MIDDLEWEIGHT knockout artist Hamzah Sheeraz is relishing the prospect of facing the toughest opponent of his career on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old has a pivotal role in the upcoming Queensberry vs. Matchroom 5 v 5 showdown in Riyadh this weekend. Not only is Sheeraz, 19-0 (15 KOs), tasked with overcoming American Austin “Ammo” Williams, 16-0 (11 KOs), but he is also the Queensberry captain which would mean double points for his team should he score the win.
Sheeraz is the current WBO number one middleweight and is edging closer towards a shot at unified champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Another impressive win for the Brit in Saudi Arabia on Saturday would louden his knock at the Kazakh’s door.
Boxing News asked Sheeraz if this 20th contest of his career feels like the biggest test so far.
“It does, it does, but then at the same time I’m adopting the same mentality I’ve had for my last four or five fights that I’ve taken to fight week. I’m adopting that same mentality because why fix it if it’s not broken?”
Sheeraz has largely impressed in nearly every outing to date and none more so than his one-round demolition of Liam Williams in February. While the Welshman has seen better days, there is no doubt that the Sheeraz frame, all-round attributes and punching power look like a genuine threat to all the leading contenders. So, what does he think of “Ammo” Williams?
“I’ve seen a lot of his fights, he’s kind of one of them fighters that I knew eventually I’ll fight down the line and he’s a good fighter. He does good things, he can bang, he can fight inside, fight outside.
“So he can do a bit of everything, but it’s nothing I haven’t prepared for and like I said, it’s got all the ingredients to make a very, very exciting fight and one that I can’t wait to just get in there Saturday night and crack on with it, man.”
