Hamed fight `on' despite legal row

Despite concern over a convoluted legal battle involving television backers, managers, promoters and casino authorities, the world title fight between Britain's Naseem Hamed and Ireland's Wayne McCullough, scheduled for next Saturday in Atlantic City, will go ahead, according to Hamed's trainer Brendan Ingle.

In a report in yesterday's Observer it was stated that the chances of the bout proceeding were only 50:50. The report stated that following a High Court hearing in London on Friday the promoter of the event, a previously unknown Utah lawyer, Richard Lawrence, said that he may now not want to be part of the promotion.

The dispute, generated by the feud between promoters Frank Warren and Don King, centres on who owns the rights to promote Hamed, the unbeaten featherweight world champion and currently one of the biggest names in boxing, either side of the Atlantic.

According to the Observer, during the court hearing Home Box Office (HBO), the cable network screening the fight, said they wanted Lawrence's company, Sport International, replaced by the New York promoter Cedric Krushner. King's lawyers described Sport International as `simply a sham' and `a creature of Warren' and alleged that Warren has been appointed to the company as a consultant.

"Right now, the chances of the fight going ahead are 50:50," a lawyer close to the negotiations reportedly said. However, Hamed's camp see it quite differently.

"Hail, rain, or snow, the fight will go on," said Ingle. "The (Kevin) Kelley fight wasn't going to happen either, if you remember. He's an old fox is Don King and Frank Warren is a new kid on the block. The fight will go ahead next weekend. We haven't been told anything different. We are all geared up. Naz is coming out today (Monday), his weight is spot on, the ring is set up in the lobby of the hotel here in Atlantic City and he's going to win.

"Don King has been putting little explosions all over the place to cause disruption and try to upset things because of his spat with Warren. I said to Naz, `King won't leave it alone'. But we just let it all go over our heads. We don't take any of these things into consideration. But I can tell you, the fight will go ahead no matter what."

While Ingle has experienced similar power struggles, and rightly points out that they are part of the current business of boxing, the focus now appears to settle on the New York promoter Krushner, who already has a world title fight on the undercard. Counsel for Krushner said that he had been approached by HBO on behalf of Sport International to take over the promotion on a subcontract basis for a fee.

Ingle's observations on the matter also clearly appear to contradict King's counsel, who claimed that Sport International was not in a position to pay Hamed what was agreed and that the boxer was `not happy'. An official in Warren's Organisation claimed, "Frank isn't promoting the fight anyway."