British super middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz is hot right now, red-hot. Courtesy of his very impressive fifth round destruction job on a trash-talking Edgar Berlanga, Sheeraz put on an eye-catching performance in what was both his US and his 168 pound debut. And now the rewards seem set to come pouring in. It could be, in fact Sheeraz’s promoter Frank Warren wants it to be, that the tall, long and dangerous-punching Sheeraz fights the winner of the September fight between superstars Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.
Warren, speaking with The Ring, said Sheeraz could actually have fought Canelo over a year ago but he turned the fight down, feeling his fighter was not yet ready for such a massive fight. Now, Sheeraz is ready. We don’t know what will happen in the September showdown between the two pound-for-pounders, nor do we know what the winner might do, or the loser come to that.
But Sheeraz, 22-0-1(18) is right in the mix now as far as taking on the best in the world.
Why Did Sheeraz Wait to Face Canelo?
“We’ve gotta wait for him [Canelo]. He’s fighting in September on that show in the States in Vegas. It’s gonna be a terrific fight between him and Crawford and he [Sheeraz] is ready to fight the winner,” Warren said. “That’s what we want to do. We could have fought Canelo 18 months ago, we were offered the fight and I wouldn’t take it because I don’t think he was ready for it.”
But now Sheeraz, who is really riding high yet is also a humble person (he said after the breakout win over Berlanga that Canelo is one of his heroes and how it would be an honour sharing a ring with him) – is ready. Again, we don’t know what will happen if, say, “Bud” pulls off the historic win over Canelo, but it is possible Crawford might look to retire, feeling, with some justification of course, that he has pretty much done it all in the sport. Does Crawford actually have any desire to face a young gun like Sheeraz next year should he beat Canelo?
But Canelo, if he wins in September, may well fight on, for a couple of years perhaps. Sheeraz will fight either guy if he’s given the chance. But whether he winds up fighting Canelo or Crawford or he doesn’t, the big fights will surely come for Sheeraz starting next year.
