Yep. Brook especially as for a long time he's been hyped up as the next Prince Naseem. He's from Hamed's hometown of Sheffield, he grew up around Hamed at the height of his career and is trained by the Ingle's. He also apparently sounds like Naz(although i dont think he does myself i know a lot of people who think he does).
Khan obviously as Hamed was the first British Muslim superstar i can think of in Sport so he will have looked up to him a lot.
However, i think it's important to mention that it's not just British boxers who have been heavily inspired by Hamed. I'd say he left his mark on Boxers all across the globe. Yes there was showmans in Boxing before Hamed however no one ever took it to the level Hamed took it to, and as successfull as he was doing it.
All the fannying around with the ring entrances and talk before the fights etc is all well and good, however Hamed was going in there and sparking people out. Not only did he have all the razmataz outside of the ring, he also had freakish knockout power for a guy in his weight class.
Nowadays we see the likes of Mayweather and Broner paying more and more attention to their ring entrances and all round general showmanship, im sure Hamed's success will have inspired them also.
He was the first little guy to make multi million dollars per fight and he did it at a time when the Heavyweight division was still alive, not like it is nowadays. His antics before the fight were a huge reason for that. He brought in a whole new crowd to Boxing, and made silly amounts of money in doing so, so i'd defintely say he inspired a lot of Boxers not least Brook who must have looked up to Hamed like mad when he was a nipper.
Funny how things work out ain't it. Hamed is close to both Khan and Brook however im sure if the fight does come off, Hamed will be rooting for his old stablemate and fellow Sheffield lad Kell.
Last edited by Roy Jones Jnr; 10-05-2012 at 12:53 PM.
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10-05-2012, 06:03 AM
