Having flown across the Atlantic for Wednesday's slagging match, The Prince was determined to allow no turn to go unstoned. Warning Wayne McCullough that he was in for "a huge beating", Naseem Hamed pointed out that, in his next-to-last fight, the Belfast boxer had "lost to a 37-year-old man (Daniel Zaragoza) who was washed up".

"He was 39," McCullough corrected him, and the room exploded in laughter.

McCullough nearly didn't make it to the press conference at HBO's offices in New York. Although he had signed for the October 31st world title fight against The Prince back in August, a month had passed and he still hadn't seen a contract with Naseem's signature on it, and refused to leave his Las Vegas home until he did.

"When we tried to make this fight two years ago," recalled McCullough, "we sent Hamed a contract I had signed already. When they sent me this one, it was blank."

The contract for that earlier bout, which obviously failed to materialise, had called for Naseem to receive $2 million to $1 million for McCullough. The agreement Wayne received in the mail this time guaranteed him just $500,000 - "and out of that I have to pay my own training expenses, including sparring partners," said McCullough. "I'm sure they didn't expect me to accept it, but I signed it and sent it right back. That's how badly I wanted this fight."

Ingle, whose participation in the recently published book The Prince and the Paddy spawned a rift between himself and his fighter, did his best to play the straight-man at Wednesday's vaudeville performance. Although Naseem tended to downplay the strain between himself and Ingle, the latter, apparently in for a cut of the royalties, repeatedly urged the members of his audience to pick up a copy for themselves on the way home.

"I've got nothing against the Irish people," said Hamed. "I love the Irish; they're great fight fans. I've had an Irishman as my trainer for 17 years, and regardless of what he's done to me lately with this book . . ."

"Don't forget to buy the book!" interjected Ingle.

McCullough, the former bantamweight champion who has fought just once (barely eking out a split-decision win over Juan Polo Perez in that one) since losing to the elderly Zaragoza in their January 1997 title fight, remained oblivious to the sideshow antics, determined to demonstrate the seriousness with which he is approaching the Hallowe'en fight for Hamed's World Boxing Organisation (WBO) featherweight championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

"I'm always ready," McCullough addressed Hamed. "I just hope you're ready. I have a good chin and I throw a lot of punches. The fight will be good while it lasts - and I'll be there till the end." "I realise he throws a lot of punches," said Hamed. "If they land, that's a different thing."

Hamed has also endured the longest lay-off of his professional career. He has been idle since defeating Wilfredo Vazquez in April, and was originally supposed to fight Kennedy McKinney in July before pulling out with a hand injury. Hamed-McKinney was then rescheduled for the date next month, but fell apart when Hamed's London-based promoter, Frank Warren, attempted to strong-arm McKinney's promoter, Murad Muhammad, into making a Roy Jones-Steve Collins fight as part of the deal. HBO sources have told us that it was Hamed himself who sought out McCullough as a replacement opponent.

"We've been looking for a fight with McCullough for a long time," said Warren. "Kennedy McKinney is not the champion. We will fight him down the road. He just has to keep fit and not get beaten. "McCullough said a lot of things about Naseem," added Warren. "Now it's up to him to see if he can do in the ring what he says he can."

Ingle has said a few things about Hamed himself of late: "Money has become his (Hamed's) God," reads one passage in the book, quoting Ingle's "diary". "He is kidding everyone. All he wants to hear is . . . praise and having yes-men around him."

"What Naz wants to do to me," said Ingle Wednesday, "he's going to do to Wayne instead. "The fight will not last four rounds," predicted Ingle, pointing toward The Prince, "because that little bastard there will beat him up and torture him for three rounds, and then knock him out!"

"Wayne is going to get a serious beating," crowed Hamed. "I'm going to beat him like his daddy. Wayne calls himself `the Pocket Rocket', but this time instead of flying up, the rocket will be going down! I'm going to do a demolition job on his body."

A loss would severely diminish McCullough's stature on the world stage. Should he win, on the other hand, sources close to McCullough have confirmed that Warren has prudently protected his investment in Hamed by securing a six-bout option on McCullough's future services from his career-long promoter, Mat Tinley, of America Presents.

McCullough will bring a 22-1 record (against The Prince's 30-0) to their meeting on the Boardwalk. Originally targeted for Las Vegas, the fight will take place at the cavernous Atlantic City Convention Center.

Two other world title fights are scheduled for the October 31st card, both involving would-be pretenders for the Prince's throne. International Boxing Federation junior featherweight champion Vuyani Bungu of South Africa will fight New Mexico's Danny Romero, while another 12-round bout will see Mexico's Marco Antonio Barrera versus England's Richie Wenton for the WBO version of the same title.

McCullough, who arrived in New York in the company of his attorney, Stuart Campbell, and his trainer, Kenny Croom, flew straight back to Las Vegas to resume sparring.

"You're in for a huge beating," The Prince could not resist a parting shot. "Wayne, trust me. Spend the money wisely."

Predictably, it was Brendan Ingle who had the last word.

"Don't forget to buy the book!"