John Rawling on a quieter Naseem Hamed

The Sheffield fighter is in training for a first bout since splitting with former manager Brendan Ingle.

He will face fellow Yorkshire fighter Paul Ingle, no relation to the former manager.

Hamed: "Fighters love the belts. We want them wrapped around us."

The Scarborough-based European and Commonwealth champion will challenge Hamed for his world title on 10 April.

But Hamed sees this merely as a stepping stone on his way to global domination of the division.

"I want to beat the best fighters," said Hamed. "I want to unify my weight class. I want every belt. Fighters love the belts. We want them wrapped around us."

Despite its parocial status as a battle of the White Rose county, the bout from Manchester will be broadcast on television in the US.

BBC deal

It will also be available to BBC Radio 5 Live listeners as the first of six to be broadcast by the station in coming months.

And Hamed is unswerving in his belief that he has come on leaps and bounds since dropping former mentor Brendan Ingle.

"I'm becoming a new fighter. I'm gonna be more compact, more skilful and an even stronger and harder fighter," said Hamed.

"I've got a totally new trainer who's shown me totally new stuff. I've been doing the same stuff for 17 years and won 31 fights with that same stuff. Now I'm training harder than ever."

Paul Ingle (left): A different kind of Yorkshireman to the prince

The status of the fight will be a daunting prospect for opponent Ingle, and promoter Frank Maloney talked down his protege's chances.

"We're pleased that Hamed and their party have invited us along," said Maloney.

"The odds will be stacked against us and Paul will be in the ring with a legend - it's a great honour."

The difference between the two fighters is highlighted by Hamed's new regime under Oscar Suarez compared to Ingle's plan.

"We'll be training in a tent on the Yorkshire moors as Paul Ingle always has done," said Maloney.

"But hopefully on the night we might have a surprise. We've only beaten ordinary British fighters, not even an American."

'Two whippets and a ferret'

Paul Ingle has already turned down the bout once, unwilling to fight entirely on Hamed's terms. "The money wasn't right at the time," said the 26-year-old.

The size of the purse to be awarded on this occasion was not revealed today by the tight-lipped management teams, although Hamed's share is understood to be sizeable as part of a five-fight deal with American television giants HBO.

While Hamed is undoubtedly the biggest celebrity in his division, and possibly boxing itself, Ingle is a down-to-earth Yorkshire lad.

He joked: "Who needs Lamborghinis and Ferraris - I've got two whippets and a ferret."

The fight, meanwhile, has been impressively billed as "the unbeaten against the unbeatable".

The two protagonists are England's finest featherweights, Hamed boasting 31 fights without defeat and 28 by knockout and Ingle 21-0 with 15 kos.

McCulloch hits Las Vegas

Meanwhile Northern Ireland's Wayne McCullough has announced details of his next world featherweight title challenge.