“I’m right here coaching the best featherweight of all time!”
None apart from Emanuel Steward spoke these phrases, three weeks earlier than Prince Naseem Hamed confronted Marco Antonio Barrera within the largest little battle cash might purchase in 2001. Manny had simply arrived at Hamed’s Palm Springs coaching camp when he made his declaration to a cameraman filming for British tv. Steward was all the time a sucker for giant punchers, so with that in thoughts maybe we are able to flip a blind eye to a relatively suspect assertion which little question prompted George Dixon, Jim Driscoll, Johnny Kilbane, Willie Pep, Sandy Saddler and several other others to spin of their graves. However regardless of Steward’s excessive reward and spirits, what he encountered upon his arrival in Palm Springs represented a get up name which each the legendary coach and his champion couldn’t ignore.
Whereas Hamed had already been coaching for 4 weeks earlier than Manny’s arrival, he’d spent most of that point making an attempt to do away with about 35 kilos of extra weight which hung stubbornly to his 5’ 4’’ body. This helped clarify his subpar efficiency in sparring that day, which left Steward aggravated and apologetic earlier than the cameras. “Gotta do much more work!” was Steward’s chilly retort when the journalist requested whether or not he preferred what he noticed within the ring.
Trying again, it might be exhausting to understand the large media phenomenon Naseem Hamed had turn into. Steamrolling tepid opposition and upping the showmanship ante with every subsequent ring entrance, Hamed cultivated unparalleled reputation amid the decrease weight courses, which helped him accrue over $40 million in purses earlier than assembly Barrera. Because of a stoppage win over a pale Wilfredo Vasquez three years earlier than, he was the lineal champion, boasting an undefeated file of 32 knockouts in 34 fights. The encounter with the “Child-Confronted Murderer” would web him an additional $8.5 million, an incredible sum for a featherweight, even these days. To place issues in perspective, Manny Pacquiao didn’t make even half that for any battle throughout his featherweight heyday.
Marco Antonio Barrera was additionally making ready in California for the battle, within the small metropolis of Huge Bear only a couple hours’ drive from Palm Springs. Marco was a much more completed boxer than anybody Hamed would ever face, to not point out extra completed than Hamed himself. Nonetheless, the Mexican was a strong 3-to-1 underdog, and among the many boxing intelligentsia his odds have been significantly worse, as solely two out of 30 “specialists” polled on battle evening would decide him to win. However none of this bothered Barrera, who, when requested whether or not he felt jealous of Hamed’s reputation, declared he was grateful for it. At $1.8 million, his cheque for this battle was simply the most important he’d ever cashed.
On reflection, maybe those that so confidently picked in opposition to the Mexican have been guided by latest historical past and nothing else. Regardless of his extremely unorthodox preventing model—his fingers hanging by his waist, his punches huge and lunging, his legs all the time struggling awkwardly in opposition to gravity’s pull on his unbalanced higher physique—Hamed harnessed punching energy of the type that left followers’ mouths agape and opponents mendacity flat on the canvas. Eight months earlier, Naz had scored an impressively violent knockout over Augie Sanchez, who needed to be carried away on a stretcher.
Barrera, however, was on the comeback path after his grueling battle with Erik Morales, which noticed him drop a controversial break up resolution. In distinction to Hamed, and regardless of being the identical age because the Brit, the 27-year-old Barrera was already a well-tested former champion with memorable battles in opposition to Kennedy McKinney, Jesse Benavides, Junior Jones and Morales beneath his belt. Moreover, in difficult Hamed for the featherweight championship, Marco was arising in weight, a less-than-ideal circumstance for somebody about to face a harmful puncher. However with a punishing jab and a dynamite left hook to the physique, the courageous Barrera was unafraid to combine it up, possessing an uncanny consciousness for when to press the motion and when to attend and react to his opponent to unleash his offense.
