When the dust settles in Las Vegas tonight, Naseem Hamed will hope he has taken his first steps towards genuine boxing greatness with the defining moment of his career in an epic featherweight battle with Marco Antonio Barrera.

The cynics would have us believe that Hamed's 35 fights to date, in which he has remained undefeated, count for little and the real test starts now. Bring on Barrera, the classic Mexican hard man, they jibe, and we will see what Hamed really is.

The only title on the line belongs to something called the International Boxing Organisation and, even in the fight game's chaotic scheme of things, its belt is worthless. Honour is tonight's true prize, along with the right for the winner to say he is the best nine-stone fighter on earth.

If styles make fights, this has all the ingredients to be fascinating while it lasts. There is no secret in the strategies. The 27year-old Barrera has marched forward putting non-stop pressure on his opponents with thunderous body shots and two-fisted attacks throughout a professional career that began when he was just 15-years-old. He may be a quietly-spoken, intelligent man, but the method that has brought 52 victories against three defeats is that of sustained aggression.

Hamed, also 27, thrives in a situation where he is able to counter-punch. When his opponent bores in, as Barrera surely will, Hamed will use his exceptional mobility to pick his man off with combinations of blinding speed and devastating power thrown from the craziest and least expected of angles. At least that is the theory.

Barrera's camp would argue that Hamed's is a ragged fighting style in which he makes so many errors and leaves himself exposed so often that a boxer of the Mexican's pedigree simply cannot miss. And, where Hamed's reactions once kept him out of trouble, nine years as a professional have seen him become a less elusive target.

It has all led to Las Vegas and something which has not always been associated with Hamed's career: namely a genuine fight where it is perfectly feasible for either man to win.

Hamed admits: "If I lose this, nobody will remember anything of what went before. We are two fighters in our prime and something has to give. I can't wait."

The key to the fight may be Hamed's power. While it would be ludicrous to say he has only the proverbial puncher's chance of victory - that might suggest Barrera will be the man in control, with Hamed hoping to land the one big hit to decide the issue - there is no doubt the outcome hinges on whether Barrera is able to take the power shots, particularly Hamed's right hook and uppercut.

The Irishman Wayne McCullough, who went the distance with Hamed in Atlantic City in 1998, says: "Nas has got unbelievable power for a featherweight. People don't realise what strength he has. The first time he hit me, he put a shiver down my spine.

"If Barrera takes the shots, and gets through the fight, he could win on points. But he never fights going backwards. Hamed has got amazing footwork if he uses it, and if he's smart he'll box his way ahead behind his jab.

"I actually think he was a better fighter when he was with Brendan Ingle [the Sheffield trainer Hamed joined as a seven-year-old], he moved better. Now he just wants to stand there and knock you out with every punch. But I think Naz will box Barrera for two or three rounds, then knock him out."

Barrera, who lost twice four years ago to the erratic New Yorker Junior Jones, would not have been fancied against Hamed then, but his stunning performance against his fellow Mexican Erik Morales in February 2000 made many think again. Morales got a judges' verdict but, in the eyes of the boxing world, Barrera won.

However, the Barrera-Morales confrontation was at eight stone 10 pound. Now Barrera must step up to fight in Hamed's division and we will learn whether he can survive as a featherweight.

Nevertheless, there is little doubt Barrera will send Hamed to an embarrassing defeat should the Briton produce the sort of ill-disciplined performance he served up in his last contest, when the unheralded Augie Sanchez made him look little better than a bar-room brawler. Hamed has had almost eight months out since then, so he could be ring rusty.

Emanuel Steward, one of the greatest trainers ever, will be in Hamed's corner and likens tonight's match to the unforgettable meeting of Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns in 1985, which Hagler won after just eight minutes of mayhem. If so, boxing should be the winner whatever the outcome, although Hamed's power may just see him through.