He was brash! He was extremely confident!. He was The Prince of Sheffield!
Naseem Salom Ali Hamed, born on 12th February, 1974, was destined for stardom ever since he entered the Ingle gym in Wincobank, Sheffield, England, at the age of seven.
Brendan Ingle, trainer of the gym, soon recognised his talent and by the tender age of 12, that famous arrogance that he was soon to be known for all around the world began to peak when he told Boxing News editor, Harry Mullan: “You ought to write a story about me, I’m going to be a world champion!”
Hamed soon went on to win The National Schoolboy Boxing Championship a total of five times and the Junior Amateur Boxing Association title twice.
Ingle noticed that Hamed left his hands extremely low, often relying on his foot speed and quick reflexes to move his upper body to avoid attacks from opponents.
At age 18, in 1992, it was time for Naseem to turn professional and he won his pro debut inside two rounds, knocking out Ricky Beard.
Hamed went on to win his next ten bouts before fighting for the EBU bantamweight title, winning that on points with a Unanimous Decision victory over Vincenzo Belcastro.
Two bouts later, he fought Freddy Cruz for the vacant WBC International Super Bantamweight crown, beating Cruz by TKO in 6.
Defenses of that title followed but world title destiny was right around the corner for Hamed when he got the chance to fight Welshman, Steve Robinson, for the WBO Featherweight title in 1995 at the Cardiff Arms Park in Wales.
Robinson was widely outclassed by Hamed and was left to look bemused and befuddled by the young 21 year old.
Already having been floored, Robinson was stopped in the 8th round and Naseem Hamed became the new WBO world featherweight champion!
It was going to be the start of a 5 year title defense reign for the man from Sheffield.
His first title defense came in March, 1996, against Said Lawal, as British support to Frank Bruno’s world title defense against Mike Tyson in Las Vegas.
It was a quick night for Hamed as he knocked down Lawal with the first punch he threw and landed, the knockout coming seconds later and the fight was all over in the first round, much to the disappointment of the crowd.
His next title defense, however, panned out a little differently and not in a good way for The Prince when he fought Daniel Alicea in Newcastle.
Hamed was put down for the first time in his career in the first round with a sweeping right hook that sent him on the seat of his pants to the canvas.
Naz was up quickly, probably due more to shock than anything else but came back to beat Alicea in the next round, the second.
His title defenses seemed to be getting harder for him when he fought Manuel Medina in Dublin, Ireland, and it was only his third!
Hamed seemed to be having his own way when he knocked the experienced Medina down in the second but the Mexican’s grit and determination saw him get up and battle Hamed for the next 10 rounds, knocking out Hamed’s gumshield and rocking him in the process.
Medina finally retired at the end of the 11th round when he must have known that the WBO champion was starting to gain the upper hand on him in the last few rounds.
Naseem Hamed had one more routine title defense against Remigio Molina in Manchester, winning by an easy knockout in the second round, before getting a unification match with well respected and experienced IBF Featherweight champion, Tom Johnson!
The fight took place in Millwall, London, and many thought Hamed may be in over his head here.
That was not the case as Johnson, like so many other past opponents of Hamed, was simply outclassed and was too slow to catch the fast Hamed except for the end of the third round, when Johnson caught Hamed with a right on the bell which looked to have sent him to one knee but was not counted!
Hamed became IBF champion when he put Johnson away in the 8th round with a devastating uppercut that left the American on the canvas, lying on his front and failing to beat the count.
At the end of 1997, America came calling and Naseem got his chance to show the Americans what his talent was all about when he fought Kevin Kelley at Madison Square Garden, New York, in what turned out to be one of the most memorable featherweight fights!
Hamed and Kelley had no disdain for one another, the build up being all friendly but fun banter for the fans and themselves but things got serious in the ring when Kelley was left waiting for so long when Naseem Hamed’s ring entrance went wrong which prevented him from entering the ring.
Once Hamed was able to make his way out, the two Featherweights exchanged more friendly verbal banter as they were both introduced by Michael Buffer.
In the first round, Hamed was caught by a terrific right hook that twisted his head around and sent him sprawling to the canvas.
