Callum Simpson Wants Hamzah Sheeraz at Oakwell — But There's a Catch

Callum Simpson has picked his dream fight for the summer of 2027, and it comes with a WBO belt attached. The 29-year-old Barnsley man told talkSPORT that Hamzah Sheeraz is the name he wants, ideally at Oakwell Stadium — but only if Sheeraz still holds the super-middleweight strap by then. That's a bigger 'if' than the callout makes it sound.

Sheeraz has been busy. The 27-year-old is unbeaten at 23-0-1 (19 KO), lifted the vacant WBO title in May with a second-round finish of overmatched challenger Alem Begic, then defended it last month by decision over Simon Zachenhuber. Two title-fight nights inside a few months. The problem is what's next: a mandatory against Janibek Alimkhanuly.

The Roadblock Before Barnsley

Alimkhanuly, a former unified middleweight champion, has moved up to 168lbs and has been ordered to face Sheeraz in due course. That's the fight standing between Sheeraz and any domestic superfight. It's also worth noting Alimkhanuly's jump to super-middle followed a positive test for Meldonium in December — a wrinkle that doesn't make him any less dangerous in the ring, just harder to sell as a clean challenger.

Simpson, for his part, has earned the right to dream big. Last Saturday he outpointed Troy Williamson over the distance to reclaim his British and Commonwealth belts — proper revenge, given Williamson stopped him in the 10th round of their first meeting. Wiping out your only career blemish tends to sharpen the ambition, and Simpson made clear that a world title shot at Oakwell in summer 2027 is the plan.

The catch is that Sheeraz almost certainly isn't looking down at domestic level if he clears Alimkhanuly. The obvious next move is unification, and the prize could be enormous depending on how Christian Mbilli vs Canelo Alvarez shakes out. Canelo, still the division's marquee name at 63-2-2 (39 KO), is coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Terence Crawford — a result that reshuffled the entire 168lb hierarchy.

So the Simpson-Sheeraz stadium fight is real in theory and remote in practice. Sheeraz has to beat a live mandatory, then choose Barnsley over a unification payday. Simpson said it would be a huge fight, and he's right. Right now it's also several results away from mattering.