Why born-again Bradley Skeete has Prince Naseem to thank ahead of Hamzah Sheeraz fight

The 34-year-old super welterweight has been training at the Ingle Gym since making his comeback to the sport just over a year ago following his 2018 world title defeat at the hands of Diego Ramirez.

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After almost two and a half years out of the ring, Londoner Skeete blew off the cobwebs in his new home city back in June and now has the chance to add another European title to his collection, which also includes a Lonsdale Belt.

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On Saturday he will take on much-fancied unbeaten prospect Hamzah Sheeraz, who has won all 13 of his professional fights to date, for the WBO European super welterweight belt.

"This is what I’ve been looking for,” Skeete told The Star.

"After the run out in June I said straight away I want big fights, good names. I have not got the time to be waiting around treading water and having easy tick-over fights."

Sheeraz, who is 12 years Skeete’s junior, expects their bout at London’s Copper Box Arena to be the toughest test of his career to date.

Skeete is determined to show he’s more than just a gatekeeper in his relative old age.

“I’m looking at this fight an an opportunity to get his belt and get back where I need to be,” he said.

"The next one is the world title. I’m in Sheffield with a world-class coach (Dominic Ingle) and world-class fighters who have been at world level.

”I would love to be the next world champion from the Ingle Gym.”

Skeete is rank outsider for the fight, with Sheeraz 1/18 with one bookmaker to win, yet he need not look beyond his own stable for an upsets on a similar, or in some cases bigger, scale.

Even smaller odds could be found on Kid Galahad to beat Kiko Martinez last month, but the Spaniard produced arguably the biggest boxing upset of 2021 at Sheffield Arena to steal the home fighter’s belt in his first defence.

Lennox Clarke also overturned 16/1 odds to knock out then-unbeaten Ingle Gym prospect Willy Hutchinson in March.

Skeete added: "There’s been comments made saying this is my last chance, it’s not.

"This ain’t no Hamzah Sheeraz coming out party.”

Inspiration of a different kind has been provided to dad-of-one Skeete by another former world champion from the Ingle Gym: Naseem Hamed.

Skeete began boxing aged just seven and grew up idolising ‘Naz’, who invited him up to Sheffield for a one-off training session where he subsequently met Dominic Ingle.

Since then, he hasn’t looked back.

He said: "From the first week I came here I got that fire in my belly again, walking through that door,”

"I knew all about the Ingle Gym and I’m a fan. I was meaning to come for years and years.

He added: “To fall out of love with something I had done for so many years, which was all I knew, was hard. But it’s back better than it ever was before.

"I’m gelling with Dom and the Ingle way, everything is coming together and I’m so glad I made the decision to move up and make all these sacrifices.”