Prince Naseem Hamed tells Simon Jordan to ‘hold your tongue’ in passionate defence of Conor Benn
Prince Naseem Hamed believes Conor Benn is a ‘world-class fighter’ and won’t accept talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan saying otherwise.
The former unified featherweight champion and British boxing legend exchanged verbal barbs with Jordan when discussing Benn’s impact on the sport on the latest episode of talkBOXING.
Hamed believes that, just like his father, Nigel Benn, the 29-year-old has been ‘amazing’ for boxing, while Jordan disagrees.
Hamed goes to war with Jordan
“No, not just certainly his father, certainly him, too, Simon!” Hamed said to Jordan as tensions began to build during discussions about Benn.
“It was all good when you and I were watching him in the fight of his life against Chris Eubank Jr… he’s good for the sport, man.”
The talkBOXING panel, with Spencer Oliver and Paul Smith also present, were discussing performance-enhancing drugs in the sport following Lawrence Okolie‘s failed test on Tuesday morning.
Okolie returned an adverse finding from a VADA anti-doping test and his Paris bout against fellow heavyweight Tony Yoka has since been scrapped.
Benn, of course, has been in a similar situation himself, failing two drug tests for the banned substance Clomifene in the build-up to his cancelled bout against Eubank Jr in 2022. Both men deny any wrongdoing.
‘The Destroyer’ has since been cleared to return to the ring, and traded wins with Eubank Jr in two British boxing spectacles at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Benn made a return to the same venue earlier this month and defeated American Regis Prograis under Dana White‘s Zuffa Boxing banner.
Last week, Benn signed a new five-fight deal with the promotion and is targeting a WBC welterweight title clash against Ryan Garcia next.
“If you put any fighter in that position at that weight class or above, he’s gonna make the same decision,” Hamed said of Zuffa Boxing’s deal with Benn, who ditched Eddie Hearn to sign with White.
“Any fighter has got to be stupid to do the opposite of what Conor Benn did, and I rate him for doing that.”
Hamed then wanted to highlight why he believes Benn is great for the sport.
After noting his ‘super legend’ dad, who is adored by many around the world, Hamed made the point that Benn was able to put together the classics against Eubank Jr despite a limited amateur career.
Hamed: Benn is making millions, why can’t everyone be happy?
“The fact is, the night those two got into the ring, in that stadium, sold it out, created so much in our sport in the UK, it was buzzing!” he continued.
“Do you think we can only give that credit to one person? No! We have to give it to Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr.
“They had an amazing opportunity, and they took it. And I’m saying, why is everybody trying to tear Conor Benn down after he’s created them kind of nights?
“It’s one simple big reason… just hold your tongue there for a minute, SJ.
“Hold your tongue for a minute, because I know you’re dying to come at me! Ease and squeeze, brother.
“Conor has got to that position where all of a sudden, because of what he’s created, his dad’s legacy and how good he is, he’s worth millions.
“And you know what, everybody is jealous of him. Why are they jealous? Why are they envious?
“Why can’t you say, like me, ‘Conor Benn. Beautiful. So happy for you, your family and your father. Earn millions!’
Jordan said Benn has not fought anyone of merit and he needs to account for his failed drug tests.
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“I’m saying, why don’t you give it up for the man who’s earning all of these millions? I don’t care what you say about who he’s fought.” Hamed hit back.
“This young man, who’s a breath of fresh air in our sport, who looks good, this guy has turned the whole thing upside down in this country.
“The way he held strong and said he never did it, all the way through, he wasn’t budging for me, that made my mind up.
“For him to be out of the ring for so long and say, ‘Listen, I didn’t do it,’ shows me in my heart that I don’t believe he did it.
Jordan responded: “And if he wasn’t your mates’ son, you might’ve had a different view.”
Hamed fired back: “That’s the only thing that you’re going to keep jumping back to!
“You know more about football than boxing, so why aren’t you a football commentator?”
Jordan says Benn ‘not the best’ and won’t win world title
Jordan asked one final question, as he said: “Is he a world-level fighter? Yes or no?”
Hamed answered: “I don’t know how anybody can say he’s not world-level and I’ll tell you why.
“Nobody ever said Chris Eubank Jr was not world-level… regardless of what I said about him in the past, Chris Eubank Jr proved me wrong.
When pressed to give a final answer, Hamed concluded: “[Benn’s] world-class, he’s world-level.”
Jordan added that he doesn’t believe Benn wins a world title at 154lbs or 147lbs, but both men agreed that the Briton boasts a great personality.
“I would love it so much when he wins the world title and he comes back to you, and says you’re the first person that denied me to be a world champion, you Simon Jordan, you SJ denied him the most!” Hamed concluded.
“All I’m saying is Conor Benn is earning millions, and I’m so happy for him.
“The guy for me is a good kid, whatever you think of him.”
Jordan finished: “I admire people who achieve things. I admire people who get rewarded and recognised. And I love merit and I love admiring the best.
“[Benn] is not the best. And if he becomes the best and wins the world title, I’ll be the first person, for what it’s worth to him, to turn round and say chapeau!”
Boxing schedule
For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s boxing schedule.
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