Naz and Barrera to meet at Hatton fight

Prince Naseem Hamed may come face-to-face with conqueror Marco Antonio Barrera at the Sheffield Hallam FM Arena this Saturday.

Both featherweight greats will be ringside for the eagerly-awaited IBF/WBA unification clash between Ricky Hatton and Carlos Maussa this Saturday, promoters Fight Academy have said.

Hamed lost a 12 round decision to Barrera in Las Vegas in April of 2001 and has not come face-to-face with 'the Baby-Faced Assassin' since. Hamed has had only one fight between then and now, an average showing against Manuel Calvo in May 2002 while Barrera has gone on to cement his status as a modern great by winning further world titles and also beating Erik Morales twice.

The Prince, a former WBC, IBF, WBO and IBO featherweight champion of the world, has once again making noises about a comeback, this time targeting a early summer 2006 return to the ring.

He has made similar claims before and nothing has come of them but the Sheffield Showman's former trainer Manny Steward told SecondsOut two weeks ago that not only could Naz get back into shape and fight again, but also re-establish himself at the top level and potentially avenge his lone career defeat to Barrera.

Fight Academy's Robert Waterman said: "It is a testament to the level of interest in this unification fight - the first major unification fight in this country since Naz himself unified two featherweight belts in early 1997 - that greats like Naz and Barrera want to be ringside."

Fight Academy's Dennis Hobson added: "You know you are presenting a top quality main event when rivals like Naz and Barrera will sit down next to eachother as long as they get the see the big fight."

Ticket are very nearly gone for the big event at the Sheffield Hallam FM Arena and the nearest available accommodation for fight night in in Barnsley.

Hobson said: "I appeal to any hotel in Yorkshire which has rooms available for Saturday night to get in touch with us at Fight Academy because we're still trying to find accommodation for some of our guests and fans."

I heard Naz is fat....he's probably planning on caning Barrera sumo wrestling style!