Naseem Hamed vs. Marco Antonio Barrera, billed as Playing with Fire, was a professional boxing match contested on April 7, 2001, for the vacant IBO title and Hamed's lineal featherweight championship.
A fight between Naseem Hamed and Marco Antonio Barrera, which had been years in the making, was finally agreed upon in November 2000 for a March 3, 2001 date.[1] 3 months prior, Hamed, who had held the WBO featherweight title for nearly five years and had successfully defended it 15 times, decided to vacate the title rather than take less money to face mandatory challengerIstván Kovács.[2] However, as he had not lost in the ring, he was still regarded as the "lineal" champion. Barrera was the reigning WBO super bantamweight champion and was moving up to the featherweight division for the first time and, as a result, was instilled as a 3–1 underdog.[3] In January, the planned March 3 date was scrapped and instead the fight was announced to be taken place on April 7 instead in order for both fighters to finalize their contracts.[4] Hamed, who was making his American pay-per-view debut, was guaranteed a purse of $6 million while Barrera would earn $2 million.[5]
The fightedit
The usually aggressive Barrera changed his usual technique to combat the unorthodox Hamed, thoroughly outboxing Hamed throughout the contest. Barrera stood back for the entire fight, never charging towards Hamed in an effort to neutralize Hamed's powerful left-handed counter-punch. Hamed, who had not expected Barrera to take this approach, had trouble landing any offence as Barrera circled away and landed many counter-punches whenever Hamed attempted to engage him. In the 12th and final round, Barrera briefly abandoned his approach an began aggressively attacking Hamed before reverting to his previous tactic. Hamed, knowing he was behind on the scorecards, began swinging at Barrera wildly in hopes of scoring a knockout. During one such encounter, Hamed missed Barrera with a wild left hook leading to Barrera to lock Hamed into a full-nelson and drill his head into the turnbuckle, for which Barrera was deducted a point. However, the lost point would have no bearing on the result as Barrera would earn a unanimous decision victory with two scores of 115–112 and one score of 116–111. For Hamed, it was his first and only professional loss.[6]
Aftermathedit
After the bout, Hamed expressed interest in a rematch with Barrera, stating "I want Barrera again. I'm going to knock him out." Hamed held a rematch clause that he had to invoke within two months of this fight should he want to face Barrera in an immediate rematch. However, the two-month deadline came and went with no word from Hamed or his camp and Barrera moved on to face Enrique Sánchez instead.[7] Hamed finally announced in February 2002 that he would face unknown Spanish fighter Manuel Calvo on March 23, though the bout was later pushed back to May 18.[8] After over a year of inactivity Hamed would beat Calvo by unanimous decision in what would prove to be the final match of his career.
Barrera would vacate his newly won IBO featherweight title immediately following his victory. Initially his manager announced plans for Barrera to return to his previous weight division of super bantamweight and defend the WBO championship still in his possession, however Barrera ultimately decided to remain in the featherweight division, which he would remain until 2004.[9]
Referencesedit
^Hamed-Barrera deal done, BBC article, 2000-11-12 Retrieved on 2020-01-01
^Hamed Loses Last World Belt, Telegraph article, 2000-08-21 Retrieved on 2020-01-06
^Naz Well Beaten in Vegas, Irish Times article, 200`-04-08 retrieved on 2020-01-12
^Hamed in Las Vegas date with Barrera, Telegraph article, 2001-01-23 retrieved on 2020-01-12
^THE PRINCE OF POMP ; HAMED WON’T STOP DANCING TO OWN TUNE, NY Post article, 2001-02-15 retrieved on 2020-01-12
^GLAM ROCKED PRINCE NASEEM HAMED'S GLITZ WAS NO MATCH FOR THE GRIT OF MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA IN THEIR FEATHERWEIGHT SHOWDOWN, Sports Illustrated article, 2001-04-16 Retrieved on 2020-01-12
^Hamed Fighting Shy of Barrera Rematch, Telegraph article, 2001-06-16 Retrieved on 2020-01-12
^Prince Naseem Announces Comeback, Irish Times article, 2002-02-01 Retrieved on 2020-01-12
^Barrera Spurns Title, Telegraph article, 2001-04-12 Retrieved on 2020-01-12
January 01, 1970
