Mohammed Hamzah Sheeraz (born 25 May 1999) is a British

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the WBO European

light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the IBF or super welterweight in the WBA a ...

title since 2019.

Personal life

Sheeraz was born on 25 May 1999 in Slough in Berkshire, England into a family of athletes from his father's side. Sheeraz’s paternal family originates from the village of

Matore Matore is a village, surrounded by hills, in the heart of Kahuta Tehsil a subdivision of Rawalpindi District, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at at an altitude of 778 meters (2555 feet). Some major tourist attractions in ...

, in the

Kahuta Tehsil Kahuta Tehsil ( pa, ; ur, تحصیل کہوٹہ) is one of the seven tehsils (subdivisions) of Rawalpindi District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The neighbouring tehsil of Kallar Sayedan used to be part of Kahuta, but was later created as ...

, located in Rawalpindi District of

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

, and his father was a cricketer who played for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. His paternal grandfather and uncle were both boxers, the latter winning ten national amateur titles for the Slough and Pinewood Star clubs. His mother has Indian roots and Sheeraz considers himself to be a Muslim. He is also a lifelong Arsenal fan.

Early career

Sheeraz was first directed to a gym by his uncle at the age of eight and had his first bout at 12. He went on to become a three-time finalist at the national junior championships. However, he became disillusioned with the sport after being overlooked for the Commonwealth Youth championships and took a year off to focus on an electrician's apprenticeship. A meeting with his then-trainer Lenny Butcher led him to come back and try his hand as a professional.

Professional career

Sheeraz turned professional in 2017, signing a deal with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions on his eighteenth birthday. He made his pro debut on 16 September 2017 on the undercard of the

Billy Joe Saunders Billy Joe Saunders (born 30 August 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is the first fighter from the Travelling community to win world championships in two weight classes, including the WBO middleweight title from 2015 to 2018 and the ...

–

Willie Monroe Jr. Willie Monroe Jr. (born December 17, 1986) is an American professional boxer. He has challenged twice for a world title; first in 2015 for the WBA (Super), interim WBC, and IBO middleweight titles. In 2017, he challenged for the WBO middl ...

world title fight at the

Copper Box Arena The Copper Box Arena is a multi-sport venue built for the 2012 Summer Olympics, located in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, England. Previously known as the Handball Arena, it was renamed because, aside from handball, it hosted mo ...

in London. He defeated 35-year-old

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

Duane Green via

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving strikin ...

(TKO) in the second round for his first victory. By the beginning of 2019 he was sporting a 6–0 record. He dropped Rod Douglas Jr. three times en route to a first-round TKO in March before stopping Ladislav Nemeth in the second round of their April bout at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-s ...

. He registered his third-straight TKO victory on 13 July, beating Scott James in under two minutes on the undercard of the Daniel Dubois– Nathan Gorman British heavyweight title fight at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

in London. On 30 November 2019, Sheeraz defeated "Ruthless" Ryan Kelly (14–2, 7 KO) by sixth-round TKO for the vacant WBO European junior-middleweight title. Late in the sixth round of their fight at

Arena Birmingham Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

, he dropped his opponent with a straight right hand. Kelly got up but was forced back onto the ropes as Sheeraz threw a barrage of punches that he was not able to overcome. The referee stopped the fight with two seconds left in the round, giving Sheeraz his first title belt as a professional. The win also moved him into the top 15 in the WBO rankings. He was scheduled to defend his title against undefeated Scottish prospect Paul Kean in April 2020, but the bout was postponed due to the

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Professional boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheeraz, Hamzah Living people 1999 births English male boxers English people of Indian descent British sportspeople of Pakistani descent British sportspeople of Indian descent Light-middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Slough Sportspeople from Ilford English Muslims English people of Pakistani descent