to look at are 1) motivation and 2) the weight he is carrying. He always said he wanted to become a 'legend'. Some legends made successful comebacks after years out of the ring. Leonard, Ali, Tyson. Even his ex stablemates Herol Graham and Ryan Rhodes.

If he is considering coming back as he threatens every now and again,he needs to do it soon. It would be good to see him again before its too late.

[Ian_ST24i]

Here's an article from MaxBoxing about fighters whose careers ended too early. It makes for a good read.....

I'd have liked Hagler to have carried on a bit longer. But that's my heart, not my head telling me. He was obviously slipping against Mugabi, and against Sugar Ray, you'd have thought it was marvin who hadn't fought for 3yrs!

But i'd have loved a rematch with Leonard.