Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Naseem Hamed - Page 2

I want to be remembered as a guy who transcended boxing.

At 19, I was European champion, and at 21, I was world champion. Let's just hope Amir Khan can follow in the same footsteps. I believe he can do it 100%; he's a fantastic talent.

I'm going to take Barrera out in devastating style with unbelievably hard shots. He's tailor-made for me, and I will fit him with a suit to wear on the canvas.

As a fighter, I recognise that the one thing we fight for is prizes. The one thing that motivates us is money. A lot of fighters do come back because of money. The biggest spur they have is financial, and thank God my finances were secure, and I didn't need to come back for that reason.

There were a lot of fighters who were better than me that got knocked out and stopped because they stayed in the game too long. That never happened to me. I don't know that feeling. I thank God so much that that didn't happen to me.

I want to be remembered as the man who changed the pay scale for featherweights, who put the sparkle back in boxing after Muhammad Ali left, the man who took risks with his ring entrance, the man who, before the fight, would do a front flip into the ring without even thinking about turning an ankle, and then knocking his man out. I mean out.

It doesn't mean much to me if I'm behind or not in a fight; the fact is that I hold these guns in my right and left hands.

One thing that has irritated me in the sport of boxing since I stopped is I'm really surprised that no one has come along to excite me like me.

I know I look arrogant, but I'm altogether a different person outside the ring.

Great fighters get beat, and great fighters come back.

You can't duplicate me. A lot of fighters come out with a certain amount of style, and I like to see that, but they get smashed up a little bit.

I've put myself on this pedestal from the start.

In Arabic, 'Naseem' means a gentle breeze. But inside the guy's a monster.

My idol, Muhammad Ali, got beat when nobody thought he would, and he came back and back to beat Joe Frazier.

I came out out at the age of 28 and knew I'd had one loss on points, and the only reason I had that loss was that the fight was taken too soon. I lost two and a half stone in eight weeks, which was virtually impossible, but I made it, and I still got that big cheque!

I'm not immortal. I'm not unbeatable.

My mother asks me what round I'd like to win in, and she prays for that.

A revelation came to me at 16. All true princes must someday become kings.

I honestly can't see myself losing.

When I win, I send shock waves through the boxing world.

I've knocked guys out in the 11th round before, late.

I might spar with him, or I might teach him a few tricks, but even if there was $1 billion or £1m offered, I'd never get in the ring with another Muslim. It's against my principles.

I made a prediction when I was 11 that I would be world champion by the time I was 21, and I did it.

Nobody's going to help me when I get in that ring. That's how I like it: the responsibility's on me, and whatever happens is down to me, nobody else.

I just refuse to lose.

I don't need to concentrate or meditate before a fight. I'm the kind of guy who'll be having a laugh in the dressing room 10 minutes before the fight - that's me.

You're either good at boxing, or you're not.

I just felt I had done enough in the sport to put my stamp on boxing.

I'm not selfish before a fight or afterwards, but for the time of the fight itself, I have to think totally of myself.

I do think I retired too soon. I just felt at that particular time in 2002, after winning a fifth world title belt, why not be one of the smart ones in boxing and get out.

I'm going to smash Wayne McCullough to bits. And when you see him smashed to bits, you're going to see the same thing I'd have done to Barry McGuigan, his friend and idol.

The Kelley fight meant that much because it's always when a fighter from this country goes over to America and proves himself, it's always make or break in a British fighter's career.

I found boxing so, so easy with incredible power, speed, and accuracy.

I carried the WBO belt for five years and defended it 15 times against 10 world champions.

Being a fighter is no joke. Year in and year out. Especially as a world champion. All eyes are on you, and you can't go where you want, eat what you want.

From the age of seven, I was destined to be a legend, to be the world's most popular fighter.

I like Carl Frampton; he gets down to business.

Power is more than the punch. I get so much power and belief in myself from God, and from God the power passes through my legs, through my hips, up to my shoulders, through my arms, and into my fists...I'm written to be a legend.

You can never underestimate the prince, I'm always there. The prince will never die. I ain't bragging, but I ain't seen nobody, and I mean nobody, come to the ring in such style, with such flair, charisma, I'm talking about bringing it all, a full package. I mean who would you know that could come out in a flying carpet. Come out like a concert, dancing, with like, oozing confidence, and then get in and take somebody out. Come on, do you know anybody in the history of the sport, that did what Prince Naseem did. And I ain't trying to brag, but I was bloody good at it.