Carlos Adames will defend his world title this Saturday against the highly-touted Brit – Hamzah Sheeraz.
24-1 WBC middleweight world champion Carlos Adames will face Hamzah Sheeraz in what will be the Ilford man’s first attempt at a world title.
Sheeraz had been in line to face Janibek Alimkhanuly and seems to have opted for Adames as an easier route to world-level. Adames is keen to show he is not a soft touch and insists he will defeat Sheeraz.
Sheeraz recently claimed he would not pray to beat Adames, as he believes it gives him an ‘unfair advantage’.
At the weigh-in, Adames had some choice words for his feared opponent.
Carlos Adames exudes confidence ahead of Hamzah Sheeraz fight
Speaking at the weigh-in, Adames clarified that he is not afraid of Sheeraz.
Commenting on Sheeraz’s impressive height for the division, Adames said: “Coconuts are high and we still take them down.”
Not only is Adames not afraid of Sheeraz, but he even seems to believe the fight will be easy for him, a belief that could prove to be his downfall:
“I think he will be an easy fighter for me.”
Adames held the vacant interim WBO title before facing 24-3-1 Terrell Gausha for the full title in 2024.
Adames holds 18 knockouts to his name, and has only one defeat at the hands of now 35-5 Patrick Teixeira.
Sheeraz on the other hand boasts a knockout percentage of almost 81%, with none of his opponents since 2018 making it to the final bell.
Hamzah Sheeraz reveals what may cause Carlos Adames’ downfall
In an interview with iFL TV, Sheeraz spoke on the occasion of boxing in Saudi Arabia again, and expressed his gratitude to Turki Alalshikh and Frank Warren:
“It means everything and more […] I can only thank Frank and His Excellency. […] Saturday night is the biggest opportunity of my life.”
When it came to speak on Adames, Sheeraz said:
“You can see he’s confident but you see these fight weeks when you’re new to it all, these fight weeks over here in Saudi they take a lot out of you and if you don’t know how to manage yourself properly.
If you don’t know how to work in a way that’s best for you, it could potentially get to you on fight night.”
Sheeraz vs Adames is just one of many fights on the Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 card, which has been called the biggest card in boxing.
Also on the card, Zhilei Zhang, who has been training with LL Cool J, takes on Agit Kabayel, Joshua Buatsi, who prayed for an opponent he knocked out, will defend his interim title against Callum Smith, and Vergil Ortiz Jr. will square off with Israil Madrimov.
The co-main event will see Joseph Parker, who has opened up about depression recently, fight a late replacement for Daniel Dubois – Martin Bakole.
Eddie Hearn has revealed Bakole’s weakness and believes Parker can get the job done. Hearn also revealed why Anthony Joshua was not in a state to replace Dubois.
All of this and more will constitute ‘The Last Crescendo’ on Saturday night.