Prince Naseem Hamed’s boxing record, net worth and personal life

‘Naz’ rose to boxing and global stardom in the 1990s, and Amir El-Masry will play the leading role in the film written and directed by Rowan Athale (Gangs of London).

Here, Planet Sport’s Adam Nash takes a look at five things you need to know about the  British-Yemeni pugilist Prince Naseem Hamed.

 

Prince Naseem's record in the ring

Prince Naseem Hamed had an incredible record in the boxing ring with 36 wins, one loss and 31 knockouts. By the end of his career his knockout ratio was at 86.11%. 

Naseem made his professional debut in the flyweight division at the age of 18 in 1992, and in 1994 he won the European bantamweight title. He then went on to win several WBC international super bandwidth titles from 1994 to 1995.

Naseem's only loss was against Mexican boxer Marco Antonio Barrera. In the fight Barrera was deducted one point for intentionally hitting Naseem's head into a turnbuckle.

After the fight against Barrera, Naseem went on to only fight one more time before retiring at the age of 28. He blamed the retirement on the hand injuries which he had suffered throughout his career.

 

Prince Naseem's net worth

Naseem has a net worth of around £33 million in money and in assets. This has decreased compared to when he was fighting, when his net worth was around £50 million.

In 1997, Naseem earned an average of $14 million from fights and endorsements and in the same year he was ranked number 22 on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid athletes. For the fight against Barrera, he earned $8.5 million. 

Naseem is currently renting a property in Windsor worth £1.4 million which is located very close to Windsor Palace.

But it's not just the mansions which he has been spending his money on, he is also driving a £120,000 corvette stingray around the local town.

 

Prince Naseem's height and cocky persona

Naseem was iconic in the boxing industry, however he was also well known for his incredibly cocky persona.

On his debut fight, Naseem jumped into the ring wearing a leopard print poncho and shorts, he then backflipped and walked around the ring completely disregarding his opponent.

Height is a major factor when it comes to boxing - but Naseem didn't let this affect him. He is 5ft 4ins but was well known for his power, speed and reflexes.

He had a very different style compared to other boxers, hands low, no defence and relied a lot on his incredibly quick reflexes.

Naseem was known as one of the most hated boxers in the industry but was also one of the greatest characters to grace the sport due to his extravagant ring walks, all-action style and boxing technique.

This is what legendary boxing commentators Larry Merchant said about Naseem: “If ego was a crime, the prince would be on death row.”

 

Prince Naseem's personal life

In 1998 Naseem married his wife Eleasha during the period where he was in his prime where he was lineal champion.

He has two sons called Sami and Aadam and both are looking to follow in his footsteps and are boxing - however Naseem didn't want them to follow him into boxing.

On social media Naseem is very active and posts pictures of past match-ups, his sons and events that he attends.

Naseem is Muslim, and often used to recite the takbir out loud before his fights. He made a documentary with the BBC called ‘Prince Naseem's Guide to Islam.

 

What is Prince Naseem up to now?

Despite Naseem having a massive ego during his boxing career, he is now living an extremely quiet life with his wife and kids. He is sometimes seen out in London shopping with his wife Eleasha.

After retiring from boxing, he crashed his Mercedes SLR head on into a Volkswagen golf. He came out of the incident with no injuries, however the other driver suffered multiple injuries.

Naseem ended up serving a 16-week sentence and left prison with an electronic tag. After this he was also stripped of his MBE. 

Family members have been very critical of his diet including his brother, who said: “Now he has turned himself into a recluse who has spent 20 years non-stop and becoming morbidly obese.” 

Despite people being critical of his weight, Naseem claims that he is the happiest that he has ever been.

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