Hamed brings potent punch into featherweight matchup

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, April 3, 2001 | 10:11 a.m.

His adversaries, both in and out of the ring, see his delicate chin as a weakness. They recite the number of times Prince Naseem Hamed has been down during the course of his 35 fights and they're hopeful someone will come along and emphatically put an end to the highly strung featherweight's heyday.

But it's Hamed's punching power that not only saves him and has kept his unbeaten record intact, it makes him one of his sport's elite stars.

"Boxing needs a knockout specialist," said Hamed, who is meeting Marco Antonio Barrera in a pay-per-view fight Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. "If I get up (after a knockdown), I'm knocking you out. I love getting up and knocking them out, because that's the mark of a true champion."

Hamed has been on the floor at least five times during his pro career, yet he remains 35-0 with an impressive 31 KOs.

Sassy and overloaded with bravado, Hamed expects to add the dangerous Barrera to his list of conquests.

"Everyone knows I have the hardest punch in the featherweight division and I'm the hardest puncher, pound-for-pound, in the world," Hamed said. "Barrera is a great fighter and I have nothing but respect for him.

"But I will do what I basically do best, and that's take him out."

Barrera, 52-3 with 38 KOs, is a quality fighter and an ex-champion at 122 pounds. But he's a plus 250 underdog in the MGM sports book for this fight at 126, with Hamed listed at a minus 320.

"Barrera is training especially to fit Hamed's style," said Barrera's trainer, Porfirio Perez. "We are working against Hamed's strengths. We know he has speed and can be elusive. He also works from the left or the right.

"We'll make sure that Barrera is prepared for victory."

Oscar Maldonado, who manages Barrera, says his man has prepared so well for this fight that "he has to win."

Yet Hamed -- a southpaw who throws punches from extremely unorthodox angles -- waves off such talk.

"Barrera is better than he was five years ago," Hamed said. "There was a period of time when people said he was shot, then, all of a sudden, he came back with a string of victories.

"But I'm going to take the brother out. That's what I do and I've been doing it since the age of 7."

A native of England with Yemeni parents, Hamed, 27, started boxing at an early age and has yet to meet his match in spite of facing fairly decent competition over the years. Among the men he has beaten are ex-champions Manuel Medina, Tom Johnson, Kevin Kelley, Wayne McCullough, Paul Ingle, Cesar Soto and Vuyani Bungu.

In a stirring and memorable 1997 fight, Hamed was down three times against Kelley yet managed a fourth-round knockout win. It was that fight that solidified Hamed's reputation as an off-the-deck slugger with charisma.

In his most recent fight, last August, he handled Las Vegan Augie Sanchez in four rounds.

Now trained by Emanuel Steward, Hamed has been working on his leg strength during training camp as a way of compensating for this eight-month layoff.

"I think it's going to be a war, but I don't see any featherweight beating him," Steward said. "Barrera has improved tremendously (but) he does not have the same power as Naz."

Barrera, also 27, has won three straight fights since a close decision loss to Erik Morales a year ago in Las Vegas. Most recently, Barrera handled Jesus Salud in six rounds; his earlier two losses were both to Junior Jones.

While many feel Barrera was robbed in the fight with Morales, Hamed seems indifferent and the selection of officials Monday failed to interest him. (Joe Cortez was named to referee the bout, with Chuck Giampa, Duane Ford and Patricia Jarman-Manning picked as judges.)

"Yeah, crooked things happen in Vegas," Hamed said. "But that doesn't matter because I'm bringing my own judges."

He held up his fists as he spoke.