He returned to the ring a year later, for what turned out to be his final boxing match, beating the European champion Manuel Calvo for the IBO featherweight title.

He was also known for his front somersault over the top rope into the ring, his highly athletic and hard-hitting southpaw boxing style, and formidable one-punch knockout power, having finished his career with a knockout-to-win percentage of 84%.

[7][8] With his cocky persona and high-profile bouts he was a prominent figure in 1990s British pop culture, while Sean Ingle in The Guardian writes, "in his prime, Hamed was a global superstar".

[9] A headliner on both sides of the Atlantic, Dan Rafael of ESPN writes, "one of the biggest stars in the sport, the guy sold out arenas before his opponent was even named.

After one defence he won the WBC International super bantamweight title in 1994, overwhelming Freddy Cruz in Sheffield, whom he severely punished and stopped in six rounds.

[15] After signing for Frank Warren, Hamed, employing more spectacular entrances, knocked out better opposition in Enrique Angeles and Juan Polo Pérez, both within two rounds.

The fight was held in front of Robinson's home crowd at the rugby ground, Cardiff Arms Park, with rain pouring down on the fighters and the ring.

After being constantly stunned and staggered from round 3 onwards, Johnson was finally dropped by a huge uppercut, then saved from further punishment by the referee.

Hamed's first defence of both the WBO & IBF titles was a first-round KO of veteran British boxer and European champion Billy Hardy.

In Hamed's hometown of Sheffield in October 1997, he produced one of the best performances of his career in defending his WBO title against Jose Badillo, whose corner entered the ring to stop the fight during round 7.

Hamed's status as one of the biggest draws in the sport was evident with a stellar undercard that included Joe Calzaghe vs. Chris Eubank for the world super middleweight title.

In March 2000 at Olympia, Kensington, London, Hamed knocked out former long-reigning IBF super bantamweight title holder, Vuyani Bungu of South Africa.

His body, drained from losing two stones in eight weeks, amateurishly tossing around like a marionette – head flying one way, legs flopping the other – as Barrera worked him over.

[15] He had seen Barrera look razor sharp only a few months before in a stoppage win in Las Vegas, and watched Hamed not take his sparring with young Mexicans seriously.

In the 12th and final round Barrera trapped Hamed in a full-nelson and forced his head into the turnbuckle, resulting in a point deducted by referee Joe Cortez.

In an interview for BBC Radio Sportsweek, Hamed said that his retirement was largely due to chronic problems with his hands, including multiple fractures as well as surgery.

[42] The Golf driver, Anthony Burgin, had fractures to "every major bone" and bruising to the brain; after multiple hospitalisations he was deemed unable ever to work again.

[44][19] On 12 May 2006, Hamed was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment and 4 years' disqualification from driving, after the court heard he had been trying to impress his passenger, businessman Asif Ayub.

[44] The judge expressed astonishment that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency had refused "apparently on human rights grounds" to disclose Hamed's four previous speeding offences, including a one-year ban for driving a Porsche at 110 mph on the M1 in Derbyshire.

[44] Hamed left prison on 4 September 2006 after serving 16 weeks, and was placed under Home Detention Curfew for the remainder of his sentence, monitored by an electronic tag.

[45] At a jury trial in March 2008, Anthony Burgin was cleared of dangerous driving in relation to an incident on 19 April 2007 involving Hamed's wife Eleasha.

[46] Hamed was only 21 when he became the world champion by beating Steve Robinson in September 1995; two days later, Oasis released their album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

For while Hamed rode sidecar to the Cool Britannia era rather than sitting in the driver's seat, his attitude was a snug fit for the times: cocky and swaggering, impervious to self-doubt.

[48] As popular lower weight fighters like Oscar De La Hoya and Kostya Tszyu moved into the mid-weight classes and the Mexican champion Julio César Chávez declined, Hamed and Arturo Gatti filled the void.

HBO executive Lou DiBella compared his impact to that of Muhammad Ali, arguing that Hamed "changed boxing" and "redefined the fighter as a showman and an entertainer".

[11][12] He was a source of inspiration for a number of world champions in boxing and MMA, including Tyson Fury,[51] Oleksandr Usyk,[52] Conor McGregor,[53] Israel Adesanya,[54] Floyd Mayweather,[55] Manny Pacquiao,[56] Nonito Donaire,[57] David Benavidez,[58] Billy Joe Saunders,[59] Amir Khan,[60] Carl Froch,[61] and David Haye.

Hamed himself recorded a song with hip hop group Kaliphz called "Walk Like a Champion", which reached number 23 in the UK Singles Chart in 1996.

[68] In the Japanese manga series Hajime no Ippo, the fictional American boxing champion Bryan Hawk is based on Naseem Hamed.

[69] In the Japanese manga series Batuque, the fictional character Shyun Amamiya is a fan of Naseem Hamed and takes inspiration from his fighting style.

In the Tamil movie Sarpatta Parambarai (2021), the boxing style of fictional character Dancing Rose, played by Shabeer Kallarakkal, is based on Naseem Hamed.