Hamzah Sheeraz dominates Alem Begic in front of the Pyramids of Giza and secures the WBO super-middleweight title by T.K.O. in round two
Hamzah Sheeraz is the new WBO world super-middleweight champion after easily dispatching Alem Begic last night in front of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt.
Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 knockouts) was superior to the Munich-born 39-year-old in all aspects and stopped Begic (29-1-1, 23 knockouts) in the second round of the co-main event before Oleksandr Usyk against Rico Verhoeven.
Begic’s evening ended early after a left uppercut and a subsequent left hook to the body. The official stoppage came at 2:33 minutes after Begic remained on his knees during the referee’s count and did not get up.
Sheeraz thus secured his first world title at the second attempt. The 26-year-old had previously failed in his attempt to take the WBC middleweight title from Carlos Adames last February. Sheeraz came away with a split decision draw against the Dominican before moving up to super middleweight for his next fight.
“It was simple,” Sheeraz told DAZN after the fight. “I could see from the first punch that he was boxing very negatively. I just had to drive him in front of me and get the knockout.”
Sheeraz manager Spencer Brown also added that the team is now targeting a mega-fight against Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Canelo will face WBC super middleweight champion Christian Mbilli on September 12.