Naseem Hamed vs Juan Gerardo Cabrera

In less than perfect circumstances, Naseem Hamed retained the World Boxing Organisation and International Boxing Federation featherweight championships at Wembley Arena on July 19, 1997, when the American referee Lou Moret stopped Juan Gerardo Cabrera after 2 minutes 17 seconds of the second round. Cabrera remained on his feet, but he had been cut beside the right eye, was bleeding from the nose and had been driven helplessly into his own corner under a succession of hooks and uppercuts. Hamed weighed 125¾ pounds and Cabrera 125. The three judges, Harold Gomes, John Stewart and Dale Grable, had each awarded the opening round to the champion. It was Hamed’s seventh defence of the WBO championship and his second defence of the IBF title.

The contest had been arranged hastily. Hamed was originally due to meet another Argentinian, Pastor Maurin, who withdrew through injury only a week before the promotion. Cabrera, who had been training alongside Maurin, accepted the match with six days’ notice. He brought a record of 24 victories and two defeats, with 20 wins inside the distance, and had never previously been stopped. Those figures suggested punching strength and durability, but he had not competed for the Argentine national championship and had fought outside his country only twice, losing both contests by disqualification. His ranking gave the defence official respectability, but there was little evidence that he had met an opponent approaching Hamed’s standard.

Hamed entered as the dominant figure in the featherweight division and one of the principal attractions in British boxing. He had taken the WBO title from Steve Robinson in Cardiff in September 1995 and added the IBF championship by stopping the experienced Tom Johnson in eight rounds five months before the Cabrera contest. His previous appearance had lasted only 93 seconds, with Billy Hardy overwhelmed at Manchester Arena in May. Cabrera was therefore required to confront an unbeaten champion who was not merely faster and more skilful, but accustomed to ending contests before his opponents had settled. The evening also carried importance beyond Wembley, for the fight was being shown live across the United States by the ABC network. There were, however, conspicuous empty seats in the arena, and the opposition's weakness had reduced public expectations of a competitive championship fight.

Cabrera appeared relaxed during Hamed’s prolonged entrance and moved to the music while waiting in the ring, but his composure lasted only until the opening exchanges. Hamed began in the southpaw stance, carrying his hands low and watching for the challenger’s reaction before committing himself. Cabrera was reluctant to lead. Hamed’s habit of drawing an opponent forward and answering from an unusual angle left the Argentinian uncertain whether to attack or remain behind his guard. When Hamed did move, the difference in speed was immediate. His jab reached Cabrera without reply, and an upward right, delivered from below the challenger’s line of vision, stiffened his legs and forced him backwards. Cabrera’s nose began to bleed, and his face was already reddened by the force of the punches before the round ended.

The champion could probably have pressed for the finish during the first round, but he repeatedly stood away after hurting Cabrera. On two occasions, he smiled and turned aside rather than follow immediately with another attack. Cabrera was permitted to reach the bell, although he had achieved nothing of consequence and returned to his corner looking bewildered. Hamed had predicted a second-round victory, and the bookmakers had offered unusually short odds against precisely that result. Whether or not the prediction affected his pace, he had spent the opening round establishing complete control without attempting to force a stoppage.

There was no similar delay in the second. Hamed planted his feet more firmly and began punching with greater weight. Right uppercuts lifted Cabrera’s head, while hooks came around the guard from both sides. Cabrera attempted to return punches but lacked the speed to interrupt the champion’s combinations. A right hand opened a cut beside his right eye, and the blood from his nose spread across his face. Hamed remained close, throwing from changing angles with his hands below his waist between attacks. Cabrera flailed in reply, but his blows had little effect and did not cause Hamed to alter his course. A ringside count credited the champion with 26 punches to the head during the round, against only one attempted answer from the challenger.

The final attack carried Cabrera steadily towards his own corner. Hamed drove in uppercuts and hooks, paused briefly to measure the next opening and then struck again. A right uppercut and a left hook sent Cabrera reeling against the corner ropes. Moret moved between the fighters before Hamed could continue. Cabrera had not gone down and remained conscious, but he was no longer defending himself adequately and had shown no means of reversing the action. His corner made no protest when the contest was stopped.

The victory extended Hamed’s unbeaten record and gave him a fourteenth successive stoppage. It was also the eighth championship contest he had won inside two rounds. The performance demonstrated his unusual speed, balance and punching power, but it revealed little that was not already known, as Cabrera had been unable to test him. Hamed afterwards declared that the American audience had now seen that the best featherweight in the world came from Sheffield. The ABC commentator Alex Wallau offered the necessary qualification: Hamed was plainly an exceptional puncher and one of boxing’s most exciting performers, but greatness required victory over a great opponent. The argument after Wembley was therefore not whether Hamed had been impressive, but whether such a substitute challenger should have been placed in a world-title contest with him at all.