Last night Naseem Hamed should have vaulted into the ring of London's Olympia for his comeback fight. It never happened.

The man who lost his world title so comprehensively last April has gone missing from the ring, and the public eye. At the end of August, it was clear that Hamed would not fight again this year even after it was announced that a shortlist of willing losers was being looked at for his proposed return last night. The fight was a mirage and Hamed has never been so inactive since he first walked into Brendan Ingle's gym in Wincobank, Sheffield, 19 years ago.

The events of 11 September are not disconnected from this state of affairs. The terrorist attacks led to Hamed's soaring team of anonymous handlers issuing a statement one week later that the fighter, once regarded as the finest in British boxing, would be laying down his gloved fists in sympathy with the dead until further notice.

It looked like a disaster of convenience for the fighter. 'Naz is deeply distraught over what's happened. He's a devout Muslim, but in no way does he condone what has happened,' read the statement. Then the trail of the self-proclaimed Arab prince went cold - and silent - and the whispers about an Islamic ex-champion sidelined by the Americans began. Insiders in America spoke of the end of Hamed's career on American television. HBO moved quickly to deny this but stories started to circulate. It was rumoured that his entrance, the Muslim call to prayers and the bold declarations of his faith on his shorts - emblazoned with 'Islam' - would have to go. Still HBO denied any problem and refused to say whether Hamed would be allowed to praise Allah at the end of his next fight.

Hamed flaunts his beliefs, unlike two other Muslim boxers backed by HBO, Bernard Hopkins and Hasim Rahman, both champions. Hopkins has been a Muslim since leaving jail 13 years ago but at a press conference before fighting Felix Trinidad in September, he had to scold journalists. 'We are not all the same type of Muslims,' he said gently in reference to 11 September. Rahman, who fights Lennox Lewis next Saturday in Las Vegas, has been a Muslim since birth but he also plays down his religion. He prays six times each day but he does not take his beliefs to work with him.

There was a time when Hamed was the same. But that has changed during the past three or four years. Last year when Hamed met Augie Sanchez in Connecticut he was called to the ring by an Islamic mullah. It created a great atmosphere but HBO edited out the prayer and the same happened in Hamed's last fight against Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas back in April. Last month, the fighter's brother, Riath, who is also his de facto manager, claimed that they had split from HBO, effectively the fighter's paymaster. Nobody would confirm that Hamed's religion was at the core of the problem and a contractual disagreement was blamed. A few days later Riath and HBO kissed and said sorry. But little Naz was silent. 'We are looking at a new contract now,' confirmed Riath two days ago. 'We are also looking at dates at the end of February. Somewhere around that time.' Once again, HBO denied they were willing to let Hamed go because of his religion.

Hamed has now been out of the ring longer than at any time since he found Ingle's fight academy at the age of seven. He has also been out of the spotlight for longer than at any point in his career. There was a time when Hamed dominated the sports pages and style magazines. But when the now defunct Total Sport magazine ran a feature in 1999 asking 50 of Britain's top sportsmen and women to name their sporting influences, not one person put Hamed's name in the frame.

As Hamed started to vanish from the pages of magazines and newspapers it was openly reported - but always denied - that his pay-per-view figures on Sky were a huge disappointment. There were tales that fewer than 30,000 had paid to watch some fights. It was, therefore, no surprise to learn that by the end of 2000 Riath was openly courting BBC executives in what would have been a good move. Remember that more than 10 million people watched Hamed's last fight on ITV in March 1995 even though it did not start until after 11:30pm. Naz was a phenomenon. The BBC opted for Audley Harrison, whose viewing figures have plummeted from more than five million to just over one million in three woeful fights.

Even before Hamed lost his unbeaten record to Barrera, in a fight that was meant to launch his American career at the fifth attempt, there were sad signs that the show was over or at best coming to an end. British journalists wasted their time on empty promises of interviews and flew to Hamed at his luxury training camp in Palm Springs.

The same lame PR advisers allowed him to criticise his British fans in American papers last year when he claimed that the Brits like only losers. As Bob Arum, the American promoter, said two years ago: 'The Hameds are the worst people I've ever dealt with in boxing. They are living in fantasy land.'

The fantasy ended in April when Hamed was so thoroughly beaten over 12 rounds by Mexico's Barrera that it was impossible to find a single factor to debate in defence of his claim to greatness. Vegas was promised a star, Hamed proved an upstart and the city forgot his brief sojourn.

Barrera exposed, rolled and destroyed any myths that Hamed's fists had set in place during 35 unbeaten professional fights and some of the most wonderful performances by a British boxer. As the smaller, stronger and far more vicious Barrera moved with the casual ease of a man totally familiar with the ring it was left to Hamed to wander like a lost soul. At the end it was possible to feel pity for him, what might have been - and what had so ruthlessly vanished during the 36-minute boxing exposé. There was no call for a rematch. Hamed just walked away from Vegas and boxing.

Now, like a lonely, neglected old relative, he trains in solitude at his tiny gym in Sheffield where there is a small ring and a shower for one. The rest of the time he plays golf - occasionally with estranged friends from his 15 years at Ingle's windswept academy. Details about contracts and earnings have always been closely guarded secrets. It is thought Hamed has made £30 million from the ring but the truth is difficult to detect and is certainly not contained anywhere in Riath's assertion that his little brother, a fallen idol at just 26, is 'happy'. That new contract on brother Riath's table suggests Prince Naseem Hamed, Britain's most famous Muslim sporting star, will fight again. It might even be in February. But don't hold your breath.