Hamzah Sheeraz withdraws from Janibek Alimkhanuly fight and vacates WBO super-middleweight title

Hamzah Sheeraz has withdrawn from a proposed bout with Janibek Alimkhanuly and voluntarily relinquished the WBO super-middleweight title, the sanctioning body confirmed on Friday night. The decision followed a purse bid for the mandatory fight that Queensberry Promotions won on Thursday.

The WBO had mandated Sheeraz to face Alimkhanuly, its number one challenger for the title, and held a purse bid on Thursday that Queensberry won with a bid of $1,001,809 (£747,903). Top Rank were the only other bidders, offering $850,000 (£634,569). Queensberry had planned to stage the bout on either 28 November or 5 December with London, Birmingham and New York proposed as possible locations; Sheeraz is 27.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri posted on X: "The WBO confirms that Queensberry Promotions has formally notified in writing that Hamzah Sheeraz, per the terms resulting from the purse bid proceedings concerning his mandatory obligation against Janibek Alimkhanuly, has elected not to proceed with the mandatory and has voluntarily relinquished his WBO super-middleweight world championship. "The WBO acknowledges and respects the decision of Hamzah and his team. "The WBO doors will always remain open to him, and we sincerely wish Hamzah and his team all the very best and continued success moving forward."

Sheeraz's manager Spencer Brown has been contacted for comment, the WBO statement said. Alimkhanuly's manager Egis Klimas posted on X earlier on Friday claiming Sheeraz had withdrawn, writing: "Ha, I was right, if you scared yesterday, you scared today and you will be scared tomorrow. Couple things you can't train in boxing, chin and scariness. Been informed Hamzah Sheeraz has vacated WBO title. What ashamed! [sic]"

Sheeraz has a professional record of 24 wins and one draw; he won the WBO super-middleweight title when he beat Alem Begic in May and defended it against Simon Zachenhuber in July. He had been due to meet Alimkhanuly as the WBO-mandated challenger following the purse-bid process.

Alimkhanuly's position as mandatory challenger has been subject to controversy: in December he returned a positive test for meldonium, the WBO suspended him for a year in February but allowed him to retain their title while the IBF stripped him. In July the WBO terminated his suspension early and installed Alimkhanuly as the mandatory challenger at super-middleweight for Sheeraz's title.

The WBO World Championship Committee will render the applicable ruling on Monday, September 21, regarding the status of the WBO super-middleweight world championship and the division moving forward.