Victory, the Hard Way [Archives:1998/44/Sports]

It was tough!  
It was lengthy!  
And it was critical!  
But Hamid made it. On Saturday, October 31st, Hamid lived one of his most challenging moments. 
The match between him and Wayne McCullough, unexpectedly, lasted 12 complete rounds until a critical and significant unanimous decision came out. Not only Hamid, but all Yemeni and Arab viewers were nervous and were praying for the decision. Thankfully, the announcement came out. And Hamid did it again, he won. WBO featherweight champion Prince Naseem Hamid defeated his challenger, Irishman Wayne McCullough. 
However, Hamid should have not gone this far and risked the match. He should have thought the possibility of a score not in his favor. We were all delighted with the result, but not with the match. 
With the 30 winnings to his credit, Naseem could not live up to his promise to knock out McCullough in the third round. 
“He was quite strong,” Hamid said. “I tried to knock him out in the third round. What can I say? He’s got a hard head. He’s Irish, you know.” 
McCullough was the aggressor throughout, but he couldn’t hurt Hamid. Egged on by more than 1,000 enthusiastic fans, he sustained some powerful shots. 
“I’m still the best lightweight in the world. I won easy,” the Prince said. 
McCullough, 28, was a silver medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. 
“He ran from me,” McCullough said. “He didn’t come to me and never hurt me. He’s strong physically but he never hurt me.”  

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