Naseem Hamed vs Jose Badillo

A timekeeping error brought the fifth round to an end after only two minutes, but the missing minute merely delayed the conclusion of a contest already passing firmly into the champion’s control. Before a large and expectant crowd at Sheffield Arena on 11 October 1997, Naseem Hamed retained the WBO featherweight championship when Jose Badillo’s corner entered the ring during the seventh round. The official time was 1 minute 37 seconds. It was Hamed’s eighth defence of the WBO title and raised his unbeaten record to 28 victories.

Hamed returned to his home city weighing 126 pounds, while Badillo, a Puerto Rican with a record of 20 wins and one defeat, scaled 125½. Only the WBO championship was at stake. Hamed had relinquished the IBF belt after his previous appearance, having been unable to reach terms for a mandatory defence. The bill also contained the vacant WBO super-middleweight championship contest between Chris Eubank and Joe Calzaghe, giving the Sheffield gathering two fights of world-title consequence.

Badillo began cautiously, holding his gloves high and attempting to advance behind a straight left. Hamed stood at varying angles, frequently carrying his hands low and drawing the challenger forward. The champion’s movement made him an uncertain target. He changed the distance without warning, leaned away from punches and replied with single left hands or short combinations before moving out of range. Badillo remained disciplined during the opening rounds, but he could neither fix Hamed in position nor establish a jab with sufficient regularity.

The pattern became clearer through the third and fourth rounds. Hamed was quickest to the punch and increasingly willing to lead. His straight left from the southpaw position reached Badillo before the challenger could set himself, while hooks and uppercuts arrived from unusual angles when the Puerto Rican tried to close the distance. Badillo continued to follow, but much of his work was taken on the gloves or missed as Hamed withdrew his head and upper body. There were no knockdowns, yet the difference in speed and command was already considerable.

The fifth provided the contest’s oddest incident. Hamed, now thoroughly at ease, performed an Ali shuffle and invited Badillo to attack. The showmanship drew a response from the crowd but also reflected the champion’s control of the distance. The round was then ended one minute early through a timekeeping mistake. Neither corner was responsible, and the lost time was not restored. Hamed resumed in the sixth with the same loose stance and sharp counter-punching, while Badillo’s efforts became more laboured. The challenger remained upright and willing, but he was absorbing clean punches without finding an effective reply.

Hamed increased the pressure in the seventh. Heavy left hands drove through Badillo’s guard, shaking him and bringing blood from his nose. The challenger backed towards the ropes as the champion followed with further punches from both hands. Badillo had not been knocked down, but his defence was breaking apart and he was no longer returning enough punches to discourage the attack. With Hamed continuing to land, members of Badillo’s corner climbed through the ropes to stop the contest. Referee Mike Ortega accepted the intervention and declared the champion the winner by technical knockout.

The performance was among Hamed’s most controlled title defences. Badillo was not permitted to make the contest untidy or physically demanding, and his conventional guard and measured advance gave Hamed ample opportunity to use his superior reflexes, timing and punching angles. The challenger showed courage and remained on his feet, but he lacked the speed to bring sustained pressure against an opponent who could strike while moving in either direction. Two months later, Hamed carried his WBO championship to Madison Square Garden for the turbulent contest with Kevin Kelley. In Sheffield, against Badillo, he had required none of that later recovery or urgency, winning through steady superiority before the challenger’s corner brought matters to an appropriate close.

This was Hamed close to his brilliant best. Badillo came in with a respectable 20-1 record, but he had nothing to make Naz think twice. He followed him around, held his gloves high and waited far too long before letting his hands go. Against an ordinary featherweight, that might keep you safe. Against Hamed, it merely gave him time to pick his angles.

What impressed me was the control behind the showboating. Naz switched stance, drew Badillo forward and landed the straight left before the Puerto Rican could set his feet. The Ali shuffle in the fifth gets remembered, as does the round ending a minute early, but the proper work mattered more. Hamed was judging distance beautifully, pulling away by inches and returning with fast, hurtful counters. Badillo was brave, but he was being made to look poorer than he really was.

By the seventh, the left hands were landing cleanly, and Badillo’s nose was bleeding. His corner entered the ring at 1:37, and they were right to do it. There was no route back into the fight. This was not Hamed surviving on reflexes or gambling recklessly. It was a gifted champion taking an outmatched challenger apart, and doing it with enough spite to make the entertainment count.