Panel: What was the finest moment in Naseem Hamed’s career?

Naseem Hamed

Joe Calzaghe
The first one that comes to mind was beating Kevin Kelley in New York. That was up and down and it was typically exciting from Naz. Another one I remember was the fight before that, on the undercard of my fight against Chris Eubank, when he clinically beat Jose Badillo. He was at his peak then.

Tris Dixon
It has to be Kevin Kelley in The Garden. The fact it was a thriller meant it ticked off the boxes as he tried to crack America and taking Kelley out that way was the emphatic full stop that announced his punching power was legitimate to any doubters Stateside.

Frank Warren
That’s a tough one. The night he beat Steve Robinson, who was beating everyone, Hamed was sensational in a very hostile crowd. But just pipping it has to be the night he beat Kelley in New York. There was a lot going on behind the scenes there and he knocked the guy out in front of his hometown fans.

Chris McKenna
The obvious one is Kelley in New York. The big arrival into the US, the needle between the pair and then a rollercoaster fight that we saw the best of Naz and some of his weaknesses, too. His performance against Wayne McCullough was also impressive, though he couldn’t put a dent in the iron-chinned Belfast man.

Read Thomas Hauser on the night it all went wrong for Naseem Hamed here

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