Sheeraz Walks Away From His WBO Belt — Hearn Says He'd Better Have a Plan

Hamzah Sheeraz has handed back the WBO super middleweight strap rather than defend it against mandatory challenger Janibek Alimkhanuly, and his promoter Eddie Hearn isn't pretending he loves the call. Sheeraz, unbeaten at 23-0-1 with 19 knockouts, chose to vacate instead of taking a fight that, by Hearn's own admission, wasn't paying big money for a dangerous opponent.

Hearn framed it as a tough business decision more than a red flag. He said the Queensberry purse bid wasn't wildly off the mark commercially, but that it simply wasn't much money to risk against a fighter as good as Janibek. His verdict for Sheeraz going forward was blunt: figure out the next move, because you'd better have a plan.

The Janibek Problem

Part of Hearn's discomfort is the road Janibek took back to the front of the line. The promoter said he doesn't like that Janibek returned from a six-month drug ban and slotted straight back in as mandatory challenger. Hearn allowed that fighters deserve the chance to clear their names and resume their careers if proven innocent — but questioned whether that should mean an immediate mandatory shot.

As for Sheeraz himself, Hearn wasn't burying him. He praised the fighter's class and education, and pointed to a stop-start last outing where he performed poorly — a night that clearly weighed on the calculus here. Worth noting: Sheeraz's most recent listed win was a second-round KO over Alem Begic, so the finishing power hasn't gone anywhere.

Benn, Boots and Crawford

The Sheeraz situation was one of several topics Hearn touched on. On Conor Benn's lopsided loss to Ryan Garcia, Hearn admitted he's conflicted — he spent years insisting Benn was world class, and now says he's a good fighter who'd simply never been tested at that level, aside from a weight-drained Chris Eubank he felt shouldn't have been in the ring. Benn sits at 25-1 (14 KO); Garcia, the WBC welterweight champion, is 25-2 (20 KO).

Hearn also fielded questions on Jaron 'Boots' Ennis, whose next fight he says is almost certain, possibly landing in late November now that Tyson vs AJ isn't happening then — though December looks more realistic. And on the social-media needling from Terence Crawford, Hearn was baffled, essentially telling Crawford to decide whether he's retired or not instead of winding people up over belts he may or may not chase.

The through-line is a champion voluntarily giving up a title in a division that's about to get a new WBO name. Sheeraz keeps the unbeaten record intact and buys himself flexibility. Whether that flexibility turns into a bigger fight or a slow drift is the question Hearn just put on the table.