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‘The whole world can think whatever they want’ – Naseem Hamed on boxing, racism and his greatest regret

Former champion on his relationship with trainer Brendan Ingle, now portrayed on film, quitting at the right time and the importance of his faith

Naseem Hamed carries himself with a stately grandeur these days. Having settled his considerable bulk into a comfortable chair he pauses meaningfully. We look at each other intently and it’s hard to believe the incorrigible little “Naz fella”, the swaggering Prince Naseem who became a world champion 30 years ago and changed British boxing forever with his dazzling aptitude for fighting and showmanship, is 51 now.

“This is the one thing you need to understand,” Hamed says as he remembers Brendan Ingle’s famous old gym in Sheffield. “The minute I walked through the doors of that boxing club, that was it. I saw the ring, the bags, the lines on the floor, and I was immediately obsessed. This was going to be my life. I saw boxing as a game of tag. I’m going to hit you and you can’t hit me. It took speed and accuracy and I was really good at it.”

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Knicks begin West Coast road trip with 112-107 loss to Suns

The Knicks went down to the wire with the Phoenix Suns on Friday night but lost, 112-107.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Back in the starting lineup for the second straight game, Miles McBride got things started for New York with a three-pointer to kick things off and then got the assist on Jalen Brunson's first bucket of the night, another three-ball that gave the Knicks a 6-2 lead. Dillon Brooks responded right away with one from way downtown, though, which started a 10-0 run by the Suns that gave them a six-point edge. Brooks hit two more threes in the quarter and led all scorers with 11 points after 12 minutes.

-- Besides McBride and Brunson, New York didn't get much help offensively with OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Mitchell Robinson only combining for six points in the first quarter as the Knicks were outscored 28-23 entering the second.

-- The offense opened up for New York in the second quarter with help from the bench, especially Jordan Clarkson, who scored seven straight points early in the quarter to tie the game at 32. He had 12 in the quarter. Karl-Anthony Towns scored his first points of the game with a triple midway through the second quarter that gave the Knicks their first lead since early in the first. 

-- After that, both teams traded baskets with neither team able to get out to more than a three-point lead. In fact, during the first half, there were nine ties and 11 lead changes, with most of that coming during the final six minutes of the second quarter. At the break, the Suns were up 62-60.

-- Following a quiet half, Towns took it up a notch out of the break. After making one of two free throws out of the gates, KAT drained a deep three to counter a similarly long three-pointer from Royce O'Neal, although Brooks got the crowd back into it with his fourth three of the game. 

-- Nevertheless, it was the Brunson and Towns show for the Knicks in the third quarter, with both players combining for 20 points in the first six minutes and keeping New York in the game. During that stretch, no other Knick got on the board and with nobody helping Brunson and Towns, Phoenix would go on a 14-0 run to take their biggest lead of the night and keeping New York scoreless for five minutes. 

-- McBride finally broke the spell with just under a minute to play in the quarter by hitting a three and KAT ended the quarter by completing a three-point play to get the Knicks to within eight with one quarter remaining.

-- In the fourth, Anunoby's three with 7:47 left got his team to within four points, but Devin Booker's three-point play cancelled that out. A minute later, Anunoby hit another three. 

-- The final frame was a defensive slog with every basket difficult to come by. Still, New York was able to overcome that 14-0 run earlier in the game by chipping away and tied the game at 101 after Anunoby's two made free throws with 3:04 left. That would be the closest the Knicks would come, though, from pulling out a win as the Suns ended the game on an 11-6 run and went 6-for-6 on free throws in the final minutes.

-- With a chance to cut his team's deficit to one after getting fouled on a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left, Anunoby instead missed two of three from the line to keep New York down three. Brooks ended his fantastic night by hitting both free throws at the end to seal the game. He finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

-- Noticeably absent in crunch time was Brunson, who made just one basket in the fourth quarter, which came with nine minutes left. He also had a crucial turnover late in the game -- one of four on the night for the point guard. The Knicks as a team had 17 turnovers compared to eight by Phoenix. Brunson finished with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting (5-for-10 from deep).

Game MVP: Dillon Brooks

Although Booker led all scorers with 31 points, Brooks had his hand in everything from beginning to end and gave the Knicks fits all night.

Highlights

What's next

The Knicks' West Coast road trip continues with a battle against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at 6 p.m.

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Kings Fall To The Jets In A Blowout

The Los Angeles Kings (18-15-10) continued their three-game road trip into Manitoba in a Western Conference clash with the Winnipeg Jets (16-22-5). No matchup is easy in the National Hockey League but the Kings were given a chance to bounce back with a victory over the Jets who entered Friday night having lost their last 11 games, which has them sitting at 32nd place in the league. After falling behind early, the Kings never had enough to juice to make a game out of this one. 

The dog days of the season seem to be hitting the Kings in full force this year as they have now lost 10 of their last 14 contests.

Kings Fall Behind Early

It didn't take long for this game to turn ugly as the Jets came out flying while it looked like the Kings were still taking their pre-game nap. Before the broadcast could even finish showing the starting lineups Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov scored his 7th goal of the season by redirecting a Logan Stanley shot from the point past Darcy Kuemper.

After falling behind just a minute and a half into the contest, the Kings weathered the storm but that was it. The time of possession battle was fairly even but it was clearly the Jets game to lose.

To add insult to injury, Cole Koepke doubled the Winnipeg lead with less than two minutes remaining in the opening frame. Kopeke blistered his third of the year past Kuemper off of a nice feed by Dylan Samberg.

Another Early Period Blunder

Just like the first period, the Kings were caught lacking and it cost them. Just over two minutes into the second period the Jets stretched their early game lead to 3-0. After a 26-game goaless drought, Jets forward Jonathan Toews found the back of the net for his fourth of the season after finding the loose puck in the crease where was then able to jam it into the L.A. net.

Byfield Gets On The Board

After a very lifeless first half of the game, the Kings found themselves a sliver of life as they shrank the Winnipeg lead to 3-1. Quinton Byfield tipped-in Warren Foegele's shot from the point for his seventh goal of the season, Taylor Award picks up the other assist fo this second career NHL point.

Byfield now has four points in his last four games after having just four points 19 games prior to this stretch.

Midseason Truth About the Los Angeles KingsMidseason Truth About the Los Angeles KingsAt the midpoint of the NHL season, the numbers show that the Los Angeles Kings are an average team. Sitting in fifth place in the Pacific division, tied with the Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks with 45 points, the stats show familiar flaws that ended their season last spring too early.

Scheifele Ices The Game With A Pair

Byfield's goal to make it 3-1 seemingly gave the Kings an outside chance of coming back in this one. That was until notable Team Canada snub Mark Scheifele scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the season to officially turn this game into a blowout. 

Darcy Kuemper was pulled and Anton Forsberg was given the net for the third period. Forsberg didn't see a ton of action but he did stop all three shots he faced. 

The Kings played a little better in the third period as they did generate a handful of quality chances but to no avail. 

WInnipeg's dreadful streak was bound to come to an end eventually, it's just a shame that the Kings made it so easy for them.

The Los Angeles Kings are back in action on Saturday as they finish off their three game road trip in a battle with Connor McDavid and the dreaded Edmonton Oilers.

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