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ONE of the things Naseem Hamed has been hearing since a salutary experience against Kevin Kelley in New York last December is whether he wants to be remembered as a truly great fighter.
Brendan Ingle, the Irishman who has trained Hamed since thrilling to the potential seen in a 12-year-old outfighting larger boys on a Sheffield street corner, has asked him to think about the judgement of history.
If Ingle still has work to do on this - the disciplined performance Hamed gave at the Nynex Arena in Manchester late on Saturday when stopping Wilfredo Vasquez in seven rounds to retain the World Boxing Organisation title was encouraging - he can refer to the respect Chris Eubank gained in an earlier contest. Shortly before Hamed went to his corner against the 37-year-old Puerto Rican who has held three world championships, Ingle held out admiration for Eubank in a brief conversation we had at ringside. At a press conference, fired up by Eubank's remarks, Ingle referred to him as a phoney. Now, he had nothing but praise for him. He asked: "Have you ever seen such guts?" Eubank once wore Hamed's mantle of self adoration, the hard contests he had against Michael Watson, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins less significant in the public's mind than ludicrous if profitable posturing. As Eubank's career draws to a close - the punishment taken in an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the WBO cruiserweight title from Carl Thompson should bring about retirement - he is more endearing. "I take back everything I've ever said about him," Larry Merchant of the American cable television network Home Box Office said. The former heavyweight champion George Foreman thought Eubank's performance heroic. Giving away more than half a stone, Eubank showed a warrior's mettle, fighting with such spirit that he caught Thompson with a left hook in the second round that brought the prospect of victory until he chose to stand off the visibly stunned champion. Eubank, who also dropped Thompson in the fourth, paid dearly for this perverse extravagance, finishing with his right eye completely closed and spitting blood. He had never been in such pain or looked more ring- soiled. Eubank spent the night under observation in hospital, after undergoing a brain scan, and referee Roy Francis said he contemplated stopping the fight: "It was a dilemma but I had to give Chris every chance. It makes me feel like weeping; he's a guy I like so much." In choosing to shape his career at middle and super-middleweight around a series of contrived defences against no-hopers, contests that did not require him to train diligently (and in putting the sport down as purely a business), Eubank sold himself short when he could have been fighter of the decade. That estimate was once neatly put when Eubank's promoter at the time, Barry Hearn, was asked to think about a unifying bout against the WBA champion, Mike McCallum. "What would he bring?" Hearn asked, meaning returns at the box office. "Danger," someone said. At that time danger did not appear to figure on Eubank's agenda. Despite titanic struggles against Benn and Watson, his career was more promotion than substance. Last October's unsuccessful attempt to win the vacant WBO super- middleweight championship against Joe Calzaghe and a further loss on Saturday has altered perceptions of Eubank, especially among his peers. Ingle was thinking about this when he reflected further on what the future could hold for Hamed. "Eubank could have made so much more of himself," he said. "Since the fight against Kelley I've asked Naz to consider that he has the talent to be up there with the best there has ever been. There's more to being successful in boxing than fame and wealth. And it's in Naz's hands." Seth Abraham of HBO, who have Hamed under contract, sees no limit to the Sheffield fighter's potential. Selling a bill of goods maybe, but Abraham thrills to Naseem's personality. "He's blessed because there are some great fights out there," he said. "Like Muhammad Ali he brings fun to boxing." Hamed's next contest is planned for Madison Square Garden, New York, in July, possibly a return against Kelley, maybe a match-up with Kennedy McKinney. Saturday's contest - interrupted when the ring ropes collapsed in the sixth round - found Hamed more circumspect than in most previous contests. Chastened by the knock- downs, he had to recover from against Kelley, boxing out of a southpaw stance, he went about the job sensibly. "Hamed's principal assets are natural speed and power - he's an excellent fighter," Vasquez said. Excellence was in the swiftness of execution. By the time a halt was called to the contest Vasquez had been down four times and was looking old enough to be Hamed's father. He had landed some pretty good shots of his own, causing Frank Warren to admonish Hamed when calling him to the apron while the ropes were being repaired. "Keep your hands up," Warren said sharply. Hamed's hands were soon being employed in more offensive fashion. Concentrating on single shots, he sent Vasquez over with a left hook and the Puerto Rican went down again from a flurry of blows. When Vasquez came under another bombardment, it was over.
