By Paul Upham: After four months of frustration, "Lionheart" Nader Hamdan will finally have his first fight of 2004 this Wednesday night on the Anthony Mundine v Manny Siaca card at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The 30 year-old has not fought since December 12 last year and has had three fights cancelled on him since then. Number four was not far away either with three opponents pulling out on Hamdan (pic by author)this time around. The fight nearly fell through until 33 year-old John "Digger" Wyborn stepped forward to take the challenge on Monday morning, which will now be at light heavyweight.
"I'm just happy to get a fight. No one else would fight me," Hamdan, 34-1 (16), told SecondsOut. "It has been really stressful. I have been trying to organise an opponent with the help of Angelo Hyder. I have had to do a lot of the talking and it is a real pain."
Since leaving Team Fenech last September, Hamdan has only had one fight under new trainer Mick Akkaway. While he left Jeff Fenech on good terms, Hamdan felt that he had gone as far as he could under the three-time world champion and was looking for a change. While he now feels he is fighting better than ever, he has been unable to get any fights.
"It has been a very, very frustrating time for me," he said. "Man. What can I say? I just don't know how to answer that question on how I feel. It has been a very frustrating year for me."
Hamdan was supposed to fight on the Mundine-Nishizawa card in January, but couldn't get an opponent. The same story again on two other cards in March and April.
"I've still got this fire inside me," he explained. "I would have packed it up and walked away, but there is still that fire burning. I could have so easily walked away with all the frustration's I have had, but I have been enjoying my training and that's what kept me going. My training with my new team has really kept me going. I know I can be better and I have so much more to offer. There is still unfinished business for me there in the ring."
Sparring with Sam Soliman, Anthony Mundine, Jason Delisle, Sakio Bika and Ercument Aslan has Hamdan in what he believes is the best condition of his career.
"I have had the best sparring in my career for this fight," he said. "There has been a lot of variety and it is bringing the best out of me. Sparring with Anthony has been magic. The guy is an awesome fighter and it is great to be in the ring with him."
After his ankle injury last week, which had threatened his WBA title defence, Mundine sparred seven rounds with Hamdan last Friday night.
"I believe he will be OK," said Hamdan. "It was still the same Anthony Mundine. I think he is too professional to dwell on it. He believes things happen for a reason and he is gritting his teeth and getting behind it. He was very strong. I was pushing him back to see how he reacted to it and he did very well. I think his speed and his smarts will be too much for Siaca. I was also very impressed with his fitness. He is very fit."
A win over the 6'3'' tall Wyborn, 15-17-3 (6), on Wednesday night will see Hamdan set his sights on a shot at OPBF champion Yoshinori Nishizawa, who recently regained the regional title.
"I'm happy to go to Japan," said Hamdan. "It would be a good fight and I'd be very confident that I would win."
After being rated as high as No.2 by the WBC at junior middleweight, another major change in Hamdan's career now is the decision to fight at super middleweight.
"It is my natural weight," he said. "I don't know why I played around at junior middleweight for so long. I have always had to lose so much weight to get there. I kept doing it because of the success and the rating I had. Looking back, I wish I hadn't stayed there and had come straight up to super middleweight."
The last two weeks before a fight are busy for any boxer, with the arrival last week of little Muhamad Hamdan, the third son to Hamdan and his wife Amira, things have been even more hectic. "I've been blessed with three sons," said Hamdan. "Now I just want to go out and have a great win."
Paul Upham
Contributing Editor
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