BEATING Carlos Adames may reward Hamzah Sheeraz with more than a world title, according to his advisor Spencer Brown.
Sheeraz, 21-0 (17 KOs), challenges the WBC middleweight champion on February 22 in Riyadh on a card headlined by the Undisputed Light Heavyweight Title rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Adames, 24-1 (18 KOs), has lost just once in 25 starts, to former 154lb world title challenger Patrick Teixeira, and since then has mixed in good company, gaining wins over Sergey Derevyanchenko, Julian Williams and Terrell Gausha. Which is a higher calibre of fighter than Sheeraz has fought but the unbeaten Brit is the current odds-on favourite to claim his first world title at the expense of the Dominican.
“I think it will be a great fight, I think it will be entertaining, I think it will be one-way traffic with the jab from Hamzah,” Brown told Boxing News.
At one stage, Sheeraz, the former WBO mandatory challenger, had looked like he would be facing unified (WBO/IBF) champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. In November, however, WBO President Gustavo Olivieri revealed that Sheeraz ‘will withdraw the mandatory’ which cancelled purse bids due for the title fight. The unbeaten middleweight is now out of the WBO rankings but is the WBC middleweight number one contender.
BN asked Brown why a fight against Adames was pursued rather than Janibek.
“I think Janibek’s next,” he answered. “I think Janibek’s top of the tree. I think for Hamzah this is his Star is Born moment where he comes into his own. A six-foot-four jabbing monster. I think this is where the public falls in love with him. They’ll all see him get his just rewards.”
