Naseem Hamed, who freely admits he is "not a morning person", was nearly an hour late for his press conference with opponent Wilfredo Vazquez. "It is disrespectful, but he won't get me to lose my cool."

Hamed breezed in 15 minutes later, blaming the four inches of snow that had fallen overnight and claiming that his hired limousine had broken down during the 37-mile journey across the Pennines from his Sheffield home.

"But I don't disrespect Vaz quez," he said. "Anybody who is prepared to come all the way from Puerto Rico to get knocked out deserves respect. I'm sorry I was late, but what can you do?"

The two are now scheduled to meet today but could be upstaged by Chris Eubank, who challenges Carl Thompson for the WBO cruiser-weight title on the same Manchester bill. Eubank plans to arrive by helicopter from his training camp on Bodmin Moor.