WHILE Hamzah Sheeraz seems to be coming into his own, cementing himself as an elite contender, Shane McGuigan firmly believes that his super-middleweight charge, Malik Zinad, would bring the 26-year-old crashing back down to earth.
The British trainer first became aware of Zinad, 23-1 (17 KOs), in 2017, back when former world champion Donny Lalonde urged him to take a look at this little-known, but no less ferocious, Libyan prospect.
Later, it became apparent that, with a little more guidance and refinement, the raw puncher could soon craft a glittering career for himself at 168lbs.
But since then, an opportunity to face Dmitry Bivol, the consensus top dog at light-heavyweight, was simply too enticing for Zinad to refuse.
In that particular contest last year, the 31-year-old gave a titanic effort on just three weeks’ notice, only to eventually suffer a sixth-round stoppage defeat.
And while, back then, McGuigan had little interest in taking him under his wing, he now believes that Zinad could soon burst onto the world scene at super-middleweight.
“Donny Lalonde, who boxed [Sugar] Ray Leonard and was based in Malta, rang my dad [Barry McGuigan] and said, ‘We’ve got this kid who can really punch. Raw as anything, but he could be a handful. We want you to take a look at him,’” McGuigan told Boxing News.
“So we brought him over to box on a Cyclone [Promotions] show [in 2017]. I was waiting in the tunnel with Chantelle Cameron before her debut, and then [Zinad] knocked his opponent out so badly that he [Jermaine Asare] had to be taken straight to hospital.
“I had a conversation with him afterwards, but he had some people in his ear saying, ‘You’ve got to go to Freddie Roach and Buddy McGirt’ – all this crap – so he went off [to the US] and realised it wasn’t all that.
“Then he asked me to train him before the Bivol fight, and I was like, ‘Dude, I’m not stepping in for three weeks. You’re boxing the best light-heavyweight in the world.’ He’d just been in a hard 12-rounder [against Jerome Pampellone] four weeks before and, also, he’s a super-middleweight.
“But then he had the Bivol fight, rang me up, and said, ‘I just want to work with you.’”
Zinad is now gearing up for an eight-rounder at York Hall, London, on November 30, presenting him with an opportunity to showcase exactly what he has been working on with McGuigan.
Beyond that, though, McGuigan seems especially keen for the Libyan to face Sheeraz, 22-0-1 (18 KOs), who comes off an emphatic fourth-round finish over Edgar Berlanga.
“There’s some massive opportunities for him at super-middleweight,” the esteemed coach insisted.
“Hamzah Sheeraz has been flattered – Edgar Berlanga’s a bit chinny, and Tyler Denny’s not very good – so I would love that matchup.
“They have to want it, and Riyadh Season will have to want to take it, but I don’t understand why they wouldn’t.
“We’ll have this fight [on November 30], and then he’ll be calling out all those names, whether it’s Sheeraz or Callum Simpson. He’s going to be a proper handful, and I think he’ll win a world title.”
For Zinad, an eagerness to prove his skills against any worthy opponent, not least Sheeraz, becomes strikingly apparent during his conversation with Boxing News.
“I’m here in training camp, away from my family again,” he said. “I have two daughters [who live in Malta], and don’t get to see them enough, but that’s a sacrifice I’ve made.
“It’s very hard, but when you have a goal in mind, you have to [make sacrifices].
“My wife and kids are going to move to the UK next year, so that’s going to be very good.”
Knowing that he has come up the hard way, Zinad makes it clear that he is ready for any opportunities at world level, no matter how soon they may arrive.
“A lot of fans are coming over from Malta and Libya to support me [next month], so it’s going to be good,” he continued.
“I became the first professional fighter from Libya and it was very hard, because there was no professional fighter in front of me. I did everything myself – there was no one to learn from.
“I had no Eddie Hearn, no Frank Warren – I’ve promoted myself to get here. I’ll have a world title shot next year, for sure. Remember my name.”
