Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed is a retired British professional boxer. Naseem Hamed competed in contests from 1992 through 2002. Naseem is the best British featherweight of all time, according to the highly regarded website BoxRec.

From 1995 to 2000, he was the World Boxing Organization champion, won the International Boxing Federation championship in 1997, and was the World Boxing Council champion from 1999 to 2000.

Early Life, Family, and Education

Naseem Hamed was born on February 12, 1974, in Sheffield, West Yorkshire, England.

His parents are Yemeni, and he was born in Yemen.

Sal Hamed is his father’s name, but her mother’s name has never been exposed in the media.

Naseem is 47 years old and born under the sign of Aquarius.

The boxer trained to box at the Wincobank gym of Brendan Ingle, a prominent Irish boxing trainer and former boxer, where his dazzling southpaw style and potential marked him out from the start.

Height and Weight

Naseem Hamed is 5 feet 4.5 inches tall (164 cm) and weighs 58 kilograms (128 pounds).

He was a highly athletic player throughout his career, despite his tiny stature.

The key was a well-balanced and long-term diet, as well as a consistent fitness routine.

He was also a master at employing his fast-paced, hard-hitting punches, quick dodges, and quick feet to his benefit.

His little weight and small build further added to his already impressive abilities.

Hamed is a black man with dark brown eyes and black hair.

Facts of Naseem Hamed

Net Worth And Salary

Naseem Hamed’s net worth has been estimated to be over $33 million as of 2022, making him the 16th richest boxer globally.

He is also the second richest British boxer behind Lennox Lewis.

Naseem’s commercial pursuits have garnered him significant money, too, separate from which he controls a management company with offices in LA and London.

Professional Career

The Beginning

When Hamed began professional boxing in 1992, he competed in the flyweight division.

Naseem won the European bantamweight championship at the age of 20 after a comprehensive victory over Vincenzo Belcastro over twelve rounds.

He made one title defense before winning the WBC International super bantamweight championship in Sheffield in 1994, defeating Freddy Cruz in six rounds.

This is when Hamed began to gain popularity and respect for his unconventional technique, despite the fact that his boxing antics drew many critics.

After that, he joined with Frank Warren and went on to defeat harder opponents such as Enrique Angels and Juan Polo Pérez, knocking both of them out in only two rounds.

World Featherweight Championship

Naseem was named the WBO number one featherweight contender in 1995, despite not having fought at any of the weight divisions.

In front of Robinson’s home fans at Cardiff Arms Park, he defeated Wales’ defending WBO champion, Steve Robinson.

Hamed won after the referee stopped the bout after Robinson was knocked down by a left hook in the eighth round. In this bout, Naseem gravely hurt his hand, which he would have to deal with for the rest of his career.

The title was then defended by Hamed against Manuel Medina, the previous holder.

Naseem dominated early on but failed to finish the fight eventually knocking Medina out in the 11th round, prompting Medina’s team to pull him out.

He went on to win the featherweight world title three more times, including a two-round victory over Remigio Molina of Argentina, who had a 27-0 record.

Naseem defeated long-time IBF champion Tom “Boom Boom” Johnson at the London Area in February 1997 after the referee stopped the fight after an uppercut to Tom, who was struggling and staggering badly.

The WBO and IBF titles were later successfully defended by Hamed, who knocked out Billy Hardy, an experienced British boxer and European champion, in the first round.

He then defended against Gerardo Cabrera, but owing to boxing politics regarding the IBF’s mandated challenger, he had to resign the belt.

In October 1997, in his hometown of Sheffield, Naseem had one of the best performances of his whole career.

He successfully defended his WBO title against Jose Badillo, whose corner was forced to enter the ring and stop the fight in the seventh round.

In 1997, Hamed made his much anticipated US debut against former WBC champion Kevin Kelley.

His arrival on the British Airways Concorde was greeted by a swarm of reporters from several news organizations.

The battle was tremendously entertaining, and Naseem had to abandon his hands-down style for the first time in his career to protect himself against the highly talented Kelley.

Naseem was knocked down three times during the fight, but won it in the fourth round when he knocked Kelley down for the third and last time.

This was the first of many battles on HBO that he will have in the future.

After the bout, Brendon Ingle and Hamed separated up, and Ingle believed Hamed was no longer the same fighter, saying, “Four more fights, and he’s finished.”

In 1998, Hamed defeated three-time WBA champion and then-lineal champion Wilfredo Vazquez, former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough, and future IBF champion Paul Ingle.

In October 1999, Naseem defeated WBC featherweight champion, Cesar Soto of Mexico, over 12 rounds at Joe Louis Area in Detroit, Michigan, adding the WBC championship to his collection, unifying it with the WBO belt, but renouncing it to remain committed to being the WBO champion.

In March 2000, Hamed knocked out previous undefeated long-reigning IBF super bantamweight champion Vuyani Bungu of South Africa with a single straight left hand at Olympia, Kensington, London.

In August 2000, Hamed defeated Augie Sanchez with a fourth-round knockout at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, to retain his WBO title for the fifteenth and final time.

He broke his hand badly in the fight and was out of the gym for half a year after surgery, earning 35 pounds.

He then chose to fight Marco Antonio Barrera in a super bout rather than face EBU Champion and WBO mandatory challenger István Kovács.

This fight took place on April 7, 2001, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and it was the highest-grossing featherweight contest ever in the United States, with 310,000 pay-per-view sales on HBO.

