‘It was dangerous’ – Prince Naseem Hamed discusses the one key reason for only career loss

Prince Naseem Hamed believes a dangerous battle with his weight was his ultimate downfall in defeat to Marco Antonio Barrera.

The flamboyant and one-of-a-kind boxing icon lit up the squared circle for years and years, becoming a fan favourite globally after his rise from Sheffield.

Hamed reached the pinnacle of the sport becoming world champion, but his career fell to a sad decline, as depicted in a recent biopic about him ‘Giant’ which released in cinemas.

The 10-year professional came up against rugged and tough Mexican operator Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001, fighting under the bright lights of Las Vegas for the first time.

Hamed portrayed a man distracted by the extravagant lifestyle, and ultimately Barrera came with a game plan to neutralise and tame his exuberant boxing style.

Barrera delivered a hammer blow to his invincibility aura, dominating and outpointing him in ‘Sin City’, which ultimately brought the beginning of the end of Hamed.

Having needed to lose 35lbs to reach the featherweight limit for that very defeat, the entertainer knew he had much work on his hands to do in tight turnaround preparations for the clash.

And he ultimately believes that the cut to the featherweight limit [126lbs], left him drained and far from his optimum condition.

He opened up in a recent interview with Carl Froch: “It was impossible to prepare [for Barrera], because eight weeks to lose 2.5 stone [35lbs] was virtually impossible.

“The first day [of camp], Oscar Suarez, who was my trainer [alongside Steward] then, said: ‘Right, let’s weigh you’.

“I was 11 stone [154lbs], and he said to me, ‘Right, we’ve got this nutritionist and you’re going to live on 500 calories a day.

“From the start of training camp to the last day of training camp – going to Vegas – I still didn’t make the weight.

“I was so weight-drained, and it was dangerous, but I just always thought in my heart that there was no way [Barrera] was going to knock me out, or stop me.

“And I always thought: ‘He can’t go 12 rounds without me catching him’.”

Hamed’s defeat to Barrera – how and why it happened?

Prior to the bout in his career, Hamed had been working with long-term trainer Brendan Ingle who brought him through as a gifted amateur.

The pair were then embroiled in an argument over financial aspects of his career and split in 1998 after a high-profile row.

Hamed had then made four successful defences of his world title, adding the WBC belt to his collection along the way in victory over Cesar Soto.

But fears immediately kicked in after he signed his clash with Barrera, with trainer Emmanuel Steward not impressed with his training and conditioning.

Getty

Nothing was going right in the build-up with Hamed also suffering with a broken hand, which hampered his dynamite in his trademark left hand.

Ultimately he’d taken the fight due to the lure of a lucrative purse and quickly paid the price, falling to a devastating defeat against the Mexican, who had trained like a machine.

He physically imposed himself and left Hamed’s showboating and antics falling short of the mark, drawing the support of the partisan crowd.

Hamed’s final fight and sad ending

Defeat to Herrera simply saw the writing on the gym wall of Hamed, who was clearly becoming less motivated with every punch he threw.

His comeback fight came back on British shores where he was booed by the home crowd in a clash with Manuel Calvo.

The usual fanfare had been reserved by Hamed, who had looked uninterested in comparison to his former brash antics.

Getty

Hamed failed to show anything like he had shown during his meteoric rise, looking lethargic and far slower in a laboured victory.

Fans inside the arena were far from impressed by his display, despite clinching the European title.

It was the first of six bouts which were due to take place as part of a lucrative deal.

But ultimately it was his final bow, retiring from the sport and claiming hand injuries were his primary reason for retirement.