Naseem Hamed: Conor McGregor is the 'most entertaining man' in combat sports

Conor McGregor got a ringing endorsement this week from a man once considered the most flamboyant and entertaining fighter in boxing.

"Prince" Naseem Hamed, who was once one of the most polarizing pugilists, gushed about the Dublin-born MMA fighter during an appearance on the Boxing News Magazine podcast.

The former Lineal, WBC, IBF and WBO, IBF featherweight champion, who will be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in June alongside Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Riddick Bowe, complained that nobody in boxing today had swagger like he did.

“I pray to god that I would see somebody that ignites me with that passion and that confidence [I had]. There’s only one guy… I was in Sheffield with my brother last week and he showed me this guy from Dublin… Conor McGregor. I swear to God that this guy is a breath of fresh air. And this guy, in my eyes, is the most entertaining man in the whole of any combat sport there is today.

"He's blazed out the whole of boxing – smashed it out of the water," Hamed continued. "He’s a UFC fighter. Listen, he’s ENTERTAINING. This guy, he says in his interviews, ‘I don’t just knock them out, I pick the round.’ The guy is a confident guy. I like the way he fights. Obviously, after I watched him I read up on him a little bit. The guy used to be a national amateur champion, and obviously he grew up watching me. Some of the stuff he does reminds me of me when I was younger, and what I used to do, and how confident I used to be. Some of his way[s] that he speaks, and how confident he is, and the way he carries himself… I want you to watch out for Conor McGregor."

McGregor (17-2) will face UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo (25-1) in Las Vegas at UFC 189 on July 11 – a month after Hamed’s induction during the June 11-14 HOF weekend in New York.

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