Hamed aiming for early knockout

NASEEM HAMED will be eager for a quick finish when he defends his WBO featherweight title for the first time against Said Lawal at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow tonight.

A damaged right hand forced Hamed to put his career on hold for nearly six months after he beat Steve Robinson in Cardiff. Now the 22 year old insists the hand is as good as new and is aiming to make up for lost time.

Hamed predicts Nigerian Lawal will fall in two rounds. Then he has set an outrageous task of winning three more world titles before the end of the year. IBF champion Tom Johnson, of the United States, is his first target. Mexico's WBO super bantamweight holder Marco Antonio Barrera, who himself won five times last year, is another.

Hamed said: "The Prince is ready to take over British boxing again. I can't wait to be back in the ring. I'm so strong and fit, the weight is great and the buzz I'm getting is tremendous.

"I don't say things I can't achieve. With my ability and confidence coming together, I'm going to be setting such a standard.

Hamed was at ringside in Newcastle a fortnight ago when Johnson survived an early knock down to force a last round stoppage for a 10th title win. "For a man with that many I wasn't impressed.

"He's getting a bit old and looks rather chinny," said Hamed. I've been watching tapes of Barrera and he is probably the best in the two divisions. But if he comes in with his face, he's tailor made for me. My power is not of super bantam or feather. I'm punching harder than either of those two weights."

Hamed, going for his 21st straight win, dismisses Lawal's chances on the basis of two blemishes on a 19 fight record. The 26 year old Austrian based challenger lost and drew with Freddy Cruz, who Hamed beat in six in 1994.

"I gave Cruz such a beating that he couldn't wait to get out of the ring," recalled Hamed. "Lawal is a bit further up than mediocre but has never boxed anyone of my standard. I've two rounds in my head and I'm sticking with that. It will be quick, so don't blink."

The only question mark concerns the hand. Is it really right? Doubts have been expressed in some quarters. Hamed insists it is healed and he is "comfortable with it". But even if he is less than 100 per cent, it is difficult to see anything other than another overwhelming victory.

Meanwhile, Joe Bugner will try to keep alive his colourful 30 year career in Berlin tonight as well as an improbable dream of a rematch with Frank Bruno.

The Aussie based veteran challenges young Briton Scott Welch for the WBO inter continental heavyweight title exactly a quarter of a century since the controversial victory against Henry Cooper which made him so unpopular.

Bugner, 46 this week, is itching for another crack at the modern day darling of the domestic fight game as he claims he was harshly treated in Bruno's eight round victory at White Hart Lane in 1987.

"I would love to avenge Frank Bruno," said Bugner. "He's another Henry Cooper. Everybody likes him but I believe an injustice was done on the night we fought. What he was allowed to get away with was totally out of order. He must have hit me on the back of the head about seven times without the referee calling it."

Bugner is banking on Bruno beating Mike Tyson in Las Vegas hours after his own showdown with Welch. "I give Frank a hell of a chance for the first five or six rounds. Being the champion has made him more relaxed," said Bugner.

"I don't like Tyson as a person. I wouldn't want my kid to follow in his footsteps."

Welch, the British and Commonwealth champion, is giving away 19 years and 58 fights worth of experience, together with around two stones at the scales.

But he is confident he can emulate Bruno by winning inside the distance and sending Bugner into retirement once more.

"I am prepared to go 12 rounds but I don't think I will have to," he said. It might go to the middle stages but I cannot see him dealing with my speed and power."