Hamed Calvo Fight Night

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Prince Naseem Hamed (35-1) met Spaniard Manuel Calvo (33-4-1) in London today for the final head-to-head press conference. They fight for the vacant IBO Featherweight Crown at the London Arena on May 18th.

Both had final words to say to each other and Hamed was back to his verbal best with a first round win predicted, ” I am going to win well, in devastating fashion- don’t blink in the second….minute” This would be against an opponent who has never been stopped in Calvo.

Calvo spoke through his interpreter, ” I will be the matador in this fight and when Hamed tries to attack me I will use my superior boxing skills to not only avoid him but also respond with some fast hands and good boxing.”

Asked whether he felt intimidated by a 14,000 army of UK fans screaming for Hamed he replied, “There may be 14,000 English in the crowd but there is just one Englishman in the ring and he cannot bring them into the ring when the bell sounds. I am ready to take the IBO Title and Hamed will be surprised by my durability and boxing skills.”

Hamed was remarkably quiet in his approach and responded, ” I am feeling better than ever and the sky is the limit for me now. People keep talking about my loss to Barrera but I know why I lost and it is history now. Saturday is a new chapter on my second reign as Featherweight champion of the world.”

Despite recent rumours Hamed looked lean and said he was well on course for his 17th world title fight to add to his previous collection of WBO, WBC and IBF Featherweight crowns in an interesting 36 fight career.

His prediction of a first round KO is brave after 13 months out of the ring but one thing Naseem Hamed is not and that is “Lacking in confidence”. May 18th will establish his credentials in a super-charged division on the world scene.

Naseem Hamed was forced to strip naked to make the weight for Saturday’s Sky Box Office showdown with Manuel Calvo after initially coming in five ounces overweight.

The Sheffield boxer did a ‘Full Monty’ after scaling 126lbs 5ozs at the weigh-in for the IBO featherweight world title bout against the Spaniard - 5ozs over the 9 stone limit.

Hamed, making his return to the ring after a 13-month absence following his defeat to Antonio Barrera last April, stripped off his bulky burberry shorts and even his wedding ring.

That had the desired effect and he topped the scales at 125lbs 14ozs at the second attempt.

But the ‘Prince’ was furious at having to sacrifice his dignity behind a white towel and harangued officials from the boxing board of control - apparently claiming stripping off in public is against his religion.

Promoter Barry Hearn admitted that Hamed “struggles generally to make the nine stone weight,” but he added: “If you want to put a positive spin on it, he has got all his power there. He is bang on the weight even with his shorts and wedding ring off.”

And Hamed’s trainer Oscar Suarez insisted: “There is no problem with the weight whatsoever. He has been a pound under the last three days.”

Earlier Calvo made the weight comfortably at the first attempt, scaling 125lbs 6ozs.

HBO will not be showing the Naz fight live but will be showing a delayed recording later on.

Manuel Calvo’s fight record is as below.

Record: 1992-2001
DATE	OPPONENT	WHERE	RESULT	TITLE
11/6-1992	Bernardino Da Costa	Bilbao	POINT 4	###
15/8-1992	Joaquin Conde	Almaraz	POINT 4	###
28/11-1992	Manuel Baroni	Leganes	TKO 1	###
16/1-1993	Joaquin Conde	Consuegra	TKO 1	###
12/2-1993	Juan Francisco Leiva	Almeria	POINT 6	###
2/4-1993	Jose Manuel Martinez	Santander	POINT 6	###
8/5-1993	Mohammed Erraysy	Oviedo	KO 3	###
15/7-1993	Jose Manuel Martinez	La Linea	POINT 10	Spanien Fjervægt
4/8-1993	Jorge Almeida	Almaraz	POINT 6	###
11/3-1994	Jose Manuel Martinez	Getafe	POINT 10	Spanien Fjervægt
22/4-1994	Boris Sinitsin	Getafe	POINT 8	###
4/11-1994	Roberto Mercedes	Cordoba	TKO 2	###
18/2-1995	Juan Leiva	Cordoba	(POINT	###
9/6-1995	Joao Queijas	Utrera	POINT 6	###
30/6-1995	John Irwin	Doncaster	(POINT 12)	WBO Int. Fjervægt
15/2-1996	Tibor Gabor	Madrid	KO 3	###
10/3-1996	Julien Lorcy	Paris	(POINT 10)	###
12/7-1996	Manuel D. Fatima	Hernani	TKO 4	###
30/8-1996	Luis Navarro	Mallorca	POINT 10	Spanien Fjervægt
7/3-1997	Johnny Diaz	Mallorca	POINT 8	###
22/8-1997	Plinio Miranda	Almeria	TKO 6	###
29/11-1997	Santiago Rojas	Porto	POINT 12	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
14/2-1998	Joao Queijas	Leganes	POINT 6	###
21/4-1998	Nigel Leake	Leganes	KO 4	###
16/10-1998	Adrian Ghiorgan	Leganes	TKO 3	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
6/11-1998	Pedro Guerra	Bilbao	TKO 4	###
4/12-1998	Adrian Parlogea	Ciudad Real	POINT 12	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
22/1-1999	Manuel D. Fatima	Leganes	KO 4	###
30/4-1999	Steve Robinson	Leganes	(POINT 12)	EBU Fjervægt
18/6-1999	Imrich Parlagi	Leganes	TKO 2	###
9/7-1999	Cristian Hodorogea	Vigo	TKO 5	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
8/10-1999	Theodore Kimou	Leganes	TKO 6	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
14/1-2000	Arcelo Diaz	Ripollet	POINT 8	###
11/2-2000	Juan Polo Perez	Barcelona	UAFGJORT 12	TWBA Transcont. Fjervægt
24/3-2000	Brahim Abouda	Leganes	POINT 8	###
28/7-2000	Omar Gonzalez	Ripollet	POINT 8	###
9/3-2001	Wilson Fontalvo	Ciudad Real	POINT 6	###
25/5-2001	Steve Robinson	Leganes	POINT 12	EBU Fjervægt

Hamed To Fight Medina

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According to Manuel Medina the IBF Champion he hinted a few days ago that things are about 80% complete for his unification bout with Naz.

Marquez Gives Up On Hamed

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Juan Manuel Marquez has apparently given up trying to get a fight with Naz, who wants to unify the titles. Marquez is reported to be after a fight with the WBC champion Cesar Soto, a fighter who Naz wants to fight as well.
Marquez is quoted as saying “The WBC has more credibility in respect to it’s own rules. The WBC has more credibility in respect to our rankings”. Not surprising really considering that he has been the number one challenger to the WBO title for the last 2 years.
Rich Marotta who does a boxing column for an American radio station and is highly regarded in the boxing world had the following to say : “I predict right now that if Juan Manuel Marquez does win the WBC Title from Soto eventually, the sudden desire of Naseem Hamed to unify the titles will just as
suddenly disappear.”