WBO Extends Sheeraz-Janibek Talks One Week

Top Rank and Queensberry Promotions have another week to negotiate the ordered WBO super middleweight title fight between Janibek Alimkhanuly and champion Hamzah Sheeraz.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced that the promoters jointly requested an extension, which gives them until Thursday, September 10, at 5:00 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time to submit an agreement.

If no deal reaches the WBO by that deadline, its World Championship Committee will order a purse bid.

The request shows that neither side is ready to abandon negotiations, but it does not guarantee that an agreement is close. Top Rank represents Janibek, while Queensberry controls Sheeraz, leaving the promotional split, purse division, venue, and broadcast arrangements to be settled.

A purse bid would open the fight to outside promoters and remove some of Queensberry’s control over Sheeraz’s first mandatory defense. That possibility gives both camps a reason to reach private terms before September 10.

Sheeraz has already criticized Janibek’s placement as the mandatory challenger following the former unified middleweight champion’s move to 168 pounds. The WBO has shown no sign of reconsidering the order, however. The only concession granted is more negotiating time.

The deadline has changed. The opponent has not.

Janibek Corners Hamzah Sheeraz Before WBO Deadline

Janibek Alimkhanuly has turned this week’s WBO negotiation deadline into a test of Hamzah Sheeraz’s credibility. Sheeraz must agree to defend his super middleweight title, let the fight proceed toward a purse bid, or surrender the belt and accept the reputational cost that follows.

“The more they call me ‘The Nightmare,’ the more I’m starting to wonder… am I actually becoming boxers’ real nightmare? In 1-2 days, we’ll find out if he’s a real champion or just a champion by name. Let’s wait and see,” Janibek said on X.

His message gives no indication that he is interested in step-aside money. If Queensberry intended to buy time for Sheeraz, the subject likely would have come up during the talks. Janibek is talking like a challenger prepared to force the WBO process.

Sheeraz has already built a possible defense for refusing the fight. During an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, he called the WBO’s ruling a “joke” and criticized the organization for rewarding Janibek after his positive test for meldonium.

The clean-sport objection has merit. The WBO shortened Janibek’s suspension, allowed him to move directly into a mandatory position at 168 pounds, and selected him over Jacob Bank despite Janibek never fighting in the division. Bank had actively campaigned at super middleweight and petitioned for the same opportunity.

Still, Sheeraz’s moral position also provides a convenient exit. He can vacate while claiming he refused to cooperate with a sanctioning body order he considers disgraceful, rather than admitting that Janibek presents too much danger for too little money.

Surrendering the title would harm Sheeraz’s reputation. He won the vacant belt against 39-year-old Alem Begic and struggled through a majority verdict over Simon Zachenhuber in his first defense. Leaving before facing Janibek would support the Kazakh’s claim that Sheeraz was only a “champion by name.”

Facing Janibek carries the greater career risk. He is a precise southpaw counterpuncher with the power to punish the defensive lapses Sheeraz showed against Zachenhuber. A decisive loss would cost Sheeraz his belt and reduce his value for larger fights against Canelo Alvarez or Chris Eubank Jr.

The history makes an escape harder to disguise. Sheeraz withdrew from negotiations when the WBO ordered him to challenge Janibek at middleweight. After Sheeraz moved to 168 and became champion, Janibek followed him into the division.

Vacating can be presented as a principled business choice. Getting stopped by the opponent who pursued him through two weight classes would be far worse. Janibek has left Sheeraz to choose which consequence he is willing to accept.