WBO super middleweight champion Hamzah Sheeraz has recently given his brutally honest and unfiltered thoughts on the very organization he holds a belt in, as well as Janibek Alimkhanuly, whom they have ordered Sheeraz to fight in a mandatory title defense. Alimkhanuly, who served a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, quickly fired back at the WBO champ on social media, accusing him of making excuses to avoid their fight.
The WBO ordered the fight back in 2024, when Alimkhanuly was the champion. Ultimately, Sheeraz withdrew from negotiations, and Alimkhanuly tested positive for the banned substance, meldonium, in December 2025. Alimkhanuly was stripped of his IBF title and had to serve a one-year suspension from the WBO.
“I can’t say that I’ll 100 percent go with [Zuffa] because, like I said, I’m still in contract with Queensberry, and I could still end up being with them,” he stated. “If and when I am [a free agent], [Zuffa is] definitely an option I’ll explore.”
“What the WBO has done to me simply proves Zuffa Boxing’s point,” he added.
Sheeraz’s comments are puzzling, however, as Zuffa’s next blockbuster card will be headlined by Conor Benn and Ryan Garcia, both of whom have tested positive for PEDs.
Janibek Responds
After Sheeraz’s rant spread throughout social media, Alimkhanuly fired back with a message of his own (via Janibek Alimkhanuly on X):
Janibek was a dominant middleweight champion before his PED scandal, but now he waits to make his debut at super middleweight.
“I can’t wait for this fight,” he wrote on X when Ring Magazine announced that Sheeraz was ordered to defend his WBO super middleweight title him. “I’ll soon become a world champion in two divisions!”
He also called out Canelo Alvarez, hoping to land a legacy fight with the legendary Mexican boxer.
“Canelo, get ready! Inshallah, I’ll beat Shiraz, and we’ll unify the title!”
With Sheeraz being vocal about the WBO’s decision, time will tell whether or not Janibek will be Sheeraz’s mandatory defense, or if Sheeraz will try to fight someone else.
