Nige laying into Naz and Jones...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2002231287,00.html
NIGEL BENN has dismissed Naseem Hamed as a boxing fake who reached the top by fighting old men and nobodies.
The former WBC super-middleweight world champion lashed Hamed in a no-holds-barred attack after the featherweight's dismal display against Manuel Calvo last Saturday.
Benn, 38, is steaming mad Hamed, who blamed a damaged hand for the stinker against Spaniard Calvo, questioned the Dark Destroyer's bravery in the ring.
Following his laboured points win, Hamed said: "Even though I hurt my hand so much, I still wanted to let it go.
"I remember the time when me and Nigel Benn boxed on the same bill and he sat on his stool and wouldn't come out and fight when he fought Steve Collins.
"I don't know how a champion can sit on his stool and do that. You can chop my arms and legs off, I'm coming out to fight."
But Benn blasted: "How dare he use my name to try to dig himself out of a problem of his own making.
"He has come out at the London Arena and shown us absolutely nothing new, you can tell by his attitude that all he wanted to do was run the show.
"It's not boxing with him - it's just a gimmick, he simply does not know how to knuckle down. Hamed needs to prove himself - he has come into boxing on a fake passport, his application was made by fighting old champions and nobodies.
"It's about time he got a real one, only I don't think his application will be passed if he ever fights Marco Antonio Barrera again.
"Hamed has been exposed as a fake. He has reached the top but everybody has sussed him out.
"He should have handled the post-fight stuff gracefully but it was down to everyone else except him.
"He's giving it all the Fresh Prince but to me it was stale. He danced on his way to the ring and that was about all the excitement the crowd got - he just threw single punches.
"Get him a shot at a warrior who has real ambition and he will not pass the test."
Benn was involved in explosive ring wars with Gerald McClellan, Iran Barkley, Michael Watson, Chris Eubank and Collins. He quit boxing in November 1996 after two consecutive defeats to Collins.
The second ended with Benn, who had just five losses in a 48-fight career, failing to come out for the seventh round.
Hamed's hopes of retiring as undefeated WBO world featherweight champion crashed when he was beaten by Mexican Barrera last April.
Barrera exposed deep flaws in Hamed's fight technique and easily won the bout on points. The Prince returned 13 months later to face Calvo - but it was a far from glorious comeback.
Hamed, 28, branded the fans ignorant after they booed his performance, with many walking out long before the final bell.
Benn added: "If Hamed ever gets back in the ring with Barrera, the Mexican will wipe the floor with him yet again - only next time it will be easier for him. He has turned on me but I gave what the public demand - value for money - and I never had one complaint for as long as the fight lasted.
"I fought real wars against the likes of Doug de Witt, Collins, Watson, Eubank, McClellan, Barkley.
"The British public were my life and soul. Those fans got me through fights, they are the ones who willed me to win and I responded.
"Don't give me the bad knuckles c**p. Stop it! Don't give me or anybody else that. There's not a fighter in the world who comes out of a 12-round fight without bruised hands.
"As for quitting on my stool against Collins, he obviously isn't aware that I bet £100,000 on myself to beat him.
"Hamed has never been in a war like me. He has only ever fought old champions like Tom 'Boom Boom' Johnson and he couldn't hurt a fly.
"Forget the Ali shuffle stuff and the running on the spot, Hamed needs real fights not fakes.
"And what a crock of s*** it is when we hear a boxer say he's going to be a legend.
"I let the fight public make up their minds about me - they loved me and I loved them back."
Hamed was at Audley Harrison's heavyweight win over Mark Krence at the ExCel Arena on Tuesday night.
He admitted his hands were OK and expected to be back in the ring in three months' time.
Manchester's Michael Brodie is being lined up as a prospective opponent as long as he recovers from the broken nose and cut right eye he suffered against Argentine Pastor Maurin on the same bill as Hamed.
Brodie, 28, has a single defeat on his record - a disputed points loss against Willie Jorrin for the WBC super-bantamweight title.
Benn said: "I hope he does fight Michael Brodie next because at least the fighter in the opposite corner to Hamed would love a war.
"Against Pastor Maurin, Brodie changed his style after just a couple of rounds. I would have struggled to have done that so soon in a fight."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/1466456.stm
Nigel Benn was one of Britain's greatest ever world champions during the 1990s.
During a glorious career, Benn held two world titles and engaged in memorable fights with Chris Eubank, Michael Watson and the ill-fated Gerald McClellan.
In his first column for BBC Sport Online, Nigel looks at recent developments in the fight game, including Roy Jones' latest fight.
People ask me whether I have any regrets about calling it a day nearly five years ago, but I do not have any.
I had a pretty full career and sometimes I just wish I had come along now because I would have been a world champion for much longer.
I made 10 defences of my WBC Super-middleweight title but since I lost my title, it has changed hands ten times, with Sugar Boy Malinga holding it twice!
One of the guys still around from my time in the ring is Roy Jones. I watched him the other day and I was not impressed with him. I was shocked really.
I like fighters that go in and have a go so I was not impressed at all with this Jones fight.
Having said that he is a different class of fighter - he is a very good technical fighter who does not like to get in there and mix it up.
He will not throw a shot unless he knows he can hit you without getting hit.
The top British super-middleweight is Joe Calzaghe who I really like to watch.
I just think with Joe that he needs to fight the best people in the division and he is wasting his talents - he has had just one fight this year but he should be fighting four or five times - he needs to stay busy and I have told him that!
Joe would be a good fight for Jones and it is a difficult one to call - despite what I have said about Jones, he won every round at the weekend so he is not on the slide.
Of the other fights this weekend, Danny Williams got revenge over Julius Francis and I do think that Williams is beginning to show the potential we always thought he had.
When he first fought Julius, he froze, in the same way Henry Wharton did when he fought me. Since then, he has got together with trainer Jim McDonnell and he has improved.
He really does not need to fight for the WBU belt which seems to be the plane.
I really do not think that you can call yourself a world champion if you are a champion of the WBF or WBU.
I can not knock it because it makes the fighter a lot of money, but if you want a proper world title, fight for the WBA, WBC or the IBF.
Of the current crop of British fighters, I am quite excited about Ricky Hatton.
I think that he can really do things and I just think he is the one that can go places. His weakness with cuts is the only thing that worries me.
But he has unbelievable body punching power and is exciting to watch.
I also think that Dean Francis, the super-middleweight, will be a world champion now that he has sorted himself out.
A couple of fighters such as Anthony Farnell and Ryan Rhodes, have suffered setbacks during the last 18 months, but they should not get discouraged.
What they have got to do is have some proper fights first before they start jumping in for world title fights - that way, they will learn their game first.
I learnt from losing to Michael Watson and became a world champion soon after.
As for me, I am just taking it easy. I still train but not as hard as I used to. I weighed 13 stone, which is a stone more than my fighting days, but I'd be happier taking half a stone off!
