By Alan Baldwin
London - Naseem Hamed confidently predicted on Thursday that he would silence his critics and beat South African Vuyani Bungu in style when he defends his WBO featherweight title on Saturday.
"I do believe there's going to be a stoppage or a knockout but I can't give you a prediction of exactly when," the champion declared.
"But I'll win and win convincingly."
Bungu's backers said the cocky Briton, unbeaten in 33 fights, may have made the mistake of his life.
South African promoter Rodney Berman said after a head-to-head meeting between the two men that there was no doubt who was the hungrier for victory.
"If you know where Vuyani Bungu is coming from, then you will know that they will have to carry him out of the ring. You have to understand where he comes from to understand his motivation.
"Vuyani comes from total abject poverty," he added, illustrating the point with a simple anecdote.
He said that as a boy in East London's Mdantsane township, Bungu used to walk to school with a packet of sandwiches in his hand. But at lunchtime, he would turn his back on the other children and walk away.
"He didn't want them to see him because in that paper packet was rocks," said Berman.
"His family could not afford to give him bread to go to school. This is genuine. He used to be so embarrassed he would sit there and pretend he was eating a rock."
Berman said that Hamed, with his Ferrari cars and millionaire lifestyle, had lost that hunger while Bungu - known as "The Beast" and whose last of two defeats in 39 fights was eight years ago - had the chance of his life.
"He (Hamed) might have too much wealth. It's really hard to keep motivating yourself for the defence of your title," said Berman. "I don't think Naz understands what he's up against on Saturday night. We know. You guys don't know. "It's the biggest fight in South African boxing."
Hamed, who was stripped of the WBC version of his belt in January after winning it from Cesar Soto in Detroit in October, was hugely disappointing in that fight.
He had been due to fight New Yorker Junior Jones next but that fell through and Bungu, the IBF super-bantamweight champion who is now moving up a division, stepped in.
Hamed insisted in his usual brash manner that he was in the shape of his life and had been helped by a former sparring partner of Bungu's who "showed me all his tricks".
"I am just so confident," he boasted.
"I am a pure winner. I just keep turning up and winning...I had all them critics saying when is Naz going to shine? Well, you're going to see it on Saturday."
Hamed said Oscar Suarez and Emanuel Steward, who also trains world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, would be his co-trainers for the big night.
He suggested they might take turns between rounds but Steward made clear he intended to be the main man.
"I am never going to be any secondary corner person," he said. "If I am going to be a secondary person, I go home. Otherwise it's just a waste of my time.
Local promoter Barry Hearn promised meanwhile that Hamed's entry into the arena would be the most extravagant yet, "one of those entrances that they write songs about".
That would be some doing for a boxer whose spectacularly hyped entrances have included anything from laser beam cages to a sedan chair brought in by "slaves" and, recently, a mock graveyard.
Berman accused Hamed of being "rude and arrogant" in expecting the challenger to stand in the ring for 10 to 15 minutes but Bungu's manager, Mzi Mnguni, was more sanguine.
"Naseem can have his show," he declared.
"When the bell rings, that when the fight starts."
- Reuters