Naseem Hamed
Getting beaten is sometimes a good thing. If you're a positive person, you can turn it around and make it into a good thing.Collection: Positive
I don't know what other fighters do, but when I get hit and go down, I smile and I say, 'I'm going to hit you harder than you hit me, and I'm going to knock you out.' The times I go down and get back up - that's when I'm the most dangerous.Collection: Smile
The fact is I have lost a fight, and I accept the loss from Allah. That's the way a real fighter and a real man goes out.
The core of my life is Islam, my religion. Without that, I have no strength, no belief in God or in myself.
There's no bigger fight on the planet than Prince Naseem and Marco Antonio Barrera. What's bigger than that? This will be the greatest fight in the history of the featherweight division.
I remember when Muhammad Ali got beaten the first time. I remember when Lennox Lewis got beaten the first time, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson. All of those were legendary fighters, and they came back, and that's what made them different - what they did after they got beat.
During my career, there were times we were inseparable, and I can honestly say that if it were not for Brendan Ingle, I would not have achieved all I did in the sport of boxing.
I'm unbeatable and untouchable.
My idol, Muhammad Ali, got beat when nobody thought he would, and he came back and back to beat Joe Frazier.
I'm going to smash Wayne McCullough to bits. And when you see him smashed to bits, you're going to see the same thing I'd have done to Barry McGuigan, his friend and idol.
I want the chance to show Barrera and the world that I am a true champion.
I'm taught to adapt and exploit every situation in the ring.
When I get knocked down, I'm going to get up and knock you down - and I'm going to hurt you.
Thing is - I'm easily imitated, never duplicated.
I'm Yemeni, proud to be Yemeni. I'm public Yemeni number one!
Ali could only fight a couple of ways. I can fight five or six different ways.
Who do you know, who could come out on a flying carpet? P. Diddy standing at the bottom, come out like a concert, dancing, oozing confidence, and then get in and take somebody out? Come on, do you know anybody in the history of the sport that did what Prince Naseem did? I ain't trying to brag, but I was bloody good at it.
I've got music in my head when I fight. I've got a certain rhythm, a certain way of fighting, a certain relaxation where I can let myself go.
I'm blessed with a gift from God. When you're blessed, you have an advantage. You know you're not going to get beat when you're fighting with a gift. You're fighting with something that God has given you.
My parents brought me up to speak the way I speak, to hold my head up high, to know wrong from right and to have manners.
I love it when fighters are textbook.
I could have brought Kevin Kelley to my own backyard and beat him up there. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to come to his own backyard and bring him down in front of his own crowd, a place he loves.
I agree that some of my performances in America, apart from having drama and excitement, have been a little under my estimation for performance.
When I was fighting, there was no boxing in Saudi Arabia because it was forbidden.
My career was a gift that I'm very happy about. I loved every step of it. I was blessed. I won all the titles and put my stamp on the sport.
I may be born in the U.K., but nobody takes away from the fact that I'm an Arab, and I'm proud to be Arab.
I lit up the Middle East when I lit up the world in the 1990s and gave people here something to be proud of.
I'm sure there are talented Arab fighters out there waiting to be discovered.
I want to produce champions from Saudi Arabia and throughout the region.
I am excited by and impressed with Anthony Joshua, but Anthony has a long way to go. At first, I thought Anthony was similar to a Frank Bruno figure, but after a few fights, I realised he's nothing like Frank Bruno. He's very athletic.
I just feel proud when they say in 'Forbes' magazine that the highest-paid athlete is a fighter.
With age, you become more humble, more wise.
As a father, you become more responsible.
Boxing has lost its glamour and excitement. I'm going to bring it back.
My heart was bursting with pride the night I fought Steve Robinson in Wales, and I made the champion look like the challenger.
When you are challenging for the world title, you've got to go into the lion's den to try and rip that belt away from the champion.
I am not into guys who powder-puff punch and run round the ring for 12 rounds. I'm into guys that want to shock the world with devastating power.
I fall back on my faith; whatever happens, whatever goes wrong in your life, Muslims thank God because it could have gone worse.
If it is written for me to lose, I'll lose with dignity and give credit.
In my life, my religion comes first, and obviously, my family comes second.
When I used to leave behind my wife and kids and go into training camp for nine weeks at a time, I felt it, especially if you're having young children and leaving them literally within weeks of them being born.
When you become a world champion and you defend your title for five or six years, and you have fifteen defences of your title, and you round up most of the other belts - and you feel you're the best of your generation at the time - nobody can take that away from you.
It sounds so early - retiring at 28. But I don't feel it's that early for me. If you're blessed enough and you're gifted and you're lucky enough, and you've got a fortunate career, then you can take that step back. I'm just happy that I did it.
The Scottish public are a great public.
In my eyes, I just can't be beaten.
There isn't a featherweight who can beat me.
I've won every title, and I've done everything in my division.
I know there is not a featherweight out there who I couldn't beat.
No, I've never been frightened before a fight.
I could never say that fear really gets to me. I'm not one of those fighters like Nigel Benn who says, 'I thrive on fear.' I walk through fear.