Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera shared the ring with a number of elite level operators during his glittering professional career.

Known as the ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’, Barrera is often regarded as being one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time, winning world titles in several weight classes during his tenure.

Barrera shared the ring with a number of elite level opponents during the peak of his career, including the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales, Prince Naseem Hamed and Manny Pacquiao.

He is perhaps best known for his memorable trilogy saga with countryman Morales, producing several memorable encounters between February 2000 and November 2004.

In a feature with The Ring Magazine, Barrera was asked to reveal the best boxer that he ever shared a ring with, naming none other than British boxing great Naseem Hamed.

“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.”

Hamed is widely considered to be one of the greatest British fighters ever, winning multiple versions of the world featherweight championship during his storied professional career.

‘Naz’ suffered the only defeat of his career to Barrera when they fought back in April of 2001, falling short to the Mexican star in what would prove to be the penultimate bout of his tenure.