British middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz recently pulled out of a scheduled purse bid to face WBO & IBF champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, but apparently the WBO’s mandate was not even supposed to occur as it WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman claimed that the WBC had already ordered a bout between WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames and Sheeraz, further stirring confusion as Sheeraz has still not been confirmed to be the WBC mandatory at 160 lbs.
Whether Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO’s) is supposed to be the WBC middleweight (160 lbs) mandatory after defeating Austin “Ammo” Williams (17-1, 12 KO’s) on June 1 is still unclear. While it was reported that the Sheeraz-Williams bout would be a final eliminator1, the WBC never confirmed as such and Sheeraz has only been confirmed to have obtained the WBC Silver title, which belonged to Williams.
In a October press release revolving around Hamzah Sheeraz―four months after his stoppage win over Williams, the WBC notably referred to the British fighter as a “WBC Silver champion” rather than an outright mandatory challenger.
Prior press releases also do not confirm Sheeraz as a WBC mandatory challenger. However, during an interview WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman conducted this week, Sulaiman would go on to claim that he had already ordered a mandatory bout between WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames and Hamzah Sheeraz.
“Adames is a WBC [world] champion, Sheeraz is a WBC Silver champion and has been associated with the WBC quite some time,” Sulaiman told BoxNation.
“We need to have better communications [between sanctioning bodies so as not to] interfere in a process. the WBC ordered [Adames vs. Sheeraz] much [longer] before, and it was publicly. Then came the order from another organization [WBO], so it creates complications―but I believe Sheeraz will be fighting for the WBC [160 lbs title].“
Sulaiman’s statements aim to cast blame on the WBO for ordering a bout between unified [WBO & IBF] champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KO’s) and Hamzah Sheeraz by claiming the WBC had publicly ordered a mandatory Adames-Sheeraz bout prior.
However, it is unlikely the WBO would have ordered Alimkhanuly-Sheeraz iin the first place had the WBC’s mandate already been set in place. As such a mandate would elevate Sheeraz to the status as a WBC mandatory challenger, the lack of any mention as Sheeraz as the mandatory suggests Sulaiman’s comments are not entirely based on the truth.
The only evidence linking Sheeraz to mandatory challenger status is a Twitter/X post Sulaiman put out on June 2 where he claimed the British fighter won a final eliminator:
“Another great fight! So proud of [Hamzah Sheeraz] defending his [WBC] silver title and winning the final elimination.” Sulaiman stated the day after Sheeraz’ win over Austin Williams.
As the WBC has never openly acknowledged Sheeraz as a mandatory challenger while their mandate for a Adames-Sheeraz bout can also not be confirmed, there appears to be clear attempt by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to spread misinformation regarding the actual status of Sheeraz.
With Frank Warren and Hamzah Sheeraz having both hinted at a fight being in the works against a middleweight champion other than Alimkhanuly, it is likely Sheeraz and Adames will meet each other in the ring in early 2025.
However, it should be noted that there existed no mandate between the two fighters, and neither has Sheeraz been outright acknowledged as the WBC mandatory middleweight challenger.
- A final eliminator in boxing is a high-stakes bout between two fighters, with the winner earning the right to challenge the current champion for a world title―often culminating in them becoming a “mandatory challenger”. It’s often organized by a sanctioning body (like the WBA, WBC, WBO or IBF) between the two highest-ranked contenders. ↩︎
