If you are interested in understanding the impact of Sheffield’s former world featherweight champion “Prince” Naseem Hamed, there are a couple of ways to go about it this weekend. 

One option is to see the film Giant, which is released in the UK on Friday and ostensibly about Hamed’s rise to stardom and his relationship with his coach, Brendan Ingle. Another option, for those afraid of the prospect of Pierce Brosnan playing Brendan Ingle, is to instead watch Sheffield’s Dalton Smith try to become a world champion on Saturday night in Brooklyn, New York. 

Chances are, in Smith, you will find as much Hamed as you can expect to find in Giant, a film about his life. Smith is, after all, a product of his influences and few men have influenced more Sheffield boxers than “Prince” Naseem Hamed. In the last 30 years no Sheffield fighter shone brighter than Hamed, no fighter dreamed bigger than Hamed, and no fighter encouraged more young boys and girls to locate their nearest boxing gym than Hamed. Diminutive though he was in size, standing at just 5 '3, Hamed’s impact throughout the nineties was huge, best measured in the number of boxers who have since tried to copy him, pay homage to him, or impress him. Frankly, it’s why films are now being made about his life. It’s also why the sport continues to get excited about fighters made in his image. 

As for Smith, Sheffield’s next big thing, the comparisons with Hamed begin and end with their place of birth. Which is to say, Smith is nothing like Hamed in terms of the way he fights, nor in the way he conducts himself outside the ring. Rather, Smith is a low-key, quiet character whose career to date – 18 fights, 18 wins – has been conducted mainly in the shadows, with only those who appreciate his technical excellence prepared to shout his name and call him Sheffield’s next world champion in waiting. 

In the eyes of the rest, there is still more to do; more to prove. A win on Saturday against Subriel Matias, the WBC super-lightweight champion, will go some way to helping with that, but of victory there is no guarantee. In fact, Smith starts this weekend as an underdog and many will consider the jump from beating the likes of Mathieu Germain and Walid Ouizza to challenging Matias a steep, unbreachable one. That he will also fight Matias, a Puerto Rican, in New York, where there is a large Puerto Rican presence, only adds to the size of the task facing Smith on Saturday night. 

Then again, Smith, 18-0 (13 KOs), is not without motivation, or indeed a blueprint. Even Hamed, Sheffield’s biggest star, won his first world title in enemy territory, bamboozling and stopping Steve Robinson, the more experienced champion, in eight rounds in Cardiff in 1995. There have since been others, too; other occasions when a fighter from Sheffield has stepped up, proved the critics wrong, and returned to the Steel City with a world title in their bag. On Saturday night, Dalton Smith hopes to be the latest, but he will take great inspiration and confidence from knowing he won’t be the first. 

Naseem Hamed

Title won: WBO featherweight title

His big night: Hamed, as mentioned, had his breakout night in Cardiff, Wales against Steve Robinson, whose own Cinderella story came to an unceremonious end that night in 1995. Before it did, Robinson had managed to capture the hearts of the British boxing fraternity by virtue of becoming an unlikely world champion and defending his WBO belt seven times. He then had to fight Hamed, a super-bantamweight moving up, and suddenly it dawned on the Welshman that not only had his time passed, but that Hamed, quick and cocksure, was about to take both the belt and the featherweight division in a totally new direction. 

Hamed made his intentions clear in round eight, having for seven and a half rounds toyed with Robinson and made the act of dethroning a champion seem as easy as brushing his teeth. There was a gulf between the pair from the outset which only increased as the fight progressed and Hamed, no wallflower, had no issue highlighting this gulf for anyone unsure what dominance in the ring looks like. In truth, the boxing world hadn’t seen anything quite like it. Nor had poor Steve Robinson. 

Paul Jones

Title won: WBO junior-middleweight title

His big night: In September 1995, two months after Hamed beat Robinson, Paul “Silky” Jones didn’t just realise his dream of becoming a world champion, he did so in Sheffield, his hometown. For a proud man from the Steel City, there could be no better way to become world champion and, by winning the title the way he did and where he did, Jones quickly became the envy of many boxers from the city – even those who won world titles of their own. 

The belt Jones won that cold November night in ’95 was the WBO junior-middleweight title and the champion he dethroned was American Verno Phillips. It was a close fight, reflected in the majority decision verdict after 12 rounds, but most felt Jones did enough to deserve the win. In tough moments he was lifted by the noise generated inside the Hillsborough Leisure Centre, and at the fight’s conclusion there was no doubting who those in attendance believed had got the better of things. 

Johnny Nelson

Title won: WBO cruiserweight title

His big night: After losing each of his first three professional fights, few would have tipped Johnny Nelson to one day go on to become a world champion. More likely, they would have advised him to pack it in and think of something else to do with his future. 

However, Nelson persevered. He got his first win, he got some more, and soon he found his stride. Even when he eventually fell short in his first two world title attempts – a draw against WBC cruiserweight champion Carlos De Leon in 1990 followed by a points loss to IBF champion James Warring in ’92 – he remained undeterred, unbroken. He knew, after more than one false start, that his career would be one of mistakes made, lessons learned, and gradual improvements. He also knew, when fighting Carl Thompson for the WBO cruiserweight title in 1999, that three would be his magic number. And it was, too. On this occasion, Nelson was able to settle early, quickly find his rhythm and confidence, and ultimately stop Thompson, somewhat controversially, in round five.  

