![]() The Ring made Hamed the world’s best featherweight from 1997‑2000, while the combined win/loss record of Hamed’s opponents after he became world champion was 577 wins, 46 losses and 10 draws.Īnd he kept winning, even though he was slipping from the moment he beat Robinson. ![]() And yes, he never fought Márquez when he was No1 challenger to his WBO crown. Hamed also beat other world champions, including Manuel Medina, Wilfredo Vázquez, Wayne McCullough and César Soto. Bungu, admittedly a super-bantamweight, had not lost in eight years. Kevin Kelley, who Hamed stopped in four rounds of mayhem, had lost once in 50 fights. The IBF champion Tom Johnson was Ring magazine’s No1. Even so, he wasn’t knocking out bum of the month club contenders. It does not help that Hamed never fought the other great little men of his era: Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Márquez and Manny Pacquiao. Like pretty much everything from that period – Oasis and the Spice Girls, lads’ mags and alcopops, Euro 96 and New Labour – his record has diminished with time. For while Hamed rode sidecar to the Cool Britannia era rather than sitting in the driver’s seat, his attitude was a snug fit for the times: cocky and swaggering, impervious to self-doubt. Hamed was only 21 when he became the world champion by beating Steve Robinson in September 1995 two days later, Oasis released their album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? I always thought there was a neat symmetry between the two events. What was he thinking? What were we all thinking? He flies over his barber from Los Angeles and he spends as much time worrying about his ring entrance as fighting Barrera.Īfter knocking out Augie Sanchez he also shows off his callousness, saying: “I don’t mean to sound horrible but I knew there was going to be a stretcher involved somewhere.” Against Vuyani Bungu he came to the ring on a flying carpet, with P Diddy walking behind him. Hamed sends someone to Mexico to make sure his gloves are made of goatskin. You only have to watch The Little Prince, The Big Fight – the documentary made with his approval before the defeat by Barrera – to realise that. Yes, Hamed was arrogant, difficult, narcissistic. John Ingle, who held the pads for Hamed, tells me his biggest punches felt like “electric shocks” and after every session he had to stick his hands in a bucket of ice water to stop him getting the shakes. I particularly remember him beating up the British middleweight champion Neville Brown, who fought Steve Collins for a WBO world title, and the future British cruiserweight champion John “Buster” Keeton, a man nine inches taller and five stones heavier. There Hamed would spar against much bigger fighters and take them apart. During the mid-90s, when I was a student in Sheffield, I often went to Brendan Ingle’s gym to get an education of a different kind. It is whether, despite many dramatic and successful nights, he also underachieved. The question is not whether Hamed should be in the Hall of Fame. His last fight was watched by 11 million people on ITV. Hamed’s cultural significance should not be forgotten either: he was a proud Muslim who appealed to large chunks of working-class Britain. His record of 36‑1, with 31 knockouts, stands with the very best. Remember he defended the WBO world title 15 times and also held the WBC and IBF belts. Any deadline for claiming to be Michael's child has long since passed."Īnother man, Augie Johnson, has also claimed he is the biological father of Brandon and agreed to a DNA test.But to judge Hamed on that performance is like judging Laurence Olivier on Inchon. Michael was father to three children, Prince Michael (16), Paris (15) and Blanket (11) until his untimely death in 2009.Ī lawyer for Michael's estate, Howard Weitzman, told TMZ.com: "We've never even heard from him. Number four, it is true I did do a DNA test but it had nothing to do with any of this." "Number three, I'm definitely not suing the estate. Number two, I've never 'self-proclaimed' to be Michael Jackson's son. He said: "Number one, I did not call TMZ or anything like that. Howard - has addressed both the test results and rumours he was to go Michael's estate for money in a video posted on his Facebook page. The doctor said: "I think we have the proof."īrandon - who goes by the name B. ![]() At a press conference to announce the results today, Dr Goodman opened the results envelope and declared it said there was a "99,9 per cent probability" Michael is the father.
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