After sustaining a perforated eardrum in the final week of his training camp stateside saw their original Nov. 25 date scratched, today the intriguing middleweight clash between unbeaten prospect Hamzah Sheeraz and one-time world title challenger Liam Williams has officially been rescheduled for Feb. 10 at London’s Copper Box – meaning sacrifices over the winter for both.
Sheeraz stepping up the gears against Williams
- Sheeraz is back training again out in Los Angeles after perforated eardrum injury: “I’m back in the flow of things now, grafting away. Hopefully it will be a good camp, Feb. 10 I get the job done in good fashion and be a name the middleweights start calling out, wanting to fight. Festivities are cancelled for me this year, sacrifice is nothing new, go the extra mile.”
- Former WBO middleweight world title challenger Liam Williams was still able to utilise a full camp and scored a first-round TKO win over Romania’s Florin Cardos on Nov. 24, ending a year-long layoff at York Hall last month
- The Welshman is over the moon they have a new date set despite the festive temptations, saying: “It is obviously not the best time with Christmas just around the corner now, going to be a little bit more difficult and a lot of food hanging about the house with kids, but there is obviously a lot on the line for me – I need to win to get back onto that world title stage.”
- Sheeraz’s promoter Frank Warren: “I really believe we are in for something very special, a classic collission of youth versus experience, a young fighter on the up against one looking to prove he still belongs. I believe Hamzah is destined to reach the very top, but will be tested like never before.”
Hamzah Sheeraz (champion — 18-0, 14 KOs) vs. Liam Williams (25-4-1, 20 KOs)
WBC Silver, Commonwealth middleweight championships
Live on TNT Sports come Saturday February 10, 2024, undercard TBC
When announced it originally represented a fine finish to the 2023 calendar but instead, will serve as an excellent hors d’oeuvre before the proposed Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk megafight the following weekend in Riyadh, when Hamzah Sheeraz faces his biggest challenge yet against Liam Williams on February 10.
In an ideal world, the 24-year-old would be featuring on the Fury-Usyk undercard – as he did for the latter in Poland on August 26 – but an untimely injury suffered at the end of his most recent training camp saw that possibility on ice for the moment.
My other recent boxing coverage
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Fight rewind: Masternak pushed Tony Bellew close for Euro title, in 2015
Returning Ryan Garcia gets it done, but not without fuss vs. Oscar Duarte
Williams shook off some ring rust and didn’t need any rounds under his belt as he viciously breezed beyond Stratford resident Florin Cardos within half-a-round on the York Hall bill last month, in a rescheduled Friday Fight Night card headlined by Portsmouth lightweight Mark Chamberlain’s gritty IBF European title defence.
The 31-year-old believes he sees weaknesses in Sheeraz that can be exploited, during what represents the Ilford man’s biggest challenge yet as he enters Year 8 as a professional and looks to push towards domestic and world honours in 2024.
Sheeraz (#4 WBC, #6 WBO, #11 WBA) has spoken well about being patient in his own journey and while Nathan Heaney’s MD12 win over Denzel Bentley last month threw a spanner in the works at British level, he can only focus on himself.
I’ll have more detailed analysis on this fight closer to the time, having attended the original launch press conference with some interesting feature writing saved in the bank to be released at a later date.
Pictures via Queensberry unless stated, quotes via official press release
Mo and Sports 