The distinction in preventing kinds was solely a part of the story. A form of fable was being written, to which Hamed vs Barrera would offer the ending. Whereas Hamed’s luxurious way of life and extraordinary ego have been nicely documented, there was a sense that his success had arrived too quickly, and maybe too simply. The conflict with Barrera marked a protracted overdue step up in competitors, the final word take a look at of “The Prince’s” true high quality. Victory would function vindication of his God-given expertise and go a way in direction of justifying his vainness. Defeat, however, would signify a significant fall from grace, and even perhaps opprobrium from his followers who had swallowed complete the thought of Hamed as a once-in-a-lifetime expertise, regardless of his lack of credentials and full disregard of traditional boxing method.
In looking for simply the precise opponent for Hamed’s crowning, Manny Steward had steered away from one other proficient Mexican in Juan Manuel Marquez, whose counterpunching model Steward thought of the proper antidote to Hamed’s, and settled as an alternative for Barrera, whom he perceived to be extra of a brawler and thus a greater goal for Hamed’s explosive punches. Observers and odds-makers appeared to purchase into this storyline, however what many failed to understand was that Hamed’s lack of focus in coaching and his overconfidence have been colluding in opposition to him. Along with his struggles to make weight, Hamed appeared much less anxious about “The Child-Confronted Murderer” than about trying good for the cameras, getting the most effective suite on the MGM Grand, and flying in his hairdresser in time for the battle.
To compound all this, as an alternative of an over-the-hill Barrera, the model Hamed encountered on the MGM Grand was one able to placed on the efficiency of a lifetime. In making ready for Naz, the Mexican had a terrific camp, coaching with the ascetic focus and depth of a Tibetan monk. “Hamed talks and talks about Allah, however Allah received’t assist him when he’s within the ring,” a assured Barrera, unbothered by Hamed’s notions of predestination, informed the press. Moreover, the Mexican went out of his approach to emphasize his want to go to battle with Hamed, psyching the champion into considering he might depend on his thunderous left hand to counter-punch the Mexican.
Thus, looking back, the stage was set for a significant upset. In spite of everything, Hamed was not alone in believing his God-given expertise can be greater than sufficient to defeat Barrera. Hundreds of British devoted congregated on the MGM Grand Backyard Enviornment to see their hero go to battle, and the chances and specialists additionally backed Naseem’s energy over no matter Barrera had left within the tank. But when the Mexican took offense to the unflattering odds or the put-downs from the media, he didn’t present it. A serene Marco walked to the ring sporting a poker face which made it clear that going to battle with a harmful puncher pressured him about as a lot as a go to to the put up workplace.
On the bell, the distinction of personalities was shortly evident. The primary spherical noticed the flashy Naz play to the gang and grimace at Barrera as he head-hunted together with his highly effective left hand, able to pounce as quickly as Barrera attacked. However it quickly grew to become evident Marco was not going to deliver the battle to Naseem. As an alternative, the challenger boxed cautiously: probing with a stiff jab, sometimes adopted by a straight proper, and touchdown some heavy counter left hooks that rocked Naz’s unsteady head when The Prince acquired off first. On the finish of the spherical, to punctuate his dominance, the Mexican shot three fierce jabs in succession at Hamed’s head, an irreverent and surprising transfer which made it clear that Naz was in for a protracted evening.
Within the second, Hamed turned up the tough ways to attempt to assert himself, shoving and grabbing after he missed with left fingers to disclaim the challenger an opportunity to counter. Barrera, all the time the proud warrior, refused to be bullied. With somewhat over a minute left within the stanza Hamed lunged ahead and missed with a wild proper, just for the Mexican to deal with him to the canvas after which pin him there as if saying, Sufficient of that!
By the center rounds, each fighters have been absolutely dedicated to their methods. Hamed tried repeatedly to land his power-shots, however Barrera’s plan to circle away from Hamed’s left put him in an awesome spot to fireplace his personal left hooks, which related with authority on Hamed’s physique and head. At this level it grew to become evident Hamed had no plan B and, until he acquired within the fortunate shot that might flip issues round, his one-dimensionality can be his undoing. Then again, regardless of his success, Barrera remained affected person and refused to interact in a brawl, figuring out this may give Naz the most effective probability to capitalize on his energy.
