Prince Naseem Hamed's brother Ali has slammed the former featherweight world champion after photos emerged showing him looking very different to his boxing heyday.
The 48-year-old ex-fighter was photographed walking outside his £1.4million townhouse which backs on to Windsor Castle while walking his dog last week. He appears to be considerably heavier than when he last fought in 2002, and his estranged brother is unhappy with how he has been living his life since quitting the sport.
Ali, a personal trainer in Sheffield, argues his brother's life took a sharp turn for the worse when he left former trainer Brendan Ingle in 1997. He left his long-time coach in what his brother calls an "absolute betrayal", and within just six fights had lost for the first time in his career.
"He was boxing royalty but the shame and the sadness is that he was too arrogant to hold onto that," Ali told the Daily Mail. "He did not have the intellect to match the unique talent he’d been given. Now he has turned himself into a recluse who has spent 20 years eating non-stop and becoming morbidly obese."
However, Hamed himself paints a very different picture, arguing that he has never been happier living in the "beautiful" area. "I’m the happiest I’ve ever been," he told the Mail. "I’ve never been in a better place."
Naseem was an iconic fighter during his day and known for his elaborate ring walks and cocky attitude, and he backed it all up with boxing skill, becoming one of Britain's youngest world champions when he beat Steven Robinson in 1995 to win the WBO featherweight title aged just 21.
That was to be just the start of an illustrious career for 'Naz', who became a massive fan favourite across not just the UK, but the United States as well. He wowed boxing supporters with his showboating, and ultimately became the WBC, IBF and IBO featherweight champion during his rise to stardom.
But he had a bitter split with trainer Ingle at the height of his fame in 1997, and retired years later with a record of 36-1 before disappearing from the spotlight. "When you think you're God you've got problems," Ingle said at the time. "He's away with the fairies, as they say back home.
Were you a fan of Prince Naseem Hamed back in his heyday? Let us know in the comments section below
"He can do what he wants and I am going to do what I want. I've had enough. His ego has just gone completely out through the roof now. He has become a legend in his own mind at the moment and he won't listen to reason."
Since retiring, Hamed has worked as a pundit for ITV's boxing coverage, and was also spotted at a YouTuber boxing event in Dubai last year. Social media star Slim Albaher, who was being watched by the former world champion, says that he even considered a ring return of his own, but he would first need to shed considerable weight.
"One thing that Prince told me after my second fight was that he wanted to come out of retirement and do what you do," Albaher told Jibber with Jabber. "I do this little thing before I come out for a fight like this bow and arrow move, and he said he wished that he could come out of retirement and do that to his opponents."
