Sheeraz Vacates WBO Super-Middleweight Title
The move hands the belt back to the WBO, triggering a committee ruling that could order Janibek Alimkhanuly to face the next available challenger.
Overview
- Queensberry Promotions formally told the WBO on Friday that Hamzah Sheeraz will not proceed with the ordered mandatory against Janibek Alimkhanuly and has voluntarily relinquished the WBO super-middleweight title.
- Queensberry won the purse bid with $1,001,809 and the proposed split would have given Sheeraz roughly $751,356, but Sheeraz rejected the terms and did not accept the negotiated dates or locations.
- Alimkhanuly was the WBO’s No. 1 challenger after an earlier meldonium positive and a WBO suspension that the organisation later ended, a sequence that has made his mandatory status controversial.
- The WBO World Championship Committee will meet on Monday, September 21 to decide the division’s next steps, which could include ordering Alimkhanuly to fight Diego Pacheco although Pacheco may be unavailable because of a planned Nov. 14 fight.
- Promotional and financial factors appear central to Sheeraz’s choice: he has earned seven-figure purses on recent events, has one fight left on his Queensberry contract, and has signalled interest in exploring other promotional options when free.