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Hamed predicts Soto KO
Posted: Wednesday October 20, 1999 08:25 PM
DETROIT (AP) -- Cesar Soto has never been knocked out. Prince Naseem Hamed says that's about to change. Hamed, the flamboyant WBO featherweight champion, will face the WBC titleholder and 11-year veteran Soto in a 12-round unification bout Friday night at Joe Louis Arena. "I can honestly say this is the first time he's going to be knocked out," Hamed said at a news conference Wednesday. "I'm unbelievably confident." Hamed, an Englishman of Yemeni descent, is considered one of the hardest punchers in boxing, but is best known for his leopard-print trunks and his 10-minute entrances that finish with a flip over the top rope and into the ring. "He's like a rock star," promoter Cedric Kushner said. The 25-year-old Hamed, who will get $5 million for this fight, is 32-0 with 29 knockouts. In the hype for his Halloween 1998 fight with Wayne McCullough, Hamed also predicted a knockout. Instead, he won a 12-round decision. "I'm not looking for some points victory," Hamed said. "I'm talking about bringing my own referees, my left hand and my right." Soto (53-7-2) will earn $1 million. "I know Naseem Hamed is a great champion," Soto, a Mexican, said through an interpreter. "But in this event, he's going to fight another champion. We're going to see who's the real champion." Kushner said about 15,000 fans are expected to attend. The main reason it's in Detroit is because of Hamed's ancestry. There are an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people of Arab heritage in the Detroit area. The Red Wings had been scheduled to play the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the arena Friday night, but the game was moved to November in order for this fight to come to Detroit. "When we were looking for a place for this fight, Mike Ilitch [owner of the Red Wings] went out of his way to move a hockey game, to free up the arena," trainer Emanuel Steward said. "It was quite a huge gesture, considering this is Hockeytown." The card, which will also include a title fight between WBC super-bantamweight Erik Morales and Wayne McCullough, will be televised live by HBO, starting at 8 p.m. EDT and tape-delayed for the same time on the West Coast. The starting time, early by boxing standards, was aimed at drawing in a younger audience.
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