WBO president Gustavo Oliveiri announced today that top-ranked middleweight contender Hamzah Sheeraz has withdrawn from his ordered title shot against Janibek Alimkhanuly just before the purse bid.
Per Jake Donovan, Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO) will “most likely” parlay his number-one spot with the WBC into a February 22nd shot at Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KO) in Riyadh. It’s not as good a matchup as the Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KO) fight, but it’s solid enough. Adames, though he’s struggled to consistently wow in the ring, is still among the best of a top-heavy division.
As others have pointed out, this is a calculated move on Warren’s part. The winner of no. 2 Denzel Bentley vs no. 4 Brad Pauls next month will almost certainly replace Sheeraz as the WBO mandatory, meaning Queensberry can still have one of their own challenge Alimkhanuly while setting the stage for a future three-belt unification fight with Sheeraz if the latter beats “Bronco.”
The IBF has yet to declare a new mandatory after Andrei Mikhailovich fell short, so theoretically the timing would be perfect for Alimkhanuly and Sheeraz to meet in the middle of next year. Fingers crossed.