Brendan Ingle, the Irishman who has trained Hamed since thrilling to the potential seen in a 12-year-old outfighting larger boys on a Sheffield street corner, has asked him to think about the judgement of history.
If Ingle still has work to do on this - the disciplined performance Hamed gave at the Nynex Arena in Manchester late on Saturday when stopping Wilfredo Vasquez in seven rounds to retain the World Boxing Organisation title was encouraging - he can refer to the respect Chris Eubank gained in an earlier contest. Shortly before Hamed went to his corner against the 37-year-old Puerto Rican who has held three world championships, Ingle held out admiration for Eubank in a brief conversation we had at ringside. At a press conference, fired up by Eubank's remarks, Ingle referred to him as a phoney. Now, he had nothing but praise for him. He asked: "Have you ever seen such guts?" Eubank once wore Hamed's mantle of self adoration, the hard contests he had against Michael Watson, Nigel Benn and Steve Collins less significant in the public's mind than ludicrous if profitable posturing. As Eubank's career draws to a close - the punishment taken in an unsuccessful attempt to wrest the WBO cruiserweight title from Carl Thompson should bring about retirement - he is more endearing. "I take back everything I've ever said about him," Larry Merchant of the American cable television network Home Box Office said. The former heavyweight champion George Foreman thought Eubank's performance heroic. Giving away more than half a stone, Eubank showed a warrior's mettle, fighting with such spirit that he caught Thompson with a left hook in the second round that brought the prospect of victory until he chose to stand off the visibly stunned champion. Eubank, who also dropped Thompson in the fourth, paid dearly for this perverse extravagance, finishing with his right eye completely closed and spitting blood. He had never been in such pain or looked more ring- soiled. Eubank spent the night under observation in hospital, after undergoing a brain scan, and referee Roy Francis said he contemplated stopping the fight: "It was a dilemma but I had to give Chris every chance. It makes me feel like weeping; he's a guy I like so much." In choosing to shape his career at middle and super-middleweight around a series of contrived defences against no-hopers, contests that did not require him to train diligently (and in putting the sport down as purely a business), Eubank sold himself short when he could have been fighter of the decade. That estimate was once neatly put when Eubank's promoter at the time, Barry Hearn, was asked to think about a unifying bout against the WBA champion, Mike McCallum. "What would he bring?" Hearn asked, meaning returns at the box office. "Danger," someone said. At that time danger did not appear to figure on Eubank's agenda. Despite titanic struggles against Benn and Watson, his career was more promotion than substance. Last October's unsuccessful attempt to win the vacant WBO super- middleweight championship against Joe Calzaghe and a further loss on Saturday has altered perceptions of Eubank, especially among his peers. Ingle was thinking about this when he reflected further on what the future could hold for Hamed. "Eubank could have made so much more of himself," he said. "Since the fight against Kelley I've asked Naz to consider that he has the talent to be up there with the best there has ever been. There's more to being successful in boxing than fame and wealth. And it's in Naz's hands." Seth Abraham of HBO, who have Hamed under contract, sees no limit to the Sheffield fighter's potential. Selling a bill of goods maybe, but Abraham thrills to Naseem's personality. "He's blessed because there are some great fights out there," he said. "Like Muhammad Ali he brings fun to boxing." Hamed's next contest is planned for Madison Square Garden, New York, in July, possibly a return against Kelley, maybe a match-up with Kennedy McKinney. Saturday's contest - interrupted when the ring ropes collapsed in the sixth round - found Hamed more circumspect than in most previous contests. Chastened by the knock- downs, he had to recover from against Kelley, boxing out of a southpaw stance, he went about the job sensibly. "Hamed's principal assets are natural speed and power - he's an excellent fighter," Vasquez said. Excellence was in the swiftness of execution. By the time a halt was called to the contest Vasquez had been down four times and was looking old enough to be Hamed's father. He had landed some pretty good shots of his own, causing Frank Warren to admonish Hamed when calling him to the apron while the ropes were being repaired. "Keep your hands up," Warren said sharply. Hamed's hands were soon being employed in more offensive fashion. Concentrating on single shots, he sent Vasquez over with a left hook and the Puerto Rican went down again from a flurry of blows. When Vasquez came under another bombardment, it was over.
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