“I was catching him with shots the first day we sparred. The second day we sparred, those shots were not landing,” Mendoza said to FightHype.

“People forget he was a high-IQ boxer as an amateur.”

Mendoza said the biggest takeaway was watching Spence make adjustments from one sparring session to the next rather than simply relying on experience.

“For those of you that think he’s done, that he’s just showing up for a paycheck… he’s not working like someone who’s showing up for a paycheck.

“The work ethic I got to see in the couple of weeks I was in camp, and just from being in the ring with him… there were adjustments every day. He’s not someone that’s just showing up.”

Mendoza also addressed another major question surrounding Spence following such a lengthy layoff: whether he can still take a punch.

“I did check Spence’s punch resistance—I can definitely say I sent some missiles his way—and I honestly feel like he responded well.”

Mendoza is in a unique position to compare the matchup, having lost a unanimous decision to Tszyu in October 2023 before recently helping Spence prepare for the Australian.

Both fighters enter the bout looking to revive their careers. Spence has not fought since losing his WBC, WBA and IBF welterweight titles to Crawford, while Tszyu is trying to rebound after defeats to Sebastian Fundora and Bakhram Murtazaliev left his standing among the division’s elite in doubt.

With both men attempting to prove they still belong at the highest level, Mendoza’s assessment suggests Spence is arriving in Australia with more left in the tank than many critics have assumed.

Adam Catterall believes Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s long-awaited showdown simply doesn’t work financially without Saudi Arabia’s backing, while Simon Jordan says that reality explains why Turki Alalshikh ultimately holds the strongest hand in negotiations over the fight’s future.

Questions remain over where the heavyweight clash will take place after Eddie Hearn insisted the fight is contractually set for the UK. Catterall argued, however, that the enormous purses Fury and Joshua are expected to command cannot be covered by gate receipts and pay-per-view revenue alone. Instead, Saudi Arabia’s financial backing is what makes the fight possible.

“I think also where AJ and Tyson Fury reside now might have some sort of bearing on where they might want the fight to be. Ultimately, he’s the money in the room, and he can determine it, and he can say what he wants to say because he’s paying for the right to do so,” Catterall said on talkSPORT.

Jordan agreed, arguing that the economics of the fight give Alalshikh the leverage to decide where it ultimately lands.

“You’ve got to ask yourself where does Turki want it? Why does he want this fight? Because he’s the money in the room. He’s the one that’s creating the outcome,” Jordan said. “If Frank and Eddie are doing it, it has a certain scale, and they’re not going to break the budget economically just to make a fight happen for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.”

Simon argued that even a sold-out Wembley Stadium would not generate enough revenue to cover the career-high purses Fury and Joshua are expected to seek. In his view, Saudi Arabia’s investment bridges the gap between what the event can realistically earn and what the two former heavyweight champions are likely to demand.

The discussion comes after Turki Alalshikh hosted a high-profile meeting this week involving representatives from Queensberry, Matchroom, TKO Boxing and Sela to discuss the future of boxing. Although Fury versus Joshua remains one of the sport’s biggest potential fights, no official venue or date has been announced.

“I suppose we have to be grateful that the fight’s eventually being made because if it was left to Frank and Eddie, probably we’d never see this fight,” Jordan said.

Olly Campbell is a boxing journalist who has covered the sport since 2014, providing ringside reporting and technical analysis of major bouts. His work focuses on fighter tendencies, tactical adjustments, and the details that shape high-level competition.

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Last Updated on 2026/07/03 at 12:44 PM

Prince Naseem Hamed would have loved to remain in the sport but, after repeatedly experiencing an “obscene amount of pain”, he ultimately decided to retire in 2002.

The mercurial talent had become a world featherweight champion in 1995, dethroning Steve Robinson with an eighth-round stoppage to claim the WBO title.

‘Naz’ then went on to unify his division and make multiple iconic title defences, most notably scoring a fourth-round finish over Kevin Kelley in 1997.

Their thrilling battle saw both men climb off the canvas at Madison Square Garden, where Hamed endeared himself to the American audience with his flamboyance in and out the ring.

Another stunning fourth-round stoppage came in 2000, when the Sheffield man was once again sent to the deck, this time by Augie Sanchez, who is perhaps best known for defeating Floyd Mayweather in the amateurs.

In the end, Hamed emerged victorious but suffered his only professional defeat, against Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera, in his following outing.

Yet it was not for this reason that he retired at 28 years ancient, but rather because the sport had taken its toll on his hands.

Speaking with talkSPORTHamed explained that such injuries prevented him from having another roll of the dice at world level.

“I would’ve loved to carry on … but I just felt like: what’s the employ in trying to do what you [want to] do [when] it won’t work?

“If your hands keep breaking, and every time you hit [someone] you get an obscene amount of pain … I won the world title and defended it 15 times. What more should I want?”

Following his unanimous decision defeat to Barrera‘Naz’ convincingly outpointed Manuel Calvo but nonetheless called time on his career in 2002.