HAMZAH Sheeraz is set to make his super-middleweight debut when he goes toe-to-toe with Edgar Berlanga in July and ahead of the scrap, the rangy Briton has received a favourable WBC world ranking in his new division.
Huge for the weight, it seemed inevitable that Sheeraz, 21-0-1 (17 KOs), would need to move up from 160lbs and the Berkshire-born knockout artist was in a race against the clock to secure a world title before that time was due.
However, when the world title shot came, the best that Sheeraz could muster was a controversial draw against Carlos Adames and that below-par performance was enough to convince the Briton to move out of the division and look towards new opportunities up at 168lbs.
On his debut at the weight, Sheeraz will take on Edgar Berlanga in an eliminator for the WBC super-middleweight title and potential shot at Canelo Alvarez and this week Sheeraz has received his updated ranking – positioned at #9 in the WBC super-middleweight world ratings.
Elsewhere, Anthony Yarde, 27-3 (24 KOs), has been rewarded for a majority-decision victory in his rubber match with Lyndon Arthur on the Eubank-Benn undercard two weeks ago, moving up from #9 to #5 as he hones in on a third challenge for world honours.
On that same card, Viddal Riley, 13-0 (7 KOs), outpointed Chev Clarke to claim the British cruiserweight title and that performance has seen Riley break into the world rankings at #15, while Ireland’s Aaron McKenna, 20-0 (10 KOs), scored a dominant win over Liam Smith and has entered the WBC middleweight ratings at #9 as a result.
Away from the U.K. and Ireland, the WBC has come under fire for ranking Manny Pacquiao, 62-8-2 (39 KOs), at five in their welterweight standings ahead of his well-rumoured comeback and world title challenge against WBC champion, Mario Barrios, given the fact that ‘Pac-Man’ has not won a professional fight this decade.
These updated rankings support those rumours, with Barrios-Pacquiao set to take place on July 19 in Las Vegas for the WBC welterweight title, as 46-year-old Pacquiao bids to break his own record of being the oldest welterweight champion of all time.
