Prince Naseem Hamed and Manny Pacquiao are two undeniable legends of boxing.
Although they competed in different eras, both men were electrifying to watch and drew great crowds around the world because of their hugely entertaining styles.
British fighter Hamed was a flamboyant featherweight known for his speed, unorthodox style and bombastic ring entrances. The Sheffield man held multiple featherweight world championships between 1995 and 2000, and was lineal champion from 1998 to 2001.
‘Pac-Man’ is the only eight-division world champion in boxing history, having won titles from flyweight all the way up to super-welterweight, and most recently competed back in July aged 46, but still managed a draw with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios and now is on the hunt for a world title shot once more.
In a feature that originally appeared in The Ring Magazine, a man who faced both, Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, gave his view that ‘Prince Nas’ was the best of the two.
“It would definitely be Naseem Hamed, because he made it extremely difficult to hit [him]. He would come around from different angles, his boxing approach would be different from the rest, and he stood out from the rest. His punching ability from different positions and an overall tough guy to get a good, solid hit on.”
Barrera was the only man to beat Hamed, and did so in 2001 via unanimous decision. However, in the years since, it has been suggested that Hamed didn’t have the best training camp and was never at his best after he split with his legendary coach, Brendan Ingle.
‘Prince Nas’ fought just once more a year later before retiring, while Pacquiao beat Barrera in 2007 for the WBC featherweight title.