Within the second half of the battle Barrera pulled forward on the scorecards, additional exposing Hamed’s tactical weaknesses and lack of creativity. On the identical time, the Brit’s inexperience and poor preparation disallowed him from competing in opposition to a high expertise who—regardless of the incantations of the media–was not in the least over the hill, not but anyway. As 1000’s of Mexicans cheered his countryman on, the ticketholders who had travelled throughout the Atlantic—to not point out the “specialists” who had picked in opposition to Barrera—puzzled simply what the hell was happening. Hamed vs Barrera was proving to be a one-sided rout as Barrera placed on a boxing clinic in opposition to a harmful puncher when each assertion he had made earlier than the match indicated he needed to brawl. The Mexican had fully re-written the script everybody had memorized, turning what was imagined to be Hamed’s coronation right into a humiliation.
By spherical ten Manny Steward began begging Naz for a knockout, however by the point the bell rang for the twelfth Barrera was simply three minutes away from a dominant win. Nonetheless, Hamed got here out swinging within the ultimate stanza, trying to find the one massive shot that might salvage the evening and his undefeated file. Hamed’s reckless assault didn’t impress Barrera, nonetheless, who determined to place an finish to Naz’s frenetic swinging by trapping Hamed in an arm-lock and pinning him face-first to a nook put up, like a cop apprehending an insolent hoodlum.
Barrera misplaced a degree for that transfer, however this would show a mere footnote in what grew to become considered one of Marco’s best performances and maybe his largest win. Or, maybe Marco’s arm-locking of Hamed serves as a pleasant allegory of the competition: a visible illustration of the domination of consummate professionalism and hard-won knowledge over Hamed’s unrefined ring gymnastics. In any case, it was now clear to all who was the superior fighter; all three scorecards declared Barrera the winner and new featherweight champion of the world.
Barrera had examined the phenomenon that was Hamed, and regardless of his mass following, hundreds of thousands of {dollars} within the financial institution, Manny Steward being in his nook, and a depraved punch, The Prince did not provide you with any solutions on battle evening. Barrera proved that within the face of an awesome problem the most effective recipe is a targeted method and full dedication to the duty at hand, versus conceitedness and self-entitlement. In boxing, true greatness can’t be manufactured, and it actually isn’t God-given; quite the opposite, it must be earned via exhausting work and sacrifice. Barrera understood this fact; it’s exhausting to know whether or not Hamed ever did.
Steward would declare years later that Hamed’s overconfidence acquired in the best way of his preparation for Barrera. “It’s a disgrace Hamed by no means fought Barrera once more,” Steward stated, believing the outcome would’ve been completely different in a rematch with a fully-focused Prince. Nonetheless, regardless of Hamed’s declaration within the post-fight interview that he would train his rematch clause in opposition to the Mexican, Naz by no means did; he fought yet one more time earlier than retiring for good. The Prince cited his brittle fingers as the rationale for hanging up the gloves, however as an alternative of fragile bones one wonders if it wasn’t extra a case of Naseem’s fragile confidence sustaining a blow from which it might by no means get better. The lights have been by no means brighter, the stage by no means grander, and on that evening Hamed was not solely defeated; he was embarrassed. The very fact he by no means took his shot at redemption solely provides to the case in opposition to him as a very nice fighter.
As issues turned out, the evening of April 7, 2001 was not about Naseem Hamed, as so many had thought. As an alternative it was concerning the resurgence of Marco Antonio Barrera who, after his nice upset win, launched into a long term on the high, happening to earn hundreds of thousands in battles with Morales, Marquez, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley and Manny Pacquiao. Barrera actually made probably the most of his shot at glory, and by doing so modified our notion of his skills. The Hamed battle marks a watershed in Barrera’s profession, as he shifted from a brawling model to that of an environment friendly boxer. Displaying endurance and intelligence, however with out abandoning his ferocity, Barrera took middle stage on the theater of the surprising and dismantled the wild and harmful opponent favored to defeat him. Given the stakes concerned and the stunning method by which the match unfolded, it’s the form of victory we’ll bear in mind for a protracted, very long time to come back. –Rafael Garcia
