Hamzah Sheeraz opts to vacate world title over facing mandatory challenger
Hamzah Sheeraz has elected to vacate his WBO super middleweight world title over making a mandatory defence of it.
“The WBO confirms that Queensberry Promotions has formally notified in writing that Hamzah Sheeraz, per the terms resulting from the purse bid proceedings concerning his mandatory obligation against [Janibek] Alimkhanuly, has elected not to proceed with the mandatory and has voluntarily relinquished his WBO super middleweight world championship,” wrote WBO president Gustavo Olivieri in a post to X on Friday.
“The WBO acknowledges and respects the decision of Hamzah and his team. The WBO doors will always remain open to him, and we sincerely wish Hamzah and his team all the very best and continued success moving forward.”
Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Janibek Alimkhanuly falls through
Big Fight Weekend reported earlier that Sheeraz had been ordered to defend his title against Alimkhanuly, his mandatory challenger. The British boxer had expressed reservations about the ordered fight to Ariel Helwani last month, stating that the WBO was “rewarding” Alimkhanuly, who had previously tested positive for a banned substance. It should be noted that Sheeraz recently said fighting Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez would be “an absolute honour,” even though the Mexican has previously tested positive for a banned substance.
Queensberry Promotions, the company that promotes Sheeraz, had won a purse bid for the ordered contest earlier this week. Top Rank, who promote Alimkhanuly, had also confirmed that their charge was willing to proceed with the bout before Sheeraz’s decision to vacate.
Olivieri says that the fate of the WBO world title will be determined at a Sept. 21 committee meeting. At present, Alimkhanuly is the number one ranked contender in the division. Diego Pacheco is ranked second.
Neither Sheeraz nor Alimkhanuly have issued any comment on this development as this piece is published.
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Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images
S Saadeq Ahmed
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.