German super middleweight Simon Zachenhuber lost a close decision to WBO champion Hamzah Sheeraz in their world title bout.
Simon Zachenhuber was defeated on Saturday night by WBO super middleweight world champion Hamzah Sheeraz. The 29-year-old German lost to the British fighter by majority decision (2:0:1). The world title fight took place as the undercard to the heavyweight bout between Anthony Joshua and Kristian Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
After twelve uneventful rounds, the judges scored the fight 114-114, 116-112, and 115-113 in favor of Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs), who thus celebrated a less-than-convincing first defense of his WBO title. Zachenhuber (29-2, 18 KOs) suffered his second loss in his last three fights. Yet for long stretches of the fight, there was little to separate the two boxers. The draw scored by judge Antonio Marogna (114–114) was therefore entirely understandable.
Back in the Fight
Although Sheeraz put pressure on the challenger in the first half of the fight, he was barely able to capitalize on it. In rounds seven and eight, the defending champion picked up the pace slightly, but failed to pull decisively ahead. It wasn’t until the ninth round that Sheeraz landed a spectacular uppercut, though he was unable to capitalize on the blow. Zachenhuber fought his way back into the bout during the championship rounds, but his punching power wasn’t enough to seriously trouble the world champion.
Back in April, Zachenhuber had come away empty-handed during his bout in England, when he lost on points to Pawel August on the undercard of the Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The southpaw from Erding had, however, made a successful comeback just four weeks ago with a fourth-round knockout victory over Armin Ajrulai.