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 aged, 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 utilize 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.

Anthony Joshua has named his favourite ever opponent ahead of facing domestic rival Tyson Fury later this year.

Their long-awaited showdown is set to be staged in November, yet there has still been no announcement regarding a specific date, location and promoter.

Perhaps more importantly, Joshua and Fury must also come through their respective warm-up fights against Kristian Prenga and Mariusz Wach, which will take place at the end of this month in Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

Both are heavily favoured to emerge victorious on that particular weekend, yet there is always the possibility of an injury or upset.

It is more likely, however, that the two British heavyweights will eventually lock horns, albeit at a time when they are long past their primes.

Both were considered close to their best when they secured respective victories over Wladimir Klitschko, who ‘AJ’ defeated with an 11th-round finish in 2017.

This came after Fury dethroned the long-reigning champion in 2015, yet Joshua’s triumph was nonetheless considered an impressive result at the time.

And with no shortage of respect between the Brit and Ukrainian, it is hardly surprising that Joshua has named Klitschko as his favourite ever opponent.

Speaking with DAZNthe 36-year-old immediately said “Wladimir” when asked the question, perhaps reflecting on their thrilling encounter at Wembley Stadium.

Both heavyweights had suffered ponderous knockdowns, with ‘AJ’ being sent to the canvas for the first time in his career in the sixth roundbut it was Joshua who ultimately floored his older opponent on two more occasions in round 11.

Having already claimed the IBF belt, the then-unbeaten champion added the vacant WBA strap to his collection and reigned as the unified king until 2019, when he suffered a major upset defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr.

Joe Joyce could land himself an unexpected world title shot, having been named as the frontrunner to face a heavyweight KO specialist.

The 40-year-old has not fought since his 10-round unanimous decision defeat to Filip Hrgovicwho stepped in as a overdue replacement for Dillian Whyte in April 2025.

Prior to that, Joyce lost another unanimous decision in July 2024, this time against fellow veteran Derek Chisorawhich caused many to speculate about the Olympic silver medallist’s future in the sport.

His back-to-back stoppage defeats to Zhilei Zhang in 2023 offered the first impression that, at this stage in his career, Joyce is no longer the ‘Juggernaut’ of aged.

Yet despite losing four of his last five fights, the Londoner is scheduled to face unbeaten Russian Artem Suslenkov at the VTB Arena, Moscow, on July 11.

This was supposed to feature on the undercard of Murat Gassiev vs Tony Yoka, only for the main event to be scuppered after Yoka pulled out with a back injury.

Gassiev, however, is now searching for a fresh opponent to defend his world title against, having been elevated from ‘regular’ to full WBA champion following Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to relinquish his three belts.

According to The RingJoyce is currently the frontrunner to take on such a challenge.

“Tony Yoka is now out of his WBA heavyweight title clash against Murat Gassiev due to a back injury.

“The Ring has learned that alternative opponents are being lined up for Gassiev’s return later this month, with Joe Joyce as the most likely option.”

Gassiev, who is now a two-division world champion, has not fought since his sixth-round finish over a 44-year-old Kubrat Pulev last December.