Naseem Hamed has sent out a challenge to Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera as he faces up to life without a world championship belt.
Hamed, who lost his WBO featherweight title after refusing to face their number one contender Istvan Kovacs, is adamant he will still be recognised as the number one nine-stone fighter in the world.
To that end he has challenged Barrera to a bout for the `linear' title early next year.
"My immediate goal is to fight the man widely considered the greatest threat to my dominance of the featherweight division, the great Mexican champion Marco Antonio Barrera," Hamed said.
"Marco Barrera, hear this: I hereby challenge you to face me, man-to-man, in the first quarter of the year 2001, at a site to be determined, for the linear featherweight championship of the world, with the winner to be recognised as the one true featherweight champion."
Hamed celebrated his fifth anniversary as WBO champion last week and during his reign he also won IBF and WBC titles, both of which were stripped from him due to the ludicrous nature of boxing politics.
Hamed also beat Wilfredo Vazquez, who was stripped of his WBA title only when he agreed to the fight, and has already beaten the current IBF champion Paul Ingle.
There is little doubt that he is the best featherweight in the world and boxing critics will hope that his decision to give up his last remaining belt will encourage other champions to do the same and erase the alphabet bodies from the sport.
Hamed, indeed, suggests that being titleless will actually enhance his aims to get the big bouts he says he craves.
He said: "My decision stems from my desire to fight the world's top fighters, battle-tested world champions, rather than the manufactured contenders of boxing's governing bodies.
"I carried the WBO belt for five years and defended it 15 times against 10 world champions. My victories over the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC title holders make me the true featherweight champion of the world.
"The titles claimed by Derrick Gainer, Paul Ingle and Guty Espadas are political gifts and each wears a paper crown until they face the true champion."
