Dojo
12-19-2007, 09:45 AM
From the SMH website...
NADER HAMDAN received some strange glances as he changed a flat tyre yesterday afternoon.
"My smile is so wide, people probably think I'm on drugs, grinning like this changing my tyre," he said.
Hamdan had just received a phone call - the one he'd been waiting for ever since he pulled on gloves and threw the first of a million punches.
The 33-year-old boxer will finally fight for a world title. And he doesn't have to worry about whether Australia will be paying attention, because his opponent, charismatic world champion Anthony Mundine, brings the eyes with him.
An official announcement of the bout will be held this morning at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and the venue should live up to its name if both men are in their usual high spirits and firing oral uppercuts.
Hamdan has already started: "I'm going in there with a knock-out-or-be-knocked-out mentality. I can't stand there and try to out-box the guy, I admit he is a superior boxer - but not a superior fighter. I have two hands and a heart, and anyone can be beaten, can be hurt.
"I'm going to make this ugly and rough."
That, surprisingly, will be music to Mundine's hip-hop tuned ears. The reason Hamdan has been given a crack at the WBA super-middleweight belt is because he is so tough, durable, ugly and rough.
With big fight plans for next year, including a rematch with arch-rival Danny Green, Mundine wants a stern challenge first-up. No unknown South Americans who will fall within four, thanks.
He will view Hamdan as the right candidate, but a speed bump nonetheless. Mundine will be the heavy favourite; he has quicker hands, slicker defence, and is in his prime. The weary body of Hamdan, a veteran of 45 fights, is wearing the inner scars of a long ring career and he is not the same fighter he was four years ago with a 32-0 record.
His first loss was inflicted by Sam Soliman, and Hamdan has been beaten another four times since.
However, he approached most of those fateful encounters with limited preparation and in a less than ideal physical state, given he has undergone a complete shoulder reconstruction recently.
This time, he will have plenty of training time, with the fight scheduled for late February. "My shoulder is fine, I feel good and I'm going to train my heart out for this fight," he said.
"This is the opportunity I have waited for so long and I still can't believe it has come. I am almost jumping out of my skin."
Hamdan, the speed bump, plans to become a hurdle Mundine can't climb, boasting: "I will happily give him a rematch when I win."
Mundine is looking for a toilsome time, he needs someone to expose any flaws before the punishing Green does.
Just a few weeks ago I was reading an interview with Nader and he was saying that he and Choc would never fight each other as they are both Muslim and had both done the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, things change I guess. Good news.
NADER HAMDAN received some strange glances as he changed a flat tyre yesterday afternoon.
"My smile is so wide, people probably think I'm on drugs, grinning like this changing my tyre," he said.
Hamdan had just received a phone call - the one he'd been waiting for ever since he pulled on gloves and threw the first of a million punches.
The 33-year-old boxer will finally fight for a world title. And he doesn't have to worry about whether Australia will be paying attention, because his opponent, charismatic world champion Anthony Mundine, brings the eyes with him.
An official announcement of the bout will be held this morning at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and the venue should live up to its name if both men are in their usual high spirits and firing oral uppercuts.
Hamdan has already started: "I'm going in there with a knock-out-or-be-knocked-out mentality. I can't stand there and try to out-box the guy, I admit he is a superior boxer - but not a superior fighter. I have two hands and a heart, and anyone can be beaten, can be hurt.
"I'm going to make this ugly and rough."
That, surprisingly, will be music to Mundine's hip-hop tuned ears. The reason Hamdan has been given a crack at the WBA super-middleweight belt is because he is so tough, durable, ugly and rough.
With big fight plans for next year, including a rematch with arch-rival Danny Green, Mundine wants a stern challenge first-up. No unknown South Americans who will fall within four, thanks.
He will view Hamdan as the right candidate, but a speed bump nonetheless. Mundine will be the heavy favourite; he has quicker hands, slicker defence, and is in his prime. The weary body of Hamdan, a veteran of 45 fights, is wearing the inner scars of a long ring career and he is not the same fighter he was four years ago with a 32-0 record.
His first loss was inflicted by Sam Soliman, and Hamdan has been beaten another four times since.
However, he approached most of those fateful encounters with limited preparation and in a less than ideal physical state, given he has undergone a complete shoulder reconstruction recently.
This time, he will have plenty of training time, with the fight scheduled for late February. "My shoulder is fine, I feel good and I'm going to train my heart out for this fight," he said.
"This is the opportunity I have waited for so long and I still can't believe it has come. I am almost jumping out of my skin."
Hamdan, the speed bump, plans to become a hurdle Mundine can't climb, boasting: "I will happily give him a rematch when I win."
Mundine is looking for a toilsome time, he needs someone to expose any flaws before the punishing Green does.
Just a few weeks ago I was reading an interview with Nader and he was saying that he and Choc would never fight each other as they are both Muslim and had both done the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, things change I guess. Good news.