The heavy-handed British super middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz, fresh off his superb KO victory in July over Edgar Berlanga, seems to have a very clear idea of who the favorite is in the upcoming clash between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Terence Crawford scheduled for September 13.
Interviewed by Steve Bunce during an episode of the 5Live Boxing Podcast, Sheeraz expressed great confidence in his chances of landing a fight against the unified super middleweight champion once the latter defeats the American challenger:
“The Canelo fight, it’s there. It’s the one, providing he goes through Crawford with ease. And I believe he will.”
The British fighter then acknowledged that the super middleweight division is currently extremely competitive, with several top contenders capable of producing highly unpredictable bouts:
“168 pounds, I think in the top 10 there isn’t one fight where you can match two fighters and be confident one wins. In terms of the fights themselves, any one of them are good to make.”
Of course, while he has great respect for the other leading contenders in the division, Sheeraz would prefer to face Canelo as soon as possible:
“Ideally for me, I’d like to face Canelo because the dynamics of the sport as they are now, you’ve got the opportunity to face one of the greatest fighters in boxing so why not challenge myself and go for it and give it my all?”
Sheeraz is a recent arrival in the 168-pound division. Previously, he made his way up the ranks with a series of knockouts at middleweight, but when he finally got his world title shot, he turned in a disappointing performance against WBC champion Carlos Adames, earning a draw that seemed rather generous in his favor.
The British fighter, however, bounced back immediately, dominating Berlanga with great authority in his very first test at the new weight class, and now fully intends to build on his current momentum. We’ll see whether his prediction for the September 13 super fight proves correct and if he will indeed become the next challenger for the world titles.