Naseem Hamed 28–0 (26 KO) vs. Kevin Kelley 47–1–2 (32 KO), billed as Fists of Fire, was a professional boxing match contested on December 19, 1997 for the WBO featherweight championship.

After defeating Jose Badillo in October 1997, it was announced that British sensation Naseem Hamed would make his long-awaited American debut just two months later to take former WBC featherweight champion Kevin Kelley.

Hamed at the time was undefeated as a professional, sporting a 28–0 record and had become well regarded for his knockout power, with all but two of his fights having been won by way of knockout. Due to both his fighting style and flamboyant personality, Hamed had also quickly become one boxing’s most popular fighters and had become the highest paid featherweight in the sport earning over $12 million in purses and endorsements the year prior and HBO, who was to air the bout on its World Championship Boxing program, had both signed Hamed to an exclusive six fight, $12 million contract to air his fights and spent $1 million on a publicity campaign to promote Hamed prior to his fight with Kelley.

Kelley had lost the WBC featherweight title in early 1995 but had gone undefeated in 8 fights since and had picked up the less-regarded WBU version of the title in February 1996. Hamed angered Kelley, a New York native, with his trash-talk, claiming “I could have brought Kevin Kelley to my own backyard and beat him up there. But I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to come to his own backyard and bring him down in front of his own crowd.” Kelley responded “The first round I’m going straight for that mouth, I’ve been saving up everything for the bell.”

Hamed, who was also known for his flashy ring entrances in his native England, made a lengthy entrance for his US debut where he danced behind a screen to Will Smith’s “Men in Black” before entering the arena to Red Rat’s “Shelly Ann” on a fashion runway while confetti rained down from the ceiling before finally entering the ring with his trademark flip over the ropes.

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