{"id":639801,"date":"2026-06-15T12:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/639801\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:21:05","slug":"hamzah-sheeraz-called-out-for-war-on-anthony-joshua-undercard-by-devastating-puncher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/639801\/","title":{"rendered":"Hamzah Sheeraz called out for ‘war’ on Anthony Joshua undercard by ‘devastating puncher’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hamzah Sheeraz<\/a> won the WBO super-middleweight world title last month, and with the unbeaten star willing to have a quick turnaround, a fellow 168lber has declared that he would be ready for a short-notice opportunity to challenge the Brit.<\/p>\n

Next month, Anthony Joshua will make his return to action as he takes on Kristian Prenga in Jeddah on July 25<\/a>, hoping to tee up a long-awaited showdown with perennial rival Tyson Fury.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, BoxingScene<\/a> reported that two world titles could be up for grabs on the undercard, with both Josh Kelly and Sheeraz set for their first defences of super-welterweight and super-middleweight world honours respectively.<\/p>\n

While Kelly is reportedly poised to face Belfast\u2019s Caoimhin Agyarko, Sheeraz\u2019s opponent is unknown, with a top 15 WBO ranking being the only stipulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an interview with Boxing News, 39-year-old Milorad Zizic, who is rated as the WBO #9, shared his willingness to challenge for Sheeraz\u2019s crown, in a fight where he could join Dejan Zlati\u010danin as the second Montenegrin world champion in boxing history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would mean a lot to me. I live for that goal. It would be a great honour for me, my family, Montenegro, and the entire Balkan region. To become only the second world champion in Montenegro\u2019s history would be something truly special.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would mean everything to me. I live for boxing. I truly believe that this fight could become the upset of the decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zizic, once named as the hardest puncher that Floyd Mayweather Sr. has ever witnessed<\/a>, then went on to share his confidence in that proposed contest, where he hopes to continue a streak of six consecutive bouts that have not lasted more than two rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHamzah Sheeraz is a true champion. He\u2019s in his prime, and I have a lot of respect for him. But believe me, he has never faced \u2014 and will never face \u2014 a puncher as devastating as I am. I respect him as a fighter, but not to the point where I think I can\u2019t beat him. I believe in my abilities, and I\u2019m confident I can make my dream a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be a war from the first bell, I know how it can be. If we fight and he survives five rounds, he will be the winner, but five rounds against me is a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Hamzah and his team want this fight, I\u2019m ready. If not, that\u2019s okay too. I\u2019ll keep moving forward, keep working, and stay focused on my journey. My time will come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whilst his lead trainer is Joco Todorovic, Zizic was previously cornered by fan-favourite four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr, who continues to coach him.<\/p>\n

Speaking with Boxing News, Jones explained why he believes Zizic would be an interesting test for Sheeraz, agreeing with Zizic\u2019s plan to force a shoot-out.<\/p>\n

\u201cZizic is a very strong puncher, just like Sheeraz is, they are both very strong punchers. Zizic had been off for a minute, but he came back and got four quick wins, he is back active and I think that would be a great fight for Sheeraz.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, they are both really good punchers and Sheeraz won\u2019t meet many people that can match his punching power, but Zizic does have punching power like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has got to go right to him. He can\u2019t try to box him, he will go right to him. That would probably be the smartest approach because if you box him, with as long as he [Sheeraz] is, he is going to beat you.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo your best chance is try to and get to him as quick as you can and see if he can take your punches. If you wait, he is going to get you out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n

News on Sheeraz\u2019s opponent \u2013 should he feature on the card \u2013 is expected imminently, with other WBO-rated contenders, Bernardin Jakaj (#12) and Jack Bowen (#14) also available as potential opponents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hamzah Sheeraz won the WBO super-middleweight world title last month, and with the unbeaten star willing to have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2560,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-639801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}