Hamzah Sheeraz accuses the WBO of corruption and claps back at Edgar Berglanga

WBO super middleweight champ, Hamzah Sheeraz, is not thrilled about the undefeated Kazakh, Janibek Alimkhanuly being his mandatory challenger. The 27 year-old Englishman with Pakistani and Indian descent has fought twice in 2026, with a second-round knockout victory and a 12-round majority decision. He said on the Ariel Helwani Show that he wants one more before the year is up in November or December, but he doesn’t think those who have never fought at the division and have popped dirty for PEDs deserve the opportunity to face him. He accused the sanctioning body of corruption.

Helwani asked him about the corruption he mentioned. Sheeraz said, “What the WBO have done here. To me, it’s corrupt, and I’ll say it as it is. I feel like it’s all based off relationships… I’m talking from my moral perspective. I want to give a message to the youngsters out there that even though it’s being deemed OK, it’s ain’t.”

Alimkhanuly (17-0) is a southpaw who was last in the ring in April 2025 and is a former champ at a 160-pounds. His failed test on Nov. 15 got his middleweight (160 pounds) title fight with Erislandy Lara tossed. The IBF vacated his belt because of his failed drug test plus the suspension wouldn’t let him fulfill his mandatory defense, and the WBO never stripped him. Now he’s back, subtweeting Sheeraz and eager to prove that banned substances had nothing to do with his 12 KOs.

Notably, each of his posts has comments disabled. The last one that allowed public comment was on Dec. 2, 2025, in which he wrote, “I have always supported clean sport you know this well. I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don’t know what happened with the second test, so l requested a retest.”

Sheeraz’s frustration is understandable. People die yearly in this business, so dirty fighters should be sanctioned more harshly when there is a failed test. But, Alimkhanuly has served his suspension, and in this world, that’s enough for much of the public and big decision-makers to put someone back in the mix.

In 2026, the best big-name fights have been Naoya Inoue v. Junto Nakatani, Jaron Boots Ennis v. Xander Zayas and Shakur Stevenson v. Teófimo López. On top of that, there have been other great ones such as Dalton Smith’s fifth-round technical knockout against Subriel Matias, Brandon Figueroa’s 12-roundth stoppage versus Nick Ball, and recently Mark Chamberlain’s 10th-round TKO against Pierce O’Leary. 

Still, too many of the best fights are not made and some of the top pugilists stay out of the ring too long. It hasn’t been a terrible year of boxing, but it has been a bit underwhelming. Yet stylistically, a Sheeraz v. Alimkhanuly matchup, if it gets made, has a high chance of producing lots of action and would be significant for each of their legacies. Additionally, if the distribution was handled correctly, putting it on TNT Sports along with DAZN (regular subscription), instead of making it a Pay-Per-View, it could be the type of match that starts turning more casual fans into dedicated ones. 

In matters of lesser consequence, Sheeraz responded to Edgar Berlanga’s easy work comment with a story about being physically affected the day he KOed him. According to Sheeraz, he had to go through medicals a second time because his paperwork was lost, so his eyes were dilated in the process at 1 PM. “It just goes to show, if anything, he was easy work.”