Naseem Hamed

The Ring also ranked Hamed the 46th greatest puncher of all time.

Naseem Hamed (born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.

Hamed was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England to Yemeni parents, in 1974.

A protege of Brendan Ingle's Wincobank gym, his talent and flashy southpaw style marked him out from an early age.

With his cocky persona and high-profile bouts he was a prominent figure in 1990s British pop culture, while Sean Ingle in The Guardian writes, "in his prime, Hamed was a global superstar".

A Headliner on both sides of the Atlantic, Dan Rafael of ESPN writes, "one of the biggest stars in the sport, the guy sold out arenas before his opponent was even named."

As of August 2023, BoxRec ranks Hamed as the 22nd greatest European pound-for-pound boxer of all time and the 12th greatest British fighter of all time.

Hamed started boxing professionally at flyweight in 1992.

He soon began rising through the ranks as he knocked out a series of opponents in the opening rounds.

At age 20, he won the European bantamweight title, comprehensively beating the beleaguered Vincenzo Belcastro over twelve rounds.

After one defence he won the WBC International super bantamweight title in 1994, overwhelming Freddy Cruz in Sheffield, whom he severely punished and stopped in six rounds.

Hamed's popularity grew, his unorthodox style winning a large fan base and his boxing antics generating a large group of detractors.

After signing for Frank Warren, Hamed, employing more spectacular entrances, knocked out better opposition in Enrique Angeles and Juan Polo Pérez, both within two rounds.

He held multiple featherweight world championships between 1995 and 2000, and reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001.

Later in 1995, after controversially being named the WBO #1 featherweight contender (despite never having boxed at that weight), Hamed moved up to face Wales' defending WBO champion Steve Robinson.

After dominating the bout and scoring a knockdown in round 5, Hamed won the title when the referee stopped the fight in round 8 after Robinson was caught with a left hook that dropped him spectacularly.

The fight was held in front of Robinson's home crowd at the rugby ground, Cardiff Arms Park, with rain pouring down on the fighters and the ring.

This was also the first bout where Hamed badly injured his hand, a problem that would continue for the rest of his career.

Hamed's next defence was in Dublin against former two-time world featherweight title holder Manuel Medina.

In February 1997, Hamed defeated long-time IBF champion Tom "Boom Boom" Johnson in eight rounds in a unification bout at the London Arena.

After being constantly stunned and staggered from round 3 onwards, Johnson was finally dropped by a huge uppercut, then saved from further punishment by the referee.

Hamed's first defence of both the WBO & IBF titles was a first-round KO of veteran British boxer and European champion Billy Hardy.

Before the bout Hamed had correctly predicted he would win in round 1.

The next defence was an easy two-round win against a hugely outclassed Juan Gerardo Cabrera.

Due to boxing politics involving the IBF's mandatory challenger, Hamed was soon forced to relinquish the IBF title.

In Hamed's hometown of Sheffield in October 1997, he produced one of the best performances of his career in defending his WBO title against Jose Badillo, whose corner entered the ring to stop the fight during round 7.

Hamed's status as one of the biggest draws in the sport was evident with a stellar undercard that included Joe Calzaghe vs. Chris Eubank for the world super middleweight title.

In late 1997 Hamed made his heavily hyped U.S. debut.

He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) featherweight title from 2002 to 2003, and the European bantamweight title from 1994 to 1995.

After knocking Medina down heavily in round 2, Hamed struggled to finish the fight until finally knocking Medina down twice in the 10th round.

Finally, at the end of round 11, Medina's corner withdrew him from the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Hamed revealed in his post-fight interview that he had fought with a heavy cold.

Medina would go on to have many more tough title fights, remarkably winning versions of the featherweight world title another three times.

Hamed's next opponent was the 27–0 Remigio Molina of Argentina, who was stopped in two rounds.

World Boxing, a sister publication of The Ring magazine, ranked Hamed the 11th greatest British boxer of all time, and Gareth A. Davies of The Telegraph ranked him 10th.

In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

In 2016, ESPN ranked Hamed at number 22 on its list of the top 25 fighters, pound for pound, of the last 25 years.

The Ring magazine retroactively awarded Hamed their featherweight title in 2019 to acknowledge his dominance of the division and the multiple champions he defeated; he is the only former world champion in any division thus far to receive this honour.

Hamed was known for his unconventional boxing antics and spectacular ring entrances which included entering the ring on a flying carpet, a lift, and a palanquin, as well as re-enacting the video of Michael Jackson's Thriller, and wearing a Halloween mask.

He was also known for his front somersault over the top rope into the ring, his highly athletic and hard-hitting southpaw boxing style, and formidable one-punch knockout power, having finished his career with a knockout-to-win ratio of 84%.