Prince Keeps His Crown
Dateline: 04/11/99Prince Naseem Hamed (32-0, 29 KO) retained his WBO featherweight title for the 12th time with an 11th round knockout of previously undefeated Paul Ingle (21-1-1, 15 KO) in Manchester, England. Hamed was his typically flamboyant self, riding into the arena in a 1960 Cadillac convertible before entering the ring via his trademark somersault over the top rope. When Hamed knocked Ingle down in the first round with a left to the body, left to the head combination, it appeared that this might be a quick fight. Ingle survived but didn't provide much return fire and was again knocked down in the sixth round when Hamed connected with a solid left to the body. The Prince was pitching a near shutout before appearing to tire in the ninth and tenth rounds, which gave Ingle a chance to mount something of an attack -- actually snapping Hamed's head around with one right hand shot. After finishing the tenth sloppily, Hamed came out to take care of business in the 11th and caught Ingle with an uncharacteristically textbook shot - a short left to the head - which sent Ingle to the canvas for the third and final time in the bout. The tough Englishman beat the count but referee Joe Cortez correctly waved a halt to the action. Hamed was ahead on the scorecards of all three judges at the time of the stoppage (98-91, 98-91 and 98-90) and dominated the punchstat numbers, landing 236 of 605 punches to only 132 of 495 for Ingle.
After the fight, Hamed said that he thought he broke his right hand in the sixth round. If the hand is busted, it will push still further into the future the date when fans will finally get to see the Prince tested by the best fighters in and around his weight: Luisito Espinosa (WBC champ), Antonio Cermeno (WBA champ), Manuel Medina (IBF champ), Juan Manuel Marquez, Erik Morales (WBC junior featherweight champ) and Marco Antonio Barrera. Even more enticing is the thought of Hamed moving up to 130 pounds to take on Floyd Mayweather Jr.. Don't hold your breath for that one.
Considering all the bad boxing that finds its way onto the television, it's a shame that no one elected to televise this fight's undercard. Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns (59-4-1, 47 KO), now 40, won the (meaningless) IBO cruiserweight title with a unanimous decision (118-112, 117-112 and 118-111) over fellow American Nate Miller (30-7). The bout was reported to be a 'drab, lackluster affair,' but fight fans should have had the opportunity to draw their own conclusions instead of being forced to rely on news reports of the bout!
Also on the undercard, Junior Jones (46-4) won the vacant IBO (meaningless, remember?) featherweight title by knocking out Britain's Richard Evatt (16-1) in the 11th round. A career of tough bouts has left Jones a mere shell of his former self, and the former champion was knocked down in the first and staggered several other times during the bout before finally decking the unknown Evatt with a short left hand in the 11th to put an end to the upset bid. Sounds like an entertaining fight, but once again, no one saw fit to televise it!
