Prince Naseem Hamed: Photos show Sheffield boxer in his youth, ahead of son Aadam's pro debut

It's more than four decades since a seven-year-old 'Naz' stepped into the boxing gym in Wincobank which would change his life.

Sheffield's 'Prince' Naseem Hamed will be a proud dad when he watches his son Aadam Hamed make his professional boxing debut on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois bout in Wroclaw, Poland, on August 26.

It's more than two decades since Naz, as he was popularly known, retired from boxing in 2002, aged just 28, after a glittering career in which he won 36 fights as a pro and lost just once, to the great Marco Antonio Barrera in 2001.

This retro photo gallery shows a young Naz both in and out of the ring, from his schoolboy exploits to his early days as a pro, and with some of the key figures in his life, including his family, the legendary trainer Brendan Ingle and fellow boxing great Herol 'Bomber' Graham.

Hamed grew up in Wincobank, Sheffield, with his eight siblings and their parents, who had come to the UK from Yemen. Having worked at a steelworks, his father took over the corner shop on Newman Road and the family lived in the flat above.

Hamed was seven when his father took him to the famous boxing gym just down the road, run by the legendary trainer Brendan Ingle, because he and his brother had been getting picked on at school. He quickly developed a passion for the sport and after impressing as an amateur he turned professional in 1992, aged just 18, and beat Steven Robinson to win the WBO featherweight title as a 21-year-old in 1995.

His swaggering style and spectacular ring entrances made him a huge draw and he was soon able to afford a 10-bedroom £3.3 million mansion in Sheffield, with his net worth at one time estimated at £50m.

He was sadly forced to quit the sport early due to chronic problems with his hands but the dad-of-two, now living in Windsor, is hoping Aadam can follow in his twinkling footsteps.

A new biopic about his rags to riches story of Hamed, who in 2006 was jailed for seriously injuring a motorist in a horror crash on Ringinglow Road, is also in the offing. The film, called Giant, will star Mena Massoud as Hamed and Paddy Considine as his mentor Brendan Ingle. Sylvester Stallone is among the executive producers.

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