British-Pakistani boxer Hamzah Sheeraz claimed his first WBO super-middleweight championship title on Sunday by defeating Germany’s Alem Begic in Egypt with a second-round stoppage.
Sheeraz, 26, took charge from the very first round, delivering powerful punches to Begic, 39, including a left hook to the body that knocked him down. Begic could not recover in time as the referee ended the match, according to BBC Sports.
“Another champion from Pakistan,” wrote the spokesperson for the Prime Minister, Mosharraf Zaidi on X.
After the referee declared him the winner, Sheeraz immediately prostrated himself before celebrating with his teammates. He now holds the WBO belt that was vacated by the retired Terence Crawford.
“I did what I was supposed to do tonight, let’s not get it twisted, but it’s brought me to the world stage and I’m calling out all 168 pounders,” Sheeraz stated afterwards, as reported by ESPN.
“It was straightforward, I noticed he was very defensive after I landed the first punch, so it was about pressuring him and finishing the fight”, he added.
Sheeraz made his mark on the world stage during the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk’s world title defense against Rico Verhoeven.
Begic entered the ring with a record of 29 wins and one draw, but the 39-year-old was not well-known to the broader boxing audience.
From the start, the difference in skill was evident. Sheeraz, coming off a career-best stoppage win against Edgar Berlanga last summer, dominated the center of the ring with a precise jab, his main weapon.
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