By Gabriel J Gonzalez
Sat, Sep 19 2026
Sheerez Vacates WBO Title
Hamzah Sheeraz has officially vacated his WBO super middleweight world title, choosing not to move forward with a mandatory defense against former unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly.
The WBO confirmed that Queensberry Promotions informed the organization that Sheeraz had elected not to proceed with the mandatory bout and would voluntarily relinquish his championship. The decision comes just days after Queensberry won the purse bid to promote the fight with an offer of $1,001,809. Under the purse split, Sheeraz was reportedly set to receive approximately $751,000.
Sheeraz had previously indicated that the financial terms would play a major role in whether he accepted the fight. The 27-year-old also publicly criticized the WBO’s decision to install Alimkhanuly as his mandatory challenger following Alimkhanuly’s previous positive test for the banned substance meldonium.
The move brings a surprisingly quick end to Sheeraz’s first world-title reign. He captured the vacant WBO belt with a second-round knockout of Alem Begic in May and successfully defended it against Simon Zachenhuber in July, winning by majority decision. Sheeraz remains unbeaten at 24-0-1 with 19 knockouts.
Attention now turns to what comes next for both fighters. The WBO World Championship Committee is expected to issue a ruling on Monday, September 21, determining how the vacant super middleweight championship will be handled. Alimkhanuly could remain in position to fight for the belt against another leading contender, with Diego Pacheco among the possible names.
For Sheeraz, giving up the belt opens the door to pursuing a different opponent and potentially a more lucrative fight rather than being tied to the WBO mandatory.
The WBO confirmed that Queensberry Promotions informed the organization that Sheeraz had elected not to proceed with the mandatory bout and would voluntarily relinquish his championship. The decision comes just days after Queensberry won the purse bid to promote the fight with an offer of $1,001,809. Under the purse split, Sheeraz was reportedly set to receive approximately $751,000.
Sheeraz had previously indicated that the financial terms would play a major role in whether he accepted the fight. The 27-year-old also publicly criticized the WBO’s decision to install Alimkhanuly as his mandatory challenger following Alimkhanuly’s previous positive test for the banned substance meldonium.
The move brings a surprisingly quick end to Sheeraz’s first world-title reign. He captured the vacant WBO belt with a second-round knockout of Alem Begic in May and successfully defended it against Simon Zachenhuber in July, winning by majority decision. Sheeraz remains unbeaten at 24-0-1 with 19 knockouts.
Attention now turns to what comes next for both fighters. The WBO World Championship Committee is expected to issue a ruling on Monday, September 21, determining how the vacant super middleweight championship will be handled. Alimkhanuly could remain in position to fight for the belt against another leading contender, with Diego Pacheco among the possible names.
For Sheeraz, giving up the belt opens the door to pursuing a different opponent and potentially a more lucrative fight rather than being tied to the WBO mandatory.