In Honor of the Little Men

With Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes facing off in the main event tonight, I naturally started thinking back on some of the great boxing matches facing two of the top little men. While this PPV will likely do 200,000 buys it is a shame that Mendes and Aldo will be overlooked by most fans tonight. It is pretty rare when you have two dominant fighters in a lower weight class and normally when they meet, it makes for a great fight.

Here are some great recent fights featuring the little men of the sport.

First up is Naseem Hamed vs Kevin Kelley, the 1997 FOTY, these little featherweights (126) waged an epic bout that featured multiple knockdowns for both fighters in only 4 rounds. Naseem was a freak athlete who did everything wrong but got away with it, a la Roy Jones Jr. But, he had never fought on american soil and he had never faced anyone like Kevin Kelley.

Naseem Hamed vs Kevin Kelley Fight of the Year 1997 (HL) (via bwninefilms)

Naseem Hamed vs Marco Antonio Barrerra - Ging into this fight Hamed was considered one of the hardest hitting little men in the history of the sport. He was knocking everybody out with slaps (think Diaz style, not straight)Marco Antonio Barrerra exposed all of Hamed's flaws and it made for one of the most entertaining fights I have ever watched. Turnbuckle at the end was epic.

Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Naseem Hamed (Highlights) (via ErraticBoxing)

Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrerra - these two waged 3 wars, but the first one was the bests in my opinion. simply put, this was the battle for Mexico and they didn't come up short. Tough fight to score. Every fight was close.

Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera Trilogy pt.1 (via JwGacey1)