Hamzah Sheeraz Rejects Canelo Alvarez Demand To Fight Osleys Iglesias

The WBO super middleweight champion says Canelo should not decide who he must face before a potential showdown

Hamzah Sheeraz has dismissed Canelo Alvarez’s suggestion that he should fight Osleys Iglesias before earning a potential clash with the Mexican star. The WBO super middleweight champion said he respects Alvarez but does not believe another fighter should determine the route to a future matchup.

Alvarez is scheduled to return on September 12 against Christian Mbilli, while Sheeraz is coming off his victory over Alem Begic to capture the vacant WBO title.

“I respect him, but I don’t respect him to a point where he tells me who to fight before I can fight him,” said Sheeraz to talkSPORT Boxing.

“And it’s not that wasn’t the case when he fought Munguia. That wasn’t the case when he fought Berlanga. So, for him to kind of say that to me is just I kind of have to just ignore that and just concentrate on my own thing.

“If the fight doesn’t happen, I won’t be bothered to be fair. I won’t be bothered at all. But if it does happen, it’s a bonus for me.”

Sheeraz previously passed on the IBF route and instead moved toward a fight for the vacant WBO title. Iglesias later captured the vacant IBF belt with a stoppage victory over Pavel Silyagin.

Since moving up from middleweight following his controversial draw against Carlos Adames, Sheeraz has recorded victories over Edgar Berlanga and Begic. Iglesias later claimed the vacant IBF title with a stoppage win over Pavel Silyagin and has since been viewed by many fans as one of the division’s most dangerous champions.

A future unification between Sheeraz and Iglesias has been discussed in recent months, with Canelo recently suggesting that the two champions should face each other before a possible fight involving him.