British-Pakistani boxer Hamzah Sheeraz won his first WBO super-middleweight championship title on Sunday after defeating Germany’s Alem Begic in Egypt courtesy of a second-round stoppage win.
Sheeraz, 26, imposed himself on his opponent since the very first round, landing hard blows on Begic, 39, with a left hook to the body eventually sending him down. Begic failed to beat the count as the referee waved the fight off, BBC Sports reported. “Another champion from Pakistan,” Pakistani prime minister’s spokesperson for international media, Mosharraf Zaidi, wrote on X. “Congratulations to super middleweight champion of the world, @sheeraz_hamzah! Sheeraz immediately fell down in prostration after the referee announced he had won, before rejoicing with his teammates. He takes the WBO belt vacated by the retired Terence Crawford.
“I did what I was meant to do tonight, let’s not get it twisted, but it’s got me to the world stage and I’m calling on all 168 pounders,” Sheeraz said afterwards, according to ESPN. “It was simple, I saw he was very negative after I landed the first punch and it was about walking him down and getting him out of there.” The British-Pakistani boxer has been making headlines around the world for his stellar performance over the years. He went into the fight off a brutal fifth-round stoppage on Edgar Berlanga in New York last July and was determined to improve upon the disappointing draw against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames in his previous world title attempt in February last year. In September 2024, he defeated Tyler Denny at Wembley Stadium to clinch the European middleweight title in London.