Hamed was up quickly and was able to finish the round.
In round 2, Kelley, again, knocked down Hamed with another right that, again, twisted his head around, this time looking more severely, and Hamed touched down with his gloves and took a count by referee, Benjy Esteves, Jr.
Moments later, Hamed, caught Kelley with a fantastic right of his own that sent Kelley to the canvas. The man who called himself ‘The Flushing Flash’ looked hurt as he got up but came right back at Hamed, determined not to lose the battle!
In the third round, knockdowns were missing but Kelley seemed to be outclassing Hamed with his boxing skills and was catching the cocky Englishman with punches as he came in.
The 4th and final round of the fight was another classic round but it was about to be all the crowd and fight fans around the world were going to get as both fighters, again, hit the deck, Kelley being the first as he was caught by left’s.
He got up to catch Hamed with a quick right hand which sent him touching down and counted.
Naz didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed as he came right back to deck Kelley with a massive right hand to end the fight and settle the score!
Kelley failed to beat the count as he struggled to get to his feet and the referee waved the fight over.
In the post fight interview with Larry Merchant, Hamed claimed he wanted an exciting fight for the crowd and that he had that particular war for the crowd.
Kelley insisted that he hit harder than Hamed, had the better skills and was still the better fighter.
The two never met in the ring again!
It was onwards and upwards for Hamed, though, as he returned back to his native England and next fought and beat former WBA Featherweight champion, Wilfredo Vazquez in 8 rounds in a rather, and strangely, mundane fight.
Hamed captured wins over former bantamweight champion, Wayne McCullough, in New Jersey, USA, and Paul Ingle, the rugged Yorkshireman from Scarborough, England.
The WBC title was next when Naz fought Cesar Soto in what turned out to be more of a wrestling match than a boxing match as the two excessively held one another in an extraordinarily scrappy match in which, at one point, Hamed body slammed Soto to the canvas, resulting in a point deduction for himself.
#Nevertheless, Hamed got the victory with a points win, winning with scores as wide as 116-109!
In 2000, Naseem fought the hard hitting Augie Sanchez and was, again, sent to the canvas but won the fight in the 4th round and sent Sanchez to be collected from the ring in a stretcher in a rather frightening looking scenario.
However, all those title defenses, tv appearances, fan popularity and general hype were all going to come crashing down on Naseem Hamed when he fought the famed Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas in 2001.
Having left trainer, Brendan Ingle, some years before when cracks in their relationship soon appeared before the McCullough fight, Hamed was not the elusive boxer he once was and was taught by new trainer, Oscar Suarez, to box in a more orthodox style.
Thinking that, like all of his previous opponents, that Barrera would be a formality win, Hamed was shocked into defeat by the Mexican when, all of a sudden, he lost for the first time in his career!
It was even difficult to think of a round that Hamed could have won as Barrera successfully countered Hamed time and time again and the Prince was eventually dethroned with a unanimous points victory in Barrera’s favour.
No excuses came from Hamed as he admitted that Barrera was the better man but rumours eventually came out that Naseem wasn’t taking the fight seriously and was actually more interested in getting his hair cut than study tapes of Barrera, shown in a documentary titled, ‘Little Prince, Big Fight’, which aired on British television not long after Hamed’s defeat!
Naseem stated that he was determined to come back from defeat but this time there would be no razzle dazzle and that he would work hard to get back where he was before.
This was not to be as he fought to a boring points win over Manuel Calvo which had the crowd booing in disapproval!
Hamed never boxed again, and still has not to this day, but has ocassionally stated that he has not officially retired and that a comeback is always a possibility.
I struggle to think that would ever become a reality judging by Hamed’s current physical state, having ballooned up to a shocking amount of weight.
Fans will never forget Naseem Hamed and the joy he bought to the fans and one could even argue that he was the boxer who put the spotlight on the “little guys” of the sport with his spectacular ring entrances and cockiness.
In all probability, Hamed will never return to the ring but nobody will ever forget the impact he made on boxing.
It is just a shame that the sport is sorely missing a character like him right now….
