Sheeraz to potentially make first defence against unbeaten Danish contender.
The Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven card on Saturday provided boxing fans with a whole load of things to talk about, with the most obvious one being Usyk’s mighty struggle in the main event and the subsequent controversy regarding the bout’s ending.
There were plenty of other talking points that we were left with, though. On the undercard, American heavyweight hope Richard Torrez Jr. suffered a devastating one-punch knockout loss to Frank Sanchez, Jack Catterall put on a world-class display to beat Shakhram Giyasov widely on the cards and pick up the WBA (Regular) title, and Hamzah Sheeraz absolutely tore through Alem Begic to become the new WBO super-middleweight world champion.
On Sheeraz’s triumph specifically, the lanky Ilford puncher had such an easy time that he should have no trouble in returning to the ring in the next few months or so.
As for who he could be facing, it appears we might already have the answer.
Denmark’s Jacob Bank is undefeated in 19 fights. Ranked by three of the four sanctioning bodies, it is his #3 placement with the WBO that seems most likely to bear fruit.
In 2025, Bank really came to attention for a pair of wins over recognised opponents. One of these was a TKO of Tyron Zeuge. The other was a last-round stoppage of William Scull, who Canelo Álvarez had failed to beat inside the distance when they met for Scull’s IBF title earlier that year.
Last month, Bank became the first to knock out Namibian puncher Paulinus Ndjolonimu, but prior to Sheeraz’s title victory on Saturday, he spoke to The Ring about a fight with Britain’s latest world champion.
“I felt that what was done regarding the announcement of the fight crossed the line of what should be acceptable”, Bank stated. “They could have at least waited one day, knowing that I was fighting Scull. I think that as a world title fight, it’s a very poor matchup. But now it’s been made, people can judge for themselves afterwards what they thought.”
Speaking on how the fight would go, Bank provided an answer that would prove to be very accurate by saying, “It won’t go the distance, not even close to the fifth round before Hamzah stops him.”
Finally, the Dane spoke of a promise Sheeraz made to him at the Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov show last month about a fight between the two.
“I just hope Hamzah is a man of his word and stands by what he told my promoter Kasper Holgersen at the Fury-Makhmudov event. He said there that he would defend the title against me because he believed that would be the rightful fight for the world title belt.
“I hope that fight will be made toward the end of the year. But whether it takes place in Saudi Arabia or in England is up to Primetime Boxing [Bank’s promoters], Gold Star, and Queensberry, and not least His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and Riyadh Season.”
Whether or not Jacob Bank will be Hamzah Sheeraz’s opponent for the first defence of his WBO title, the Danish man would undoubtedly be a fine, fine challenger.
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