Pierce: My new role really packs a punch

Star on playing boxing icon's legendary Irish trainer

- BY LYNN RUSK

WHEN boxer Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed won his first world featherweight title in 1995, he became the first British Muslim boxer to claim a major world championship.

Known for his unorthodox style and flamboyant, arrogant persona, the British-Yemeni fighter quickly became a global sporting icon both inside and outside the ring.

Born in 1974 and growing up in an immigrant family in Sheffield, Hamed was a protege of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who spotted his talent and flashy southpaw style at an early age and helped take him from the streets of Sheffield to the pinnacle of the boxing world.

Now, a new film starring Amir El-Masry as Hamed and Pierce Brosnan as Ingle explores their unlikely relationship and Hamed's rags-to-riches underdog journey.

Written and directed by British-Indian filmmaker Rowan Athale, Giant also explores the racism and Islamophobia that Hamed faced, which swept Britain in the 1980s and 1990s.

Irish actor Brosnan, 72, says he watched one of Prince Naseem's fights in New York during the height of his career and even met Ingle in person.

"I knew about Prince Naseem. I had actually seen him box in New York, and I'd met Brendan but I didn't realise it was Brendan, if that makes sense," explains the former James Bond star.

Brosnan says Athale's script captivated him and accurately portrays the relationship between Ingle and Hamed.

"The script by Rowan Athale was so well-crafted. Rowan, who wrote and directed it, wore his heart on his sleeve to tell the story, and when it came to me, it just enchanted me," he explained.

"The way the film portrays the story and the relationship between Brendan and Naseem is so beautifully woven in, it really packs a punch."

El-Masry, 35, says meeting Hamed helped him to understand the need he felt to build a tough persona.