Remembering Prince Naseem Hamed

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By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Why pick to write about a guy you don’t like I wonder? Well you know why? Simply because this was someone who was a complete phenomenon. There was nobody and in many ways there still is nobody, who can put on a show similar to what he did in his heyday. He also did the one thing the Brits like to do – conquer America…

Nowadays when you see him promoting one of the fighters that he trains it is hard to imagine this was a guy in peak physical condition, the envy of any man walking down any street. Nowadays he carries poundage in the way that street vendors in New York City carry hot dogs – as standard.

But in the 1990’s this was a guy who captured the mood of the era with his opulence and his swagger. He was the epitome of what we wanted in the 90’s – gaudy indulgence. He was greed in a pair of boxing gloves or riding atop a throne on the way to the ring. His very name was regal for this was Prince Naseem Hamed; and I couldn’t be bothered with him…

His accomplishments were impressive. European bantamweight champ 1994 – 95, WBO featherweight champ 1995 – 2000, IBF champ in 1997, lineal champ from 1998 – 2001, WBC champ from 1999 – 2000 and IBO champ 2002 – 2003. In 2015 he quite rightly was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Hamed was from the same steel city as Kell Brook – Sheffield; an industrial Yorkshire town where they made hardy men and women. He was an unconventional sort with his somersault over the ropes to get into the ring, appearing on a flying carpet and having a southpaw style that knocked more people out than many of his generation.

Hamed was a Hollywood talent in a straight laced community and needed to find more razz to suit his matazz. In the mid 1990’s when he fought the Puerto Rican, Daniel Alicea, the fight was broadcast to the USA through Showtime. Hamed knew he needed to be noticed so was carried to the ring on a throne! Such Chutzpah could have dethroned him but Hamed knocked Alicea down twice in the 2nd round to stop the fight and retain his title; now people were aware of him worldwide.

His destiny was America and a couple of years later he made that debut in 1997. There are dreamy accounts of his time on the way there and when he was there. He arrived on British Airways Concorde and faced the biggest fight of his career against the former WBC title holder, Kevin Kelley.

Up until now Hamed had been allegedly careless, he had been smug and he was arrogant enough to fight with his hands at the side of his body. It led to a number of close calls but it also gave the crowd a massive amount to cheer. Kelly was a different calibre of opponent to the ones he had hitherto faced and he needed caution. It was also a bit of a gamble for his promoter Frank Warren who was well aware of just how important this showing on HBO was going to be. It could make his career or it could push the arrogant upstart into obscurity. The fact that 20 years later I am writing this shows in which direction it all went as Hamed won.

Hamed, not for the first time in his career, hit the canvas but got back up and saw the fight stopped in the 4th round as Kelley hit the deck for a 3rd time. Hamed had also been down 3 times which shows just how much of a return HBO got on their investment. The relationship with HBO grew from then on.

It was also fitting that the fight which really ended his career came at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in none other than Las Vegas. Hamed was built and born for Vegas. In the other corner was Marco Antonio Barrera. Barrera had trained hard, was sharp as a razor and the wildly unfancied underdog. Hamed was out of shape, out of sorts and soon out of the sport. He had not made the weight easily and having trained in Bing Crosby’s Old House, he was nowhere near the ideal preparation needed. Emanuel Steward had been hired to come in and supervise the last 2 weeks of training. He was immediately worried. He was right to be as Hamed lost on points. The fight was a study in how the fighter with the better preparation took the bell, the plaudits and the world title. The guy who struggled, found his heart outside the ring and was unable to find the discipline needed lost.

Hamed did come back to the ring one more time and won but he lost his career that night in Vegas. Barrera had been quicker as Hamed couldn’t find him to hit. Barrera had been the better tactician as he stayed counter clockwise so Hamed couldn’t launch his left hand. Barrera was equally fast and equally cunning – both ended up brawling as Hamed ended on the floor with Barrera throwing a punch illegally and in the 12th Barrera then using a half nelson whilst ramming Hamed’s head into the corner which is a very enduring image. The truth is that Barrera was just better and more versatile and efficient with his combinations. Hamed certainly had hand problems and he claimed that was what ultimately led to him giving up.

Others had different ideas as his inability to stay focussed in long camps, the corners he cut in training and the fact that in his last fight he looked like he just couldn’t care made people think the love this fantastic boxer had once had for the sport had gone.
No matter what the reason and no matter what doubters like me might think or feel, Prince Naseem Hamed was one of the most exciting fighters in the late 20th and early 21st century. There has been little like him since and many wish current boxers were like him now. His legacy is more than the baubles and the thrones but just the hushed desire to see his like again…

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