Barrera circled to his left and worked both his head and body, so Hamed couldn’t hit him with his famous lefts. Naseem’s pranks irritated Barrera.

Despite being a 3-to-1 betting favorite in Las Vegas prior to the bout, Hamed was defeated by a 12-round decision to lose his first and only lineal featherweight championship.

Hamed returned to the ring for his final boxing contest, about for the IBO World featherweight title against Manuel Calvo. Calvo was the European champion, with a 33-win, 4-loss, and 1-draw record.

Hamed won on points in an unattractive manner, appearing lethargic and indifferent, and was booed by the crowd.

Naseem promised a rapid return in a post-fight interview, but it never happened. For years, he refused to declare his retirement, causing speculations of multiple upcoming battles.

Naseem stated that his retirement was primarily due to persistent hand difficulties, which included many fractures and injuries.

Following his boxing career, Naseem started various businesses and currently lives happily in England with his wife and children.

He now apparently runs a management firm with offices in Los Angeles and London.

Hamed was known for his one-punch knockout power, and he won 84 percent of his fights by hitting a knockout strike.

When he retired, he had a record of 36 wins and one loss, with 31 of those 36 victories coming via knockout.

Highlights and Achievements

Hamed has been considered the 19th greatest European pound-for-pound boxer of all time, according to BoxRec, as of October 2020.

According to the website, he is the 7th greatest British boxer of all time.

In 2016, ESPN placed Hamed 22nd among the top 25 pound-for-pound boxers in the last 25 years.

Similarly, the boxer was a global sensation and a major character in British pop culture during the 1990s. He was known for his extravagant ring entrances and outlandish fighting theatrics.

Hamed was a southpaw with a hard-hitting, athletic style of boxing.

Hamed was named 11th greatest British boxer of all time by World Boxing, a sister publication of The Ring Magazine, while Gareth A. Davies of The Telegraph ranked him 10th.

On a list of the greatest punchers of all time, he was ranked 46th by The Ring magazine.

Not to mention, one American boxing promoter equated his impact on the sport to that of Muhammad Ali, the Greatest.

Wife, Children, and Relationships

Naseem Hamed married his sweetheart Eleasha Elphinstone in a secret place in Sheffield in 1998, as his celebrity soared and he continued to perform spectacularly in the boxing ring.

Eleasha was 24 years old at the time.

Naseem was 23 at the time and was scheduled to turn 24 the next week. Because the ceremony was purely Muslim, Eleasha’s mother, Liz Crilley, was unable to attend.

Sami Hamed and Aadam Hamed are Naseem’s two sons.

Both Sami and Aadam are now acquiring boxing skills at the legendary Ingle Gym, where Naseem himself formerly used to practice and learn.

Though Naseem’s trainer Brendan Ingle has already died away, Brendan’s son Dominic Ingle is now the head coach at Ingle Gym and helps Sami and Aadam out.

Adam has demonstrated some good skills and is striving to follow in the shoes of his father eventually.

Besides that, the Hamed family owned a beautiful mansion in Sheffield that the boxer sold at a £1 million loss in 2015.

Naseem paid £3,330,000 for the 10-bedroom mansion while selling it at £2,350,000. Currently, he lives in an equally lovely mansion in Surrey with his wife and kids.

Dangerous Accident

In 2005, Hamed was the cause of an extremely terrible accident that left two persons grievously injured.

The boxer was trying to show off with his Mercedes McLaren while trying to impress businessman Asif Ayub who was in the car with him.

While showing off his car, Naz overtook two cars quite carelessly. In his attempt to overtake the third car, he experienced an accident with a Volkswagen Golf in the other lane.

However, the accident involved three cars, a Ford Mondeo that the father of two was trying to overtake. Thereafter, Naseem fled the site instead of calling for help.

As a result, he was detained for his involvement in the collision that nearly took the Volkswagen driver Anthony Burgin’s life.

Moreover, Burgin had broken almost every major bone in his body, his bone was sticking out of his left leg, and had suffered some bruising to his brain too.

Currently, his left leg is 2 inches shorter than his right leg. Likewise, Anthony’s wife, Claire, broke her finger and a toe along with some bruising on her face and torso.

Furious Anthony added during an interview, “He just walked away from the wreckage without even verifying if I was alive or contacting for help.

He abandoned us and allowed me to die because his first and only inclination was to save himself and walk away. That man left me for dead.”

Due to Hamed’s irresponsible driving that dangerously endangered others, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Nevertheless, he got freed after spending around 4 months and was transferred to Home Detention Curfew to serve the balance of his sentence.

The judge sentencing Naseem was shocked that the DMA chose not to submit Hamed’s previous speeding convictions and ban during the trial.

He added, “You could easily have killed Mr. Burgin.”

Know about: Josh Howard,              Carli Lloyd,                  Kane Williamson,

Social Media Presence

Naseem has always been in the spotlight since he debuted as a boxer at a young age in 1992.

He maintains his Instagram personally, and though there is an account of his name with substantial followers on Twitter also since the account has not been verified yet, we are not discussing it.

His Instagram handle has 142k followers, and his username is “princenaseemhamed_.”

Although Naseem has come a long way from his boxing career now, Naseem shares many of the highlights from his prior battles with his followers, who adore watching the same.

Naseem also shares moments of his sons’ training and some fresh images, be it flaunting his title belts or something else.

Still, most of his posts are the fantastic entrances and moments he has had in the ring and the hard work that garnered him the reputation he enjoys and deserves very well.