Former world featherweight champion loses royal honor

SHEFFIELD, England (AP) -- Former world featherweight champion Naseem Hamed had a royal honor taken from him after serving a jail sentence for reckless driving.

The former IBF and WBO champion was given the Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE, for services to boxing by Queen Elizabeth II in December 1998.

But Hamed served four months of a 15-month jail sentence imposed May 12, 2005 after he crashed his Mercedes McLaren head-on at 90 mph into another car.

The driver of the other car, Anthony Burgin, was hospitalized for weeks with his injuries including two broken arms.

Hamed's former trainer, Brendan Ingle, said on Monday that the fighter would be "very upset" to lose his MBE.

"It is really sad the way things have turned out," Ingle said. "He was a fantastic champion."