'Prince' Naseem Hamed: 16 fascinating photos of rags to riches life story of Sheffield boxer Naz

Naz grew up in Wincobank with his Yemeni parents and eight siblings. They lived in a cramped flat above a corner shop.

At the age of seven, he was taken by his father to Brendan Ingle’s now legendary boxing gym because the youngster and his brother were getting picked on at school.

Brendan coached Naz on his journey to world titles, fame and fortune, as shown in the new film Giant, which explores their relationship and where it went wrong.

We have delved into our archives to find 16 fascinating photographs which chart Naz’s rise to stardom.

They show Naz as a schoolboy, as a young boxer and in the ring when he turned pro in 1992 when he was 18.

Three years later he beat Steven Robinson to win the WBO featherweight title and went on to claim the IBF and WBC featherweight world titles during a glittering career in which he won 36 fights as a pro and suffered a solitary defeat, to Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001. He was 28 when he retired from the sport in 2002.

Naz was a showman both in and out of the ring. His ring walks were legendary – for one fight he arrived in the ring on a flying carpet and for another he was driven to the canvas through his crowd of adoring fans.

He made millions of pounds from his fights plus lucrative sponsorship deals with major brands as his celebrity status grew.

At one time he was said to have had a net worth of £50 million and was one of the richest British boxers ever.

In 1997 it was reported that Naz arrived at his parents’ flat with two bin bags stuffed with cash.

He emptied the bags onto the floor and 500,000 came flying out in notes. Naz reportedly told them: “It's my way of saying thank you for helping me become what I am.”

“I owe my parents a lot - more than money can buy,” he said.

A serious crash in 2005 landed the superstar in jail when an overtaking move in a £320,000 sports car left another man fighting for life.