Hamed furious at weigh-in strip-show

Angry Naseem Hamed had to strip to make the weight for tomorrow’s IBO featherweight title scrap with Manuel Calvo at London Arena.

Hamed was fuming when he stepped onto the scales in a long pair of Burberry shorts and initially came in five ounces over the nine stone limit.

He complained that the shorts made the difference, but was forced to strip, and came in two ounces under at the second attempt at eight stones 13lbs 14oz.

Despite a large towel which shielded his modesty, Hamed complained: ‘‘This is against my religion,’’ and shouted at the British Boxing Board of Control representatives: ‘‘I told you it was the shorts.’’

But the Board’s chief inspector Mike Collier said: ‘‘The rules state quite clearly that if you are over the weight limit you have to remove all of your clothes.’’

And it was rather perplexing why Hamed, who must have known he was close to the limit, chose to wear such bulky attire onto the scales in the first place.

Hamed immediately drank from a water bottle after weighing in, which did nothing to dispel some rumours doing the rounds in the fight build-up that he was overweight, a claim vehemently denied by all in the Hamed camp.

Calvo, the reigning European champion, who does not put his belt on the line tomorrow night, had no such problems on the scales, weighing in comfortably under at eight stones 13lbs 6oz, shorts and all.

Michael Brodie weighed in for his WBF featherweight title meeting with Argentina’s Pastor Maurin at eight stones 12lbs 8oz. Maurin was slightly heavier at eight stones 13lbs 6oz.