Hamza Shiraz will reportedly challenge WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adams on February 22. The fight was an obvious one to take after Shiraz (21-0, 17 KOs) pulled out of his scheduled bout against WBO 160-lb champion Janebek Aleem Khanoli. WBO president Gustave Olivieri reported that the 25-year-old Shiraz has withdrawn from the bout.
It would have been difficult for the lanky 6’3″ Shiraz to fight Janebek as his size and strength would not have helped much against this talented champion. This would likely have negated Shiraz’s advantages and knocked him out fairly quickly. He doesn’t have the biggest chin and hasn’t competed at the world level yet.
Adams will be a tough competition for Shiraz.
Shiraz is the No. 1 WBC champion for Adams (24-1, 18 KOs). It will still be a dangerous fight for Shiraz as Adams is a big puncher and has an amateur pedigree.
Adams is the only one of the three middleweight champions who will have a chance to beat Shiraz as he hasn’t shown the skills that would allow him to beat IBF/WBO champion Janibek or WBA champion Erislandy Lara.
“He’s going to fight Adams for the WBC belt on February 22nd, per source,” Dan Raphael said on X, talking about Hamza Shiraz challenging WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adams next February 22nd. are
If Shiraz can beat Adams, he can use the WBC title to validate his credentials to potentially move up to 168 to challenge unification champion Canelo Alvarez in a fight. The WBC doesn’t have a ‘super champion’ position that Shiraz can use to make himself mandatory for Canelo, as the WBO does, but it may not need one.
Canelo seems interested in fighting weaker, inexperienced fighters in this late stage of his career. He will likely be ready to fight Shiraz as he fills all these categories. His record is full of fluff wins, and he has no real qualifications in terms of experience to fight Canelo, which makes him perfect.
Shiraz has recent wins over Tyler Denny, Austin Williams, and Liam Williams. He’s a good fringe-level middleweight but nowhere near the level of Adams or the other two champions, Lara and Jennebeck.