naseem, hamed, marco, antonio, barrera, billed, playing, with, fire, professional, boxing, match, contested, april, 2001, vacant, title, hamed, lineal, featherweight, championship, playing, with, firedateapril, 2001venuemgm, grand, garden, arena, paradise, nev. Naseem Hamed vs Marco Antonio Barrera billed as Playing with Fire was a professional boxing match contested on April 7 2001 for the vacant IBO title and Hamed s lineal featherweight championship Playing with FireDateApril 7 2001VenueMGM Grand Garden Arena Paradise Nevada U S Title s on the linevacant IBO featherweight titleTale of the tapeBoxerNaseem HamedMarco Antonio BarreraNicknamePrinceThe Baby Faced AssassinHometownSheffield EnglandMexico City MexicoPre fight record35 0 31 KO 52 3 40 KO Height5 ft 3 in 160 cm 5 ft 7 in 170 cm Weight126 lb 57 kg 125 1 2 lb 57 kg StyleSouthpawOrthodoxRecognitionFormer unified featherweight championThe Ring No 6 ranked pound for pound fighterWBO super bantamweight championResultBarrera wins via 12 round unanimous decision 115 112 116 111 115 112 Contents 1 Background 2 The fight 3 Aftermath 4 ReferencesBackground editA fight between Naseem Hamed and Marco Antonio Barrera which had been years in the making was finally agreed upon in November 2000 for a March 3 2001 date 1 3 months prior Hamed who had held the WBO featherweight title for nearly five years and had successfully defended it 15 times decided to vacate the title rather than take less money to face mandatory challenger Istvan Kovacs 2 However as he had not lost in the ring he was still regarded as the lineal champion Barrera was the reigning WBO super bantamweight champion and was moving up to the featherweight division for the first time and as a result was instilled as a 3 1 underdog 3 In January the planned March 3 date was scrapped and instead the fight was announced to be taken place on April 7 instead in order for both fighters to finalize their contracts 4 Hamed who was making his American pay per view debut was guaranteed a purse of 6 million while Barrera would earn 2 million 5 The fight editThe usually aggressive Barrera changed his usual technique to combat the unorthodox Hamed thoroughly outboxing Hamed throughout the contest Barrera stood back for the entire fight never charging towards Hamed in an effort to neutralize Hamed s powerful left handed counter punch Hamed who had not expected Barrera to take this approach had trouble landing any offence as Barrera circled away and landed many counter punches whenever Hamed attempted to engage him In the 12th and final round Barrera briefly abandoned his approach an began aggressively attacking Hamed before reverting to his previous tactic Hamed knowing he was behind on the scorecards began swinging at Barrera wildly in hopes of scoring a knockout During one such encounter Hamed missed Barrera with a wild left hook leading to Barrera to lock Hamed into a full nelson and drill his head into the turnbuckle for which Barrera was deducted a point However the lost point would have no bearing on the result as Barrera would earn a unanimous decision victory with two scores of 115 112 and one score of 116 111 For Hamed it was his first and only professional loss 6 Aftermath editAfter the bout Hamed expressed interest in a rematch with Barrera stating I want Barrera again I m going to knock him out Hamed held a rematch clause that he had to invoke within two months of this fight should he want to face Barrera in an immediate rematch However the two month deadline came and went with no word from Hamed or his camp and Barrera moved on to face Enrique Sanchez instead 7 Hamed finally announced in February 2002 that he would face unknown Spanish fighter Manuel Calvo on March 23 though the bout was later pushed back to May 18 8 After over a year of inactivity Hamed would beat Calvo by unanimous decision in what would prove to be the final match of his career Barrera would vacate his newly won IBO featherweight title immediately following his victory Initially his manager announced plans for Barrera to return to his previous weight division of super bantamweight and defend the WBO championship still in his possession however Barrera ultimately decided to remain in the featherweight division which he would remain until 2004 9 References edit Hamed Barrera deal done BBC article 2000 11 12 Retrieved on 2020 01 01 Hamed Loses Last World Belt Telegraph article 2000 08 21 Retrieved on 2020 01 06 Naz Well Beaten in Vegas Irish Times article 200 04 08 retrieved on 2020 01 12 Hamed in Las Vegas date with Barrera Telegraph article 2001 01 23 retrieved on 2020 01 12 THE PRINCE OF POMP HAMED WON T STOP DANCING TO OWN TUNE NY Post article 2001 02 15 retrieved on 2020 01 12 GLAM ROCKED PRINCE NASEEM HAMED S GLITZ WAS NO MATCH FOR THE GRIT OF MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA IN THEIR FEATHERWEIGHT SHOWDOWN Sports Illustrated article 2001 04 16 Retrieved on 2020 01 12 Hamed Fighting Shy of Barrera Rematch Telegraph article 2001 06 16 Retrieved on 2020 01 12 Prince Naseem Announces Comeback Irish Times article 2002 02 01 Retrieved on 2020 01 12 Barrera Spurns Title Telegraph article 2001 04 12 Retrieved on 2020 01 12 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Naseem Hamed vs Marco Antonio Barrera amp oldid 1210999418, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
