Hamzah Sheeraz Vacates WBO Super Middleweight Title After Two Days
Hamzah Sheeraz has walked away from his WBO super middleweight title almost as quickly as he claimed it, vacating the belt just two days after Queensberry Promotions secured purse bid rights for a showdown with Janibek Alimkhanuly.
The WBO confirmed the move in a statement after Sheeraz and his team formally notified the sanctioning body of their decision. Just like that, one of the briefest and least memorable modern title reigns is over.
Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KO) picked up the vacant strap on May 23 with a win over Alem Begic, then turned around to defend it on July 25 against Simon Zachenhuber. Two fights, both on big event undercards, and little in the way of lasting legacy. The belt never really had time to feel like his.
The decision, though, makes cold business sense. Queensberry’s winning bid for the mandatory defence against Alimkhanuly came in at just over $1 million. After splits and deductions, Sheeraz stood to pocket somewhere in the region of $750,000. Good money, but not necessarily career-defining money for a fighter who can likely command similar or better paydays in less hazardous assignments.
Janibek is no soft touch. On paper, he’s a far tougher proposition than anyone Sheeraz has beaten, and arguably the sternest test of his career alongside Carlos Adames, with whom Sheeraz fought to a disputed draw. Walking into that kind of risk, for that kind of purse, when other options exist? It’s the sort of calculation modern champions and their handlers make every day.
There’s another layer to this story, and it’s an uncomfortable one for the WBO. Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) was installed as mandatory challenger despite a failed drug test last year, a result that cost him his IBF middleweight title. The IBF stripped him. The WBO did not. Yet here he is, elevated to No. 1 at super middleweight and positioned to fight for another vacant belt.
That decision has drawn plenty of side-eye within the sport. The optics are hard to ignore: a fighter loses one world title after a failed test, then finds himself fast-tracked toward another, with a different sanctioning body effectively looking the other way.
For now, Janibek sits atop the WBO rankings at 168 pounds and will presumably be matched for the vacant title next. The queue behind him is long and varied: Diego Pacheco, Jacob Bank, Kevin Sadjo, Armando Resendiz, Bektemir Melikuziev, Edgar Berlanga, Milorad Zizic, Hebert Sousa, and Bernardin Jakaj round out the top 10.
Somewhere in that list lies his next opponent, and perhaps the next briefly crowned champion.
