Naz backing Uddin to become a great

Hamza Uddin…praise from legend Prince Naseem. Picture: Matchroom

IN Hamza Uddin, the newly crowned British and Commonwealth flyweight champ dubbed the new Naz, fans are witnessing the creation of greatness.

That’s not the 23-year-old’s prediction, that’s come from the old Naz, Sheffield legend Naseem Hamed.

Following Uddin’s eighth round victory over Sean Bruce for the 8st titles, Sheffield featherweight legend Prince Naseem rang the flashy Walsall hotshot to assure him multi word titles await.

Hamza’s dad and trainer Raj said: “Naz told Hamza, ‘I have been watching you and I want to tell you many boxers have come and gone who tried to copy me. No one did that, no one was able to do that. You are the closest to me, stylistically, and you are smarter than I was. I’m coming down to your gym’.

“This is a guy who will never say someone is better than him. Naz believes he is the best.”

The comparison between Uddin and Hamed are understandable. Hamza, now unbeaten in eight, has the same swagger, showmanship, cocky confidence and raw power as the Prince in his pomp. Naz wore leopard print trunks, Hamza sports tiger stripes.

He’s a flyweight who hits like a middleweight, announcing straight-faced: “There’s got to be something wrong with me. A little Bangladeshi boy shouldn’t be knocking over people like that. They need to put me in a lab and let the scientists find out how I do it.”

That’s pure Prince.

Bruce, from Leicester, is a fine fighter, good enough to win Midlands titles at two weights and capture the British crown. Yet on Matchroom’s major show at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham, he was near torn apart by Uddin’s body shots: only courage took him into the second half of the scheduled 12 rounder, only courage saw him grittily battle back after being floored twice in the fifth.

Referee Victor Loughlin decided enough was enough after 30-year-old Sean was doubled over by a right to the belly then sent tumbling by a head shot with 11 seconds of the eighth remaining.

That put Uddin in the history books. He posted on social media: “The first ever Bangladeshi to become British and Commonwealth champ. Youngest South-Asian to ever win the British title, third South-Asian to ever win it and the first to win it since 2018.”

That is just for starters, with Raj insisting: “I have seen what no one else has seen – he is very special, not just as a boxer but as a human being. I have seen so many signs.

“He will always find a way to win, that is the sign of a special fighter, the ones that make adjustments when they need to. He’s done that since the age of eight.

“People don’t realise how tough and gruelling it is to win a British title, some have avoided that route. Yet Hamza made it look so easy. Four or five fights and he’s ready to fight for a world title.”

Hamza said: “When I walked in a gym aged five, six or seven, I had my hands down by my side, I threw screw-shots, I stuck my tongue out,” Hamza said. “People said, ‘you box like Naz’ and I asked my dad who Naz was. He showed me the tapes.

“The scary thing for opponents is that this is not anywhere near the finished article, there is so much more to come.

“I can talk a good game, I’m flash, but in training camp I’m a boring, miserable man because I know what sacrifices have to be made to be the best.”