Prince Naseem Hamed was adored for his unique fight style, obscene punch power and polarising character. Now, fan-favourite Roy Jones Jr has admitted that one current world champion reminds him of the Wincobank-schooled superstar.
Hamed captured the WBO featherweight world title with a stoppage of Steve Robinson on away soil in Cardiff and hung onto the title for almost six years, unifying with the IBF and WBC belts during that time.
During his career, the Sheffield-born slickster knocked out the likes of Kevin Kelley, Wilfredo Vazquez and Tom Johnson whilst becoming one of the first Briton’s to truly succeed as a star across the pond, often headlining cards stateside.
In 2002, Hamed hung up the gloves with a record of 36-1, calling time on a career that saw him shine a light on the 126lb division and become one of the most memorable featherweights of all time.
Although, it is the welterweight division where Jones believes there is a comparable fighter. In an interview with Fight Hub TV, he explained why he believes WBA champion Rolando Romero is a ‘watered down’ version of Hamed, when discussing Romero’s chances in a potential unification clash with WBO ruler Devin Haney.
“If he [Rolly] can catch Devin early or hurt Devin, it can become a 50/50 fight. I told people the same thing when he fought Ryan, I told guys that you got to look at it like this, Rolly is a lot lesser version, a knock-off version, of Prince Naseem Hamed.
“If he hits you, you’ll know that you have been hit because he has got unusual punching power. It’s a watered down version [of Hamed] but it isn’t as watered down as y’all think it is.”
It is understood that Haney and Romero will collide on Saturday, May 30, with the victor likely to pursue a three-belt unification bout against fellow 147lb champion Ryan Garcia.
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