Sheeraz speaks on potential opponents ahead of next fight.
When Hamzah Sheeraz took out Alem Begic on the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven undercard almost exactly two months ago, he was rewarded with the WBO super-middleweight championship.
Done with the utmost ease, many people in the boxing world criticised Begic as an opponent due to his lack of world-level credentials, his inactivity, and the fact he was 39 years old.
But after defeating one German, Sheeraz will be facing another, as he takes on Simon Zachenhuber on the Anthony Joshua vs. Kristian Prenga undercard this Saturday.
This opposition has also been met with some criticism, as Zachenhuber has also not fought at world level (or in a 12-round fight), additionally having also lost to Pawel August this April.
August also fights on the Joshua-Prenga undercard himself against Jacob Bank, who is Sheeraz’s mandatory challenger. This has led people to further state that there were two better options for the Englishman on the very same bill he will be fighting on.
However, in a recent interview, Sheeraz has addressed his critics and spoken of his next potential opponents after his very first world title defence.
“Do I have a response? Not really. Not really, because like I said before, when I took the [Edgar] Berlanga fight, it was, ‘It’s too much too soon.’ And now I’ve got the opportunity to kind of stay busy and stay active, it’s like, they want you to take continuous, back-to-back, you know, 50/50s or hard fights and whatnot”, Sheeraz told The Ring.
Speaking on post-Zachenhuber plans, Sheeraz said, “So, yeah, I’m sure after this, there’ll be a big one. I reckon I’ll hopefully get a unification–God willin’ I win–or my mandatory, Jacob Bank, will be ordered, and that’s a good fight, as well, man.”
In short, should Sheeraz get past his next foe (as he is expected to do), there are plenty of options for him after.
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