Amir Khan is expected to name his new trainer in the near future as he looks ahead to his upcoming fight with Michael Gomez.
Khan will have Dean Powell in his corner for the Gomez fight following his split from Oliver Harrison.
Now, over three years since his last professional fight, Hamed talks of coming back.
“Can he do it?” is the question on everyone’s lips. Sugar Ray Leonard did after a long spell away from the ring. Hamed had always compared himself to the likes of Muhammad Ali so why can’t he do it too?
He is still only 31 years old and maybe the lay-off will have helped his body. Recent pictures have shown that he has bulked up, but not in a good way. It was clear he had not been doing any training.
Hamed won the WBO belt in 1995 when he beat Steve Robinson and at that point he had looked unbeatable.
His first step to try and get the American fans excited about him almost ended in disaster when Kevin Kelley had him on the deck three times during their fight, in December 1997.
Hamed put Kelley down three times as well and eventually won by KO, but the once invincible “Prince” was starting to look like he could be beaten. Then along came yours truly, Wayne McCullough, a bantamweight moving up two weight divisions, on Halloween 1998. Hamed had predicted what he was going to do with me - knock me out in less than three rounds. And why not? He was on a long KO winning streak - knocking out 18 opponents in a row - 10 in championship fights. Everyone believed his hype and prediction except for me.
I had never been off my feet, never mind stopped, so I didn’t understand how he felt this way!
Hamed won the fight but I exposed him. He hadn’t been able to knock me out and when he realized I was standing up to his punches, he ran for the remainder of the 12 rounds.
He came close to losing again, against Paul Ingle, but pulled out the KO in that fight too.
Hamed had split with his promoter, Frank Warren, and his trainer, Brendan Ingle, after our fight and he only seemed to get worse with each fight.
Then he met Barrera. The Baby-faced Assassin turned into the boxer that night and made Naz come forward, which made him look terrible. Barrera boxed his way to an easy win.
Now can Hamed come back?
I think if he gets the trainer that is best for him - for conditioning, technique and, most importantly, confidence - that he can.
I know I could do it for him and make him a champion again.
I offered my services to him in the past but I don’t think he thought I was serious - I was and still am!
Naz has been testing out a replacement for trainer Brendan Ingle over a weeklong period, currently tipped as favourite is Puerto Rican Oscar Suarez from New Jersey.
Naz says : “I was tremendously impressed by him. He showed me things about my balance and other ideas I feel I’ve been lacking.”
An official statement was released today confirming that Naz and his trainer Brendan Ingle are parting company ending weeks of speculation since before his last fight.
Naz’s comment : “I met with Brendan in my Sheffield office yesterday and we agreed to go our seperate ways. I want to make it perfectly clear there is absolutely no animosity between us.We have had what I would call a civilised divorce - we kissed and parted. We both wished each other the best of luck for the future. Our relationship at the beginning was like father andson and lasted for 17 years. I can never forget that we had some tremendous highs but also some lows. It is a shame, but we both feel we have reached a crossroads and it’s best for everyone we part and remain friends.”
Ingle’s comment : “I will find there is life after Naz and he will find there is life after Ingle. We both live in Sheffield and we are going to bump into each other regularly, so I am delightedthat when we do
we will give each other a hug. Don’t forget he was a child when he came into my gym. He is now married and a father and wants to go his own way. If any trainer can take him on to a higherplane than I managed then good luck to him.”
Only question we need answered now is who will Naz get to replace him?