Hamzah Sheeraz raised the vacant WBO super-middleweight title above his head having battered hapless German Alem Begic in two rounds.
It was one-sided and a wicked mismatch.
“In all honesty, I did what I was meant to do, let’s not get it twisted,” said Sheeraz, who said he wanted the biggest names at 168lbs. “It was simple. I could see he was very negative from the first punch and it was just walk him down and get him out of there.”
Sheeraz, 23-0-1 (19 KOs), was dominant.
There were signs it was going to be little more than target practice in the opening round. Sheeraz, boxing for the first time since blasting out Edgar Berlanga last year, dominated behind his jab, which he doubled up. He worked the German’s body and it was hard to see what Begic had done to merit his lofty standing, how he had found himself on this stage in Egypt, and how he had built a record of 29-0-1 (23 KOs). It’s hard to think of a title challenger who, at 39, had looked any less qualified.
Sheeraz had the audacity to triple up his left hook early in the second, even landing a couple more for good measure, and Begic seemed to realize he was up against it. His face was reddening and he was trying to use the ring but Sheeraz was in hot pursuit and landing cleanly with both hands, jolting the outgunned German’s head back. Sure enough, Begic was dropped with about 30 seconds left in the second and the horrible mismatch was put to bed.
Sure, Sheeraz looked great. I expect he does on the pads, too.
Begic shouldn’t have been anywhere near him. The left uppercut and left hook to the body that finished it put everyone out of their misery and thankfully spared Begic from being hurt.
It was over after 2:33 of the second and Begic is now 29-1-1 (23 KOs).
Spencer Brown, Sheeraz’s manager, said the target was to fight Canelo Alvarez, who fights Christian Mbilli in September, but he also mentioned he wanted Sheeraz to fight in England next.
