Ade Oladipo says Hamzah Sheeraz gave up his WBO super middleweight title on principle rather than fight Janibek Alimkhanuly after Janibek’s positive test for meldonium. That is a defensible objection to the WBO’s decision. It becomes harder to accept as the whole explanation when Sheeraz’s route to the belt, his last defense, and his interest in Canelo Alvarez are put beside it.
“Hamzah Sheeraz has done the right thing. If Hamzah Sheeraz is being forced to fight a guy coming off a ban for taking drugs, the sport’s in a crazy place. If Janibek has served his time, then fine. Okay, you’ve served your time. You will now want to fight at 168 pounds. Work your way up. Work your way up. How are you, having cheated in your last fight, now getting the opportunity to fight the champion?” said Oladipo on his channel.
Oladipo made that argument in his video defending Sheeraz’s decision to vacate.
Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol in 2018 and served a six-month suspension. Janibek’s case is much more recent, a distinction Oladipo can fairly make. But if Sheeraz will not fight an opponent with a positive test in his history, why does a lucrative Canelo fight remain desirable? The answer may be that Sheeraz objects specifically to Janibek receiving a title shot so soon after his suspension. That is a narrower argument than ruling him out on principle.
Then there is Oladipo’s demand that Janibek work his way up at 168. Sheeraz got a vacant WBO title shot after one fight at the weight, a stoppage of Edgar Berlanga. His previous fight was a disputed draw with Carlos Adames at middleweight. He did not have to beat Osleys Iglesias or Lester Martinez before facing Alem Begic for the belt. Janibek, whatever one thinks of his test result, had already held unified titles at 160.
Begic looked out of his depth, and Sheeraz stopped him in two rounds. Sheeraz’s first defense offered a sterner test than anticipated: Simon Zachenhuber took him 12 rounds in Jeddah, where Sheeraz won a majority decision by scores of 116–112, 115–113 and 114–114. That performance gave reason to question how Sheeraz would handle Janibek’s southpaw counters. It does not prove how their fight would have ended.
The money adds another question. Queensberry won the Janibek purse bid at just over $1 million, leaving Sheeraz with roughly $750,000 under the proposed split. Sheeraz relinquished the title after his promoter had won the right to stage the fight. That sequence does not reveal his private reasoning, but it makes the risk and reward impossible to ignore.
The WBO approved the Begic title fight and then named Janibek as mandatory. Oladipo is right to question the organization’s handling of Janibek. He should apply the same scrutiny to how Sheeraz obtained the belt. A champion who won it against Begic, struggled with Zachenhuber, and vacated when Janibek came due leaves more to discuss than a simple stand for clean boxing.
Sheeraz has openly confirmed he has only one fight left on his Queensberry agreement, meaning he is standing on the doorstep of open free agency. Losing a fight against Janibek right now would have been a corporate disaster for his market value. If Sheeraz enters the ring against an avoided, southpaw like Janibek and gets knocked out or beaten by decision, his leverage vanishes overnight. Matchroom, Zuffa Boxing, and Queensberry would immediately slash their bidding numbers. A fighter coming off a devastating loss does not command eight-figure signing terms or dictate rights for major stadium headliners.
Walking into the open market without a belt looks weak, but walking in with a shattered chin and an exposed defense is fatal. Sheeraz and his team calculated that boxing purists and casual fans have short memories. They can absorb a temporary storm of criticism for dropping the WBO strap, dress it up with Oladipo’s peddled moral outrage about clean sport, and keep the zero on his loss column fully intact.
Once he finishes that final contracted appearance against a safe, beatable name, he presents himself to Eddie Hearn, Dana White, and Frank Warren as an undefeated, towering British commodity ready for stadium paydays or a cash out against Canelo. Oladipo’s defense is getting drowned out because the boxing public sees right through the ethical smoke screen: this is cold business asset protection designed to keep a fragile stock price high before hitting the auction block.
