BOXING/IBO featherweight title fight: John Rawling on why Naseem Hamed's return to the boxing -ring tonight in London will prove nothing except that he appears to be running scared of taking on a top-rated world fighter
At last, after an absence that was beginning to assume Garboesque proportions, Naseem Hamed re-emerges into boxing's spotlight tonight, ready to pick up another fat pay-cheque, but with some of the sport's most illustrious figures questioning whether or not he truly possesses the fighting heart necessary to reclaim former glories.
His opponent at the London Arena, Manuel Calvo, is a battle-hardened veteran - durable and predictable, but not a noted puncher. The 34-year-old Spaniard may boast the European featherweight title, but he has been handpicked as a low-risk opponent who can ease Hamed back with a decent work-out and not too many bruises. At least, that is the theory and the spurious International Boxing Organisation world title is the doubtful prize.
Most of the 11,500 tickets had been sold a week ago, suggesting Hamed's appeal to the British public remains strong even if the likes of Frank Warren and Nigel Benn argue that he should have sought an immediate rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera, the Mexican who inflicted the first professional defeat of his career.
More than a year has passed since the night in Las Vegas that was supposed to have cemented Hamed's place among the sport's superstars. Victory over Barrera would have given "the Prince" the right to say what he had boasted so many times before, that he was the best featherweight on earth. Reality brought a painful understanding of his shortcomings.
Barrera comprehensively out-boxed Hamed, much to the delight of a largely American and Mexican crowd, sending the Sheffielder to an emphatic defeat, albeit on points, to leave Hamed's detractors able to sport smug told-you-he-could-never-really-fight smiles and Hamed himself contemplating a lengthy sabbatical.
Now Hamed (28) speaks of the need to rectify his only loss in 36 fights. "Deep in my heart, I know I can beat Barrera. In fact, there isn't a featherweight out there I couldn't beat. Basically, I'm gunning for them all, although Barrera is my main goal. I want revenge, 100 per cent.
"I think I've got a few years left yet in boxing and, although I'm content with what I've achieved, I still want to go down as one of the greats. I believe I'm just as hungry, if not more hungry, than I've ever been. I still want more from me. I need to pitch myself at an even higher level."
But Warren, the man who plotted Hamed's route to fame and titles before the two split, is sceptical. "Stand on me, Naz will not fight Barrera again," he says. "No way, because he knows Barrera is the better man. There was a clause in the first contract saying there should be a re-match in the event of Barrera winning.
"So why didn't he want the fight then, when he could have it? I have been as critical as anybody over the career of Lennox Lewis. But he moved heaven and earth to get Hasim Rahman back in the ring when he lost in Johannesburg. That was how a man would behave if he truly believed he was the best in the world.
"If Hamed thought he could have beaten Barrera, he would have got him straight back in the ring and not waited a year before taking on this guy Calvo, who nobody in America has ever heard of."
Certainly, there is the suspicion that Hamed, despite his belligerent rhetoric, is looking to perform in the comfort zone. Sources close to the promotion say Barrera actually has no part in Hamed's immediate plans.
Instead, an all-domestic clash with the Mancunian Michael Brodie is a possibility - hence Brodie's place on tonight's undercard - and the most likely big name on the horizon is the veteran American Johnny Tapia, who recently claimed the International Boxing Federation version of the featherweight title.
One of Britain's most popular former champions, Nigel Benn, who came back from potentially shattering defeats against Michael Watson and Chris Eubank to fight his way back to the top, questions Hamed's desire to prove himself once more among the elite.
He argues that Hamed, who has prepared for tonight's fight in his plush new gym in Sheffield, would have been better advised to have tried to rebuild his career in the US.
"Let me say first off that I want Naz to succeed and to come back, because he is good for British boxing," said Benn. "But I don't see why he wants to fight Calvo, who nobody knows. He should go in with a top-10 world-ranked fighter and, if he could win, I would shake his hand and say 'well done'.
"The public don't want to be fooled and, in the boxing fraternity, we know the sort of people he should be fighting, and Calvo isn't one of them. I don't think he has the balls to go in again with Barrera or Erik Morales.
"I fought Chris Eubank for the second time because it was the fight the public wanted to see, and there were 47,000 who turned up at Old Trafford. We packed them in because people knew we gave 100 per cent.
"I say to Naz, go and fight Barrera. After he lost in Las Vegas, he said he wanted the rematch, but then he chose to walk away. When I lost to Michael Watson, I cried. I thought the world was on my shoulders and I broke down.
"But I came back because I wanted my titles. I needed to show I was the best, and if you win titles, the money follows."
The question now is whether or not Hamed can still cut it as a fighter, and whether a warrior heart beats within his chest. Actions not words are needed as proof, and few clues are likely to come from his meeting with the inadequate Calvo. Hamed should win inside six rounds, with the genuine battles yet to come, and then only if Hamed wants them.
