WBO Terminates Sheeraz–Pacheco Purse Bid

Friday was meant to bring a purse bid hearing for the vacant WBO super middleweight belt. Instead, it brought a hard stop. WBO president Gustavo Olivieri confirmed the hearing was canceled outright, saying the process had been “terminated, effective immediately.” No explanation followed.

Why this collapse feels familiar

This was the second time the Sheeraz vs Pacheco purse bid had been shifted before finally being shelved. Both fighters had been ordered into talks after Terence Crawford retired and vacated the WBO belt, clearing the lane. From the outside, it looked clean. Inside the offices, it clearly was not.

Olivieri’s statement offered no insight beyond the termination itself, and the WBO did not say whether private talks remain possible. That silence is telling. When sanctioning bodies expect a fight to survive through negotiation, they usually say so. Here, they did not.

Sheeraz has lived inside this fog for months. He was first aligned with a WBC route, then watched that door shut when the WBC upgraded Christian Mbilli from interim to full champion, canceling their own ordered fight. The WBO option looked like a reset. Now it is gone as well.

Where this leaves Sheeraz boxed in

 Sheeraz had also been invited by the IBF to negotiate for its vacant super middleweight belt against Osleys Iglesias. He declined at the time, pointing to ongoing WBC and WBO obligations. Those obligations have now evaporated.

Pacheco, meanwhile, loses a title shot without losing a fight. That is the quiet cruelty of sanctioning politics. Camps burn money. Fighters stay sharp. Then the paper trail collapses.

As of Friday, the WBO has not outlined next steps. No new order. No replacement bout. Just a promise of further communication “in due course,” which in boxing terms can mean anything from days to never.

For now, the only confirmed reality is this. The Sheeraz vs Pacheco purse bid is dead. The belt is still vacant. The division waits again.