HAMZAH SHEERAZ REINVENTS HIMSELF
O’Neill comments: “You never welcome those dark moments in sport or life. But when you’re through the other side, you’re glad that you went through them, because it’s where you’ve learned the most. “He’s got a really close family, and we’re a really close team. We lean on each other. Being strong in our faiths – our individual faiths – is a big part for all of us also. You’re glad you get those learning moments in life, and it’s made Hamzah a stronger person and better boxer.” Dubai, April 2025: Hamzah wants to get back on the saddle. Alalshikh gives him a call and offers him the chance to headline “Ring III” in New York during the summer. The most influential man in boxing still believes in him. That helps. Behind the scenes, Sheeraz sets about getting the team back together, albeit with some chopping and changing. Enter Andy Lee, replacing Ricky Funez as head trainer, and former middleweight contender Jason Quigley as his cornerman and training partner. O’Neill continues as nutritionist and cornerman. Sheeraz starts doing the media rounds as these talking points emerge: He’s moving up a weight class to campaign at super middleweight for a fresh coat of paint. Whispers start about a possible Edgar Berlanga fight. Despite a lackluster showing against Canelo Alvarez, “The Chosen One” can bang and is dangerous if he lands. O’Neill observes: “It’s one thing to be picked apart by a skillful fighter; it’s another dealing with someone who could knock you out with one punch. That kept Hamzah switched on.” Ring III gets announced a week later, confirming the bout as a headliner for July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York. Dublin, May-June 2025: In Kilbogget Park, south of Dublin, Ballybrack Boxing Club sits hidden
among wire fences and rows of housing estates. It takes this writer several walkarounds to figure out which door to go in. “It’s a bit of a fortress,” admits Lee, laughing and jangling a set of keys. A perfect place for Sheeraz to keep his head down and get to work. Both the building and the Irish people have a no- nonsense approach, and Hamzah swiftly feels relaxed and content in Ireland. As Lee notes: “We had a wonderful camp. It was so easy.” Lee has emerged as a trainer who specializes in rejuvenating great fighters and guiding them back to winning ways – names like Tyson Fury, Joseph Parker and Ben Whittaker. He’s just finished training for the day. Ballybrack has a stillness. It’s like an isolation chamber. Lee is soft-spoken as he describes a meeting of the minds with Sheeraz: “When I first met him, he was quiet, humble and focused. I could see the desire to improve in his whole demeanor.” With Lee, it’s less about reinventing the wheel and more about fine-tuning a fighter’s strengths. Sheeraz notes the different approach to training: “We were simplifying things – really stripped them back. It was my first camp with [Andy Lee] – he corrected mistakes and bad habits. I still made a few; you can’t break them in one camp. For the time we had, I think what we did was efficient and it worked.” Lee recalls adjusting Hamzah’s physical approach: “We worked on his posture – how his weight was distributed. Not on the front foot, but more on the back foot or central. And looking imposing, because he’s a big fellow. When he stands up and spreads himself, he’s not a target you want to attack. So we worked on the body language of when he’s in the ring, and I think those were the changes that you could see in the Berlanga fight.” “Andy fit into the team,” said O’Neill. “Their temperaments matched – they gelled instantly. “The conversations [Hamzah] has with Andy, [who has been] a world champion and in championship fights
himself, there’s very few trainers in the world that ever achieve that. When they’ve been in exactly the same position you’ve been in – they’ve won the big trophies, they’ve lost the big trophies – when you can communicate with someone on that level, it elevated Hamzah to a different place. You could see that it helped change his demeanor and [he blossomed].” Both Lee and Sheeraz have expressed their desire to maintain this partnership moving forward. “I think long and hard about the guys I do train because it’s not just one fight. For me, if I start with something, I want to finish it and I want to see it out. So far, I’ve done that with all the fighters I’ve trained. “You build the bonds because it is a close, intimate relationship between a fighter [and a trainer], and that’s why I think for now I’m probably at the capacity of fighters I can train, because of that reason. It’s not a conveyor belt.” Sheeraz reflects on the renewed strength of the team: “It comes with experience, having the right team around you. It all comes with honesty and integrity as well. When there’s big numbers on the table, people change and take advantage. Now, I feel I’ve got the team that I’ll finish my career with.” New York, July 2025: Sheeraz arrives in the U.S. intent on leaving as the King of New York. Edgar Berlanga is just a pretender to dispatch. At the press conference, Berlanga is running his mouth and points his finger into a gun sign. Packing enough heat in his own hands, it’s water off a duck’s back for Hamzah, who never rises to the tactics of his rival. Stoic Batman versus the manic Joker. Sheeraz recalls the ease of fight week: “I felt good. I was moving up in weight, so there was no battle with the scales. I went into that fight with a point to prove. I was locked-in mentally. I enjoyed it a lot more than I ever have done before, to be fair. It didn’t get tedious. Everything was new – especially the enhanced Ring card production.” A few days before the fight, he meets
Riyadh, February 2025: Hamzah Sheeraz is fighting for the WBC middleweight title against Carlos Adames. It’s a glamour division that has housed some of the best to ever do it – Carlos Monzon, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins, Gennadiy Golovkin. Sheeraz wants to etch his name alongside the greats. He’s torn through the division, captained the Queensberry team in the “5v5” card and is a Riyadh Season representative. He’s the favorite going into this fight. Things couldn’t be better. Somewhere around Round 3, Hamzah breaks his hand. Houston, we have a problem. This isn’t part of the plan. Adames starts to come on strong. The rocket ship is going to have to maintain a steady course and weather “a perfect storm,” as described by nutritionist and cornerman Paul O’Neill, who was in the eye of it.
WBC titleholder Carlos Adames tested an injured Sheeraz to the limit.
“It was a very big weight cut for Hamzah. We had the hand injury and a very good opponent. In the corner, we could’ve instructed Hamzah differently to try and change the fight.” In the 10th round, Turki Alalshikh comes over and tells him, “You’re losing by two rounds.” Not ideal. Sheeraz’s team rallies the crowd in the final round to get behind him. Frank Warren, ringside that night, remembers: “That was the night it didn’t go his way. He was struggling. He’d banged up his hand and wasn’t throwing it enough – I could see it. I remember running around to the ring, telling him he had to liven up. He was losing the fight. He got back into it but was very fortunate to get the draw.” Sheeraz receives a split decision draw as the internet cries foul in favor of Adames. The rocket comes crashing back to earth. Hamzah is crushed. He changes his
profile picture to pitch black – a digital full stop at the end of a nightmare. Back to the drawing board. Dubai, March 2025: Hamzah has licked his wounds and is coming back up for air. The world didn’t end. When things go completely sideways, there is a freedom in knowing things can’t possibly get any worse. The only way is indeed up. He moves to Dubai for sunnier days and observes Ramadan from February 28 to March 29. The holy month falls soon after the Adames draw – a perfect moment to reflect on personal growth. Clarity starts to set in. Sheeraz reflects and finds peace in stillness after the storm.
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