“I remember when I won I looked across at my wife and made the shape of a house because I said we would buy a house now,” Nelson said. “But I had a feeling inside that was almost like, ‘Is this it?’ I don’t know how I expected to feel but it wasn’t that. 

“I also remember feeling as if a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders. And I do mean literally. I suddenly felt lighter. At last the penny had dropped and I knew I could do it. I was so relieved. I remember when I dropped to the floor every doubt left me. I felt so elated. It was great to be able to give to Brendan [Ingle, his coach] something money couldn’t buy; something that showed him what he had managed to achieve with me. That was the greatest feeling ever. The best present I could give him.” 

It may have taken him a while to get there, but once Johnny Nelson arrived, he stuck around, made the most of it. In fact, after three attempts to win a world title, he refused to let it go when getting hold of one. A total of 13 defences, stretched over a period of six and a half years, were to follow. 

Clinton Woods

Title won: IBF light-heavyweight title

His big night: Although Woods isn’t usually the first Sheffield fighter that springs to mind when compiling a list of them, that has less to do with his achievements and more to do with the fact that he had success away from the Wincobank gym, Sheffield’s premier production line. If anything, Woods’ achievements compare favourably to the achievements of most of Sheffield’s very best fighters and his time spent in the ring with the great Roy Jones Jnr – just shy of six rounds, in 2002 – is a testament to that. 

As for his title win, that came only after losing to Jones and engaging in two gruelling fights – a draw and a loss – against Glen Johnson for the IBF light-heavyweight crown. He would, like Nelson, have to be patient in his search for a world title, Woods, but he got there in the end. In 2005, his team managed to bring Rico Hoye, an unbeaten American, to Rotherham, England with the vacant IBF light-heavyweight belt at stake, and this time Woods left nothing to chance. Whereas before, against Johnson, he let the judges get involved and have their say, on this occasion he hurt Hoye, turned the screw, and then got him out of there in round five. What followed that was a look of relief, not disbelief, on the face of Sheffield’s latest world champion. 

Kell Brook

Title won: IBF welterweight title

His big night: Like Dalton Smith this Saturday, Brook had to travel to America for his first world title shot, only to Carson, California, rather than Brooklyn, New York. There, in Carson, Brook met IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter, who at the time was in a rich vein of form and considered the pre-fight favourite. He had certainly been beating the better level of opposition, Porter, and many, especially in the US, were unsure whether Brook was ready for the step up in class having had things all his own way in the UK. The talent he possessed was never in doubt, but it wasn’t until he had controlled and outboxed Porter for 12 rounds to take his belt that the rest of the world started to see Brook as the real deal.

“On paper, I saw it as a 60/40 fight in Porter’s favour because of the fact it was in America with two American judges,” said Dominic Ingle, son of Brendan and Kell Brook’s coach that night. “Porter had also fought at a higher level and was coming off two good wins [against Devon Alexander and Paulie Malignaggi]. But, despite all that, I fully expected Kell to find a way to win.”

He did find a way, too. He punched when he needed to punch, he moved when he needed to move, and he cleverly tied Porter up whenever Porter tried to get physical and aggressive. The scorecards were always going to be close, of course, particularly with the fighting taking place in America, but few in the arena that night begrudged Brook getting the nod and bringing the title back to Sheffield. 

“Porter couldn’t get anything off,” recalled Ingle. “A lot of people said Kell needed to learn to fight inside to beat Porter – even Kell’s dad thought that – but why would he fight to the other guy’s advantage? That’s like telling Shawn Porter he has to stand off and box Kell to beat him. The plan was never to fight on the inside. The plan was to nullify Porter and work to Kell’s strengths. 

“I remember hearing Porter say all Kell had was a left-right [jab-cross]. Yes, Kell has got a very good left-right, and the best shot in boxing is the jab. Now, If I was fighting a fighter with a very good jab, I’d be thinking I had a problem. I said after four rounds Porter would run out of ideas and after six he’d start losing confidence and retreat. That’s what happened.”

Barry Awad (Kid Galahad)

Title won: IBF featherweight title

His big night: Despite losing his first world title fight in 2019, and despite serving a two-year ban for a positive performance-enhancing drug test in 2014, Galahad still managed to make something of his career and win a world title in 2021. The belt he won was an IBF featherweight title, the same belt for which he challenged Josh Warrington two years earlier, and the opponent he beat was James “Jazza” Dickens. 

As it turned out, Galahad had saved his best stuff for when it really mattered, outboxing Dickens throughout the contest before forcing the Liverpudlian’s corner to intervene after 11 rounds. But he was never that good before and he was never that good again after. In fact, Galahad’s win over Dickens would be the last win of his career, with the two fights to follow – against Kiko Martinez and Maxi Hughes – both ending in defeat.