Hamzah Sheeraz WITHDRAWS From Title Fight Against Janibek

It has been revealed that Hamzah Sheeraz has withdrawn from the ordered fight against Janibek Alimkhanuly, and it is now unknown who Sheeraz will face on the Riyadh Season card on February 22nd.

Hamzah Sheeraz, now 21-0, is coming off a two-round demolition job on Tyler Denny to claim Denny’s European Middleweight title. This marks the latest win in a run of good form, with wins over Liam Williams and Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams. Sheeraz has not heard the judge’s scorecards in any of his bouts since 2018, and according to his promoter, was set to fight for a world title next.

Frank Warren said in an interview with TalkSport, ‘He will be fighting on February 22nd in a world title fight’.

If this were true, Sheeraz has three potential opponents for the February card, which is set to be headlined by Daniel Dubois: Erislandy Lara, Carlos Adames, and Janibek Alimkhanuly.

Hamzah Sheeraz Withdraws From Janibek Fight

Despite rumours of a bout against Carlos Adames being the opponent, fans across the world have been calling for Sheeraz to face Janibek in what would surely be a blockbuster middleweight bout.

Janibek was ordered by the WBO to face Sheeraz next.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri, however, has stated that Hamzah Sheeraz has withdrawn himself from the ordered fight, meaning purse bids are now cancelled.

Alimkhanuly boasts a record of 16-0, with wins over Andrei Mikhailovich, Danny Dignum and Denzel Bentley. Bentley notably ran Alimkhanuly closer than many others in the eyes of fans, and is another person fans have been calling to fight Sheeraz.

The question now is, if not Janibek, then who?

Erislandy Lara is now 41 years old and has just come off a win over Danny Garcia only two months ago. This leaves Sheeraz either facing Carlos Adames, who has not outright disputed that an offer has been made to his team, or an opponent without a title.

Despite his impressive run-of-form so far, this marks a disappointing turn in Hamzah Sheeraz’ career, especially after much back-and-forth on social media between Sheeraz and Alimkhanuly.

It remains to be seen who Sheeraz will face, though his last tweet, on November 14th, states, ‘One thing I can say is come February I will be a world champion In Sha Allah’.

Follow NoSmokeBoxing on X.