Naseem Hamed lit up the featherweight division like no other British fighter ever did, and “Prince” Naz, although a loser in the biggest fight of his thrilling career – against Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera – ranks as one of the best British fighters of recent years. Today long since retired (and carrying so much weight he is almost unrecognisable from the sleek and lethal 126-pound puncher he was in the 1990s/early 2000s) Hamed remains a fight fan.
British Boxing
British Boxing News
Carl Froch says he had a “nightmare” spar with Kell Brook, says GGG is in for the “toughest fight of his career”
Retired former super-middleweight king and current Sky Sports pundit Carl Froch has weighed-in with his thoughts on this Saturday’s massively intriguing Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook fight and, though Froch does not go so far as to say his countryman will get the win, he does say that unbeaten pound-for-pound star GGG is in for the “toughest fight of his career so far.”
Froch sparred an up and coming Book back in 2009, as he was getting ready to fight Andre Direll in the “Super-Six” tournament, and though the spar was a long time ago, Froch remembers it well and feels that the problems he had nailing Brook, and avoiding his right hand, could be obstacles GGG has trouble with also.
Kell Brook using greats Sugar Ray Robinson and Leonard as inspiration ahead of GGG fight
Kell Brook is shooting for boxing history and if he can somehow pull off a win over middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in just six days’ time, his place in the history books will certainly be secure. And Brook, the IBF welterweight ruler, is watching the very best in the history of the sport as he gets ready, mentally, for the biggest fight of his life. Brook is a huge admirer of the two Sugar Rays, Robinson and Leonard, and he points to their great middleweight victories as his inspiration.
Robinson, generally ranked as the finest welteweight of all time, moved up to 160-pounds and dethroned the unimaginably tough Jake La Motta to take his second world title, while Leonard, a man who has just been ranked by Ring Magazine as the greatest living fighter, became a three-weight king when he upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler to take the middleweight crown.
Hughie Fury-Andy Ruiz clash set to support Fury-Klitschko II in October; Warren says confirmation announcement will come soon
If the plans top British promoter Frank Warren has come to fruition, there will be a huge night for British heavyweight boxing taking place on October 29th. It will also be a huge night for the two Fury’s, Tyson and Hughie. As fans know, Oct. 29 is the working date (still, despite all that has happened) for the eagerly awaited Fury-Klitschko II, and Warren has written in his column in The Star how this mega-fight will indeed happen – “I expect an announcement to confirm everything is going ahead as planned soon” – and that Hughie Fury will face unbeaten Mexican/American Andy Ruiz Jr on the under-card.
Sheffield legend, former light-heavyweight king Clinton Woods breaks down GGG-Brook clash
Say what you want about the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook fight, but don’t forget that everyone is talking about it! Everyone, and I mean everyone, has an opinion on this fight – a marvellous promotion that has brought a genuine buzz, not only to British boxing, but to world boxing – and the September 10 showdown has to be looked at as one of the biggest fights of the year.
Sugar Ray Leonard has thought about this fight and how it will play out, so too have the likes of Carl Froch, Tony Bellew, Naseem Hamed, Martin Murray, Carson Jones, David Haye and Amir Khan. But one man whose opinion has not perhaps been sought out as much as it should have been is Sheffield’s Clinton Woods, the former long-reigning IBF light-heavyweight champion. Now running his own gym in The Steel City, Woods – who fought his own super fights against the likes of Roy Jones Junior, Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver – says he has “a feeling” about the upcoming fight.
Happy Birthday Lennox Lewis – how great was the former heavyweight king?
Heavyweight great Lennox Lewis, who today celebrates his 51st birthday, really did win everything there was worth winning during his amateur and pro career. Born in London in 1965 and relocating to Canada at the age of 12, Lewis achieved the following:
He boxed in two Olympics, 1984 in Los Angeles and 1988 in Seoul, capturing gold in his second Olympic adventure.
Lewis, upon turning pro with Frank Maloney (now Kellie Maloney) soon captured the Commonwealth, the British and the European titles.
Liam Smith sees two fights between he and Canelo; says Canelo will want rematch after he loses on Sept 17
Though the fight is not getting as much hype and publicity as the Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook showdown that will precede it by a week, the Liam Smith-Saul Canelo Alvarez light-middleweight title fight is arguably a much tougher fight to pick. Smith, the defending WBO champ, is a considerable underdog, as is his countryman Brook, but some good judges are predicting a hard night for Canelo on September 17.
And Smith, unbeaten and trained by the excellent Joe Gallagher, is certainly as confident as Brook appears to be heading into his massive fight – if not more so.
Huge plans for Anthony Joshua’s next three fights; culminating with Wembley fight against Fury, Haye or Wilder next summer
Promoter Eddie Hearn fully expects, as do plenty of other people, Anthony Joshua to become a boxing superstar in the near future, and there are big plans in store for the reigning IBF heavyweight champion. First up, Joshua, 17-0(17) will make the second defence of his belt in either November or December, then there will be defence number three in March and then, next summer at Wembley, Joshua will possibly fight a massive fight against either Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder or David Haye.
Hearn spoke of these plans with Sky Sports:
David Haye now ranked no-5 in WBA rankings, Mendoza says a title shot could happen for him soon
Former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye could be in line for a shot at regaining his old belt, at least the “regular” version of it, and it could come against the winner of a WBA-agreed match-up between Lucas Browne and Fres Oquendo. President Gilberto Mendoza spoke with Sky Sports and he said that Haye – now ranked the number-five contender with the WBA – is a fighter he and his organisation would “love to have back as our champion.”
“Browne’s title shot came out of a legal settlement we had to do after we got sued by Browne’s people for stripping him,” Mendoza said.
Khan: I’ll get the January tune-up out of the way, then I want Garcia rematch in May
Amir Khan has already laid out his plans for 2017: fight three times, beginning in January, and hopefully win two big, big fights after the tune-up. Now, in speaking with UK tabloid The Sun, Khan has targeted his number-one rival: WBC welterweight king Danny Garcia. Fans are aware of two things – Garcia KO’d Khan in an exciting fight back in July of 2012, Khan is the current WBC mandatory contender for “Swift’s” green belt.
Khan now says he wants the rematch and he wants it next May. Before that, though, the British superstar aims to re-sharpen his considerable tools with a fight at home.