Hamzah Sheeraz is watching Riyadh with interest, and he has a queue to clear first.
Canelo Alvarez challenges Christian Mbilli for the WBC super middleweight title on October 31 in Saudi Arabia, trying to win back one of the belts he lost to Terence Crawford a year ago. Sheeraz holds the WBO version and told the Mr Verzace Podcast he wants the winner.
Absolutely, I want Canelo if he beats Mbilli. Listen, I have got to keep doing my thing, keep winning, keep putting on big performances, moving forwards and he has got to do the same.
He is not pretending it is his to demand.
He is a legend of the sport. If the fight happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I will continue to be the best version of myself that I could be, but yeah it would be an absolute honour to share the ring with him. I think that it would be a firefight, for sure.
The obstacle is his own governing body. Sheeraz has been ordered to face mandatory challenger Janibek Alimkhanuly or lose the title, with a purse bid hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Canelo has his own problems before anyone else’s. He has not fought since losing to Crawford last September, had elbow surgery the following month, and pushed the Mbilli fight back from September 12 for family reasons. Mbilli has never lost, drew with Lester Martinez on the Canelo and Crawford undercard, and was elevated from interim to full champion when Crawford retired and vacated everything.
The WBC has already ordered the winner of Canelo and Mbilli to defend against Martinez, who stopped Luka Plantic this month to lock that in. Martinez has said both fights will happen eventually.
The rest of the division is filled out by Jaime Munguia at the WBA and Osleys Iglesias at the IBF.
