The sudden and surprising retirement of Terence Crawford from professional boxing could open major opportunities for glory for several highly ranked super-middleweights. In fact, all four belts in the division held by the major international sanctioning bodies have become vacant, and the fighters at 168 pounds will now fight tooth and nail to claim them. The WBO title in particular could soon be contested by American Diego Pacheco and Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz.
The two boxers are currently ranked second and third respectively in the official WBO rankings. The top spot is held by Saul “Canelo” Álvarez, who is recovering from elbow surgery and will therefore need some time before returning to the ring.
Diego Pacheco is undefeated in 25 professional bouts, with 18 wins by knockout. In his most recent fight, held ten days ago in Stockton, the 24-year-old American passed the toughest and most dangerous test of his career to date, defeating the relentless French puncher Kevin Lele Sadjo on points. It was a hard-fought but fully deserved victory. On that occasion, Pacheco showed great resilience by getting back up and recovering after suffering a heavy knockdown in the eighth round, before going on to dominate the final rounds.
Hamzah Sheeraz is also unbeaten and currently enjoying a positive run. The British fighter is coming off a crushing knockout victory over Puerto Rican Edgar Berlanga, who was annihilated in just five rounds. That win allowed him to turn the page after a disappointing performance in his previous outing in February, when he drew against Carlos Adames and failed to capture the WBC middleweight world title in a bout that many observers felt he had lost.
The two fighters share fairly similar physical attributes, with very long, slender limbs and considerable height for their weight class: 193 centimeters for Pacheco and 191 centimeters for Sheeraz. Their styles, however, differ. Pacheco tends to move more on his feet and feels more comfortable fighting at long range, while Sheeraz prefers to exchange at mid-range, relying on the explosiveness of his punches.
The American’s greater mobility and versatility would therefore be matched against the British fighter’s superior power, in a matchup whose outcome would be far from predictable. We will see whether the two camps embrace the idea and agree to face each other. From our perspective, it could produce a thrilling and extremely interesting contest from a technical and tactical standpoint.