Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), commonly known as "Prince" Naseem or "Naz", is an English former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002. He held multiple world championships at featherweight, including the WBO title from 1995 to 2000; the IBF title in 1997; and the WBC title from 1999 to 2000. He also reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001; IBO champion from 2002 to 2003; and held the European bantamweight title from 1994 to 1995. Hamed is ranked as the best British featherweight boxer of all time by BoxRec. In 2015 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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%. In 2016, ESPN ranked Hamed at number 22 on its list of the top 25 pound-for-pound fighters of the last 25 years.
Early life
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.
Legacy and impact
Hamed's boxing career was seen by many experts in the sport as one of massive potential. Frank Warren, the boxing promoter, once said of Hamed: "I think at one stage he was the most exciting fighter that I'd ever been involved with. At one stage, in the early part of his career, he could have gone on to become one of the great fighters. But that disappeared when he didn't fight as regularly as he should have done, when he was cutting corners on his training. It just didn't work out for him from that point on."
Moreover, commentators have pointed out that Hamed's ability should have propelled him to achievements that would have given him legendary status, but that his noted dislike of the long hard training camps and long periods away from his family hindered this.
As popular lower weight fighters like Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu moved into the mid-weight classes and the Mexican champion Julio César Chávez declined, Hamed and Arturo Gatti filled the void. Hamed's boxing antics made him the new poster-boy for lighter-weight boxers and his charisma attracted a large number of fans. In 2002 the UK public voted Hamed's victory over Kevin Kelley on the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.
British boxing pundit Steve Bunce stated on 15 March 2008 edition of BBC panel show Fighting Talk that Hamed was the greatest British boxer of all time. World Boxing, a sister publication of the more famous The Ring Magazine, ranked Hamed as the 11th greatest British boxer of all-time. The Ring also ranked Hamed as the 46th greatest puncher of all-time. Journalist Daniel Fletcher, in a 10-year anniversary commemoration of the end of Hamed's career, "Requiem for Naseem", referred to Hamed as "the most talented fighter to ever live", one of history's première featherweights and British boxers, and that while his career ended prematurely at the age of 28, he still managed to dominate his weight class for six years and boast some formidable achievements.
Hamed was part of the 2015 class for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In 2016, ESPN ranked Hamed at number 22 on its list of the top 25 pound-for-pound fighters of the last 25 years.
Naseem Hamed was an early inspiration for several future world champions from Britain and Ireland, including British boxers Amir Khan, James DeGale and Kell Brook, and Irish MMA fighter Conor McGregor; Hall of Fame referee Joe Cortez, who worked with McGregor in training sessions, compared McGregor's boxing style to Hamed, stating he "had that little awkward style and he'll hit you with a punch from a different angle that you didn't see it coming from."
Popular culture
Hamed was referenced by hip-hop artist Nas in the song "You Won't See Me Tonight", with the lyrics "I can't forget how I met you, you thought I was a boxer/ Prince Naseem, but I'm a mobster, Nas from Queens". Hamed himself recorded a song with hip hop group Kaliphz called "Walk Like a Champion", which reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart in 1996.
Hamed had a licensed sports fighting game, Prince Naseem Boxing, published by Codemasters for the PlayStation console in 2000. A portable version of the game was also released for the Game Boy Color, developed by Virtucraft, which later in 2002 developed a Mike Tyson based follow-up, Mike Tyson Boxing, for the Game Boy Advance.
Hamed also inspired a character called Prince Naseem in the fighting game Ehrgeiz, released in 1998. While called "Prince Naseem" in the original Japanese version, the character's name was changed to "Prince Doza" in the Western versions, much like how Balrog's name was "Mike Bison" (based on Mike Tyson) in the original Japanese version of Street Fighter II.
Personal life
Hamed is a Muslim, and frequently recited the Takbir out loud before his fights.
By 1997, Hamed had an annual income of $14 million (£8,548,914) from fight purses and endorsements, ranking at number-22 on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid athletes for 1997. By March 1999, his net worth was an estimated £38 million. By January 2001, Hamed had reportedly amassed a fortune of £50 million ($75,746,700). He earned over $48.5 million from fight purses, including $8.5 million from his fight against Barrera. Hamed was the second richest British boxer, after heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.
Controversy outside the ring
On 2 May 2005 Hamed was involved in a 90-mph three-car collision at Ringinglow Road, Sheffield, while driving his £300,000 silver McLaren-Mercedes SLR. He was arrested on 3 May, released on bail and later charged at Sheffield Magistrates Court on 3 December.
On 31 March 2006 Hamed entered a plea of guilty and was warned he could face jail by a judge at Sheffield Crown Court. The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Alan Goldsack, adjourned the case until 12 May to allow pre-sentence reports to be prepared. The court heard how the man in the car Hamed hit, later revealed as 38-year-old Anthony Burgin, who had attended a number of previous hearings, was unable to come to court because he was in hospital for further treatment. His wife Clare was also injured.
On 12 May the court heard in a sentencing hearing how Hamed had been anxious to impress businessman Asif Goro, who was a passenger in the McLaren-Mercedes at the time of the crash. Hamed was showing what his car could do when he crossed a solid white line at a speed of at least 90 mph and crashed head-on into a Volkswagen Golf that emerged from a dip in the road. Hamed's car then hit a second vehicle, the Ford Mondeo he had been trying to overtake. Mr. Burgin, the driver of the Volkswagen Golf, was very seriously injured, breaking every major bone in his body and suffering bruising to the brain. Hamed escaped unhurt.
Hamed was sentenced for 15 months after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing. He was also given a four-year driving ban. Judge Alan Goldsack told Hamed: "I find it astonishing that the DVLA has not been prepared to cooperate with the prosecution to give them details of your earlier offences – apparently on human rights grounds." The DVLA's decision led to Hamed being sentenced without the judge being told he had previously been banned for a year for driving a Porsche at 110 mph on the M1 in Derbyshire. It was also revealed that Hamed had three other previous convictions for speeding offences, details of which the prosecution had to find from court records.
Hamed was granted an early release and left prison on 4 September 2006 after serving 16 weeks of the 15-month sentence. Hamed was placed under Home Detention Curfew for the remainder of his sentence, and monitored by an electronic tag.
Anthony Burgin, the driver with whom Hamed collided, said: "I am shocked that after such a serious accident Mr Hamed has been released after less than four months." After a recommendation from the Honours Forfeiture Committee, Hamed was later stripped of his MBE, annulled as a consequence of the conviction.
There was also a civil court case rumoured to cost Hamed up to £1 million plus legal costs, as Burgin was deemed unable ever to work again.
Burgin was later arrested and charged with dangerous driving for an incident alleged to have involved Eleasha Hamed (the wife of Naseem) on 19 April 2007. Burgin pleaded not guilty, and appeared in court on 17 March 2008, following which he was cleared of charges. ~ wiki
現在就來看看這位生涯 36 (31KO) -1 的天才拳擊家吧~
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