Naseem Hamed and Muhammad Ali
Naseem Hamed has just appeared on Radio 5’s Sunday morning sports program.
He talked lucidly about his career, other boxers and his life in general. He felt that he had been lucky compared to most other fathers in that he had been able to see his three sons grow up. I know a bit about the last bit, as I was working from home during their formative years, but I probably wasn’t the best father.
He also criticised the circus that the great Muhammad Alihas become. He has been paraded in the last week or so around the UK and it is a tragedy to see the state he is in. As Nasem said, he should be at home being properly cared for.
I hover between two opposite views on boxing; either it is barbaric and should be banned or it is a noble and exciting sport that has given many a chance to avoid a life of crime and destitution. I think too, that in America there is a lot more sleaze and shady hangers-on in the sport, than in the UK, where we tend to treat our boxers as heroes, even if we don’t like boxing.
Try to find anyone who doesn’t like Henry Cooper for a start!
But the most interesting thing about Nasem’s interview was that for someone who has had his troubles in the past few years, he seems to have turned that side of his life around. Good luck to him!
The Anonymous Widower 