Hamzah Sheeraz vs. Emmanuel Torres | BT Sport - 16 July 2022

[Ruthless-RKO]

Fight Week!!

[IRL25]

I look forward to watching Hamzah, because it's a great excuse to open a fine Shiraz from my "cellar"

I happened to be drinking a nice one when he came on some undercard and it's now a tradition, (of at least 3 fights!)

I might do the same as well thinking about it.

[margaret thatcher]

hamzah has a lot of tools, but looks a bit lazy in there at times

reminds me a bit of callum smith

[skanksta]

I look forward to watching Hamzah, because it's a great excuse to open a fine Shiraz from my "cellar"

I happened to be drinking a nice one when he came on some undercard and it's now a tradition, (of at least 3 fights!)

I might do the same as well thinking about it.

I'm dry 'til Saturday night in preparation...

[Ruthless-RKO]

For some reason the UFC fight night card from New York is gonna be an early one. Will begin at 6pm the main card.

Prelims prior of course.

[IRL25]

I look forward to watching Hamzah, because it's a great excuse to open a fine Shiraz from my "cellar"

I happened to be drinking a nice one when he came on some undercard and it's now a tradition, (of at least 3 fights!)

I might do the same as well thinking about it.

I'm dry 'til Saturday night in preparation...

And I have to stick up too.

[Ruthless-RKO]

A selection of quotes from the media event can be found below:

Frank W
“Lennox against Mark will be a war and they are two fighters who, when they get in the ring, they give it their all, they really do. I think this is going to be a bit of a cracker. It is one of those fights where the winner will go on, it won’t be the end for the loser, but the winner will move on quickly. It is about making a statement on the night, they have both got great win-rates and, with the experience they have got between them, this is going to be something a little bit special. It will be a real cracker.

“The boxing writers say Hamzah is the best young boxer of the year and now in this fight he can move from being a prospect to another level. In Francisco he has got a tough Argentinean and they are tough guys who come to fight. I think we will get a good yardstick to see how far he’s come in his career. For me he has done everything absolutely right, he is a credit to boxing and the sport and he is a consummate professional. He invests in himself and his future and I genuinely feel he is one of the best young prospects in the country and I hope, after this weekend, that everybody looks at him as a guy who can win a world title. I believe he is capable of doing it.”

Hamzah Sheeraz
“I am feeling great, camp has been great and I am in good spirits fighting at 160, my second fight at it and we have got a good opponent in front of us and we are ready to go. Me and my team got back in the gym after the Bradley Skeete fight and went back to basics. Then we made it happen and made it happen quite easily in my next fight against Jez Smith, but that is all past me now. I’ve got Francisco on Saturday night and I am looking forward to getting in there with somebody who will ask me a few questions and test me in certain ways. There is nothing we are not prepared for. He can do whatever he wants, he can come forward, box on the back foot, he can fly for all I care. Me and my team have prepared to the best of my ability and done everything in my power to make sure that on Saturday night I put on a performance, not just for myself, but because of me headlining for the first time. I’ve definitely got to come and put on a show.”

Francisco Torres
“I am very happy to be here and I am very ready for this fight. I am a boxer and this is my shot at the title, so that is why I accepted the fight. I am convinced that I won the fight against Jose Benevidez that the judges scored a draw, so now we have to dance for something new. Hamzah is a very good fighter and I am very happy to have him as an opponent.”

Mark Heffron
“I’d like to say a massive thank you to Frank for this massive opportunity and I am really looking forward to it. I’ve said it time and time again, I think Lennox is a very good fighter and, coming from his background as an unlicensed fighter, he has done really good to win the British and Commonwealth. I rank him right up with Denzel Bentley and Liam Williams and I think he is a big, strong fighter. He will bring the best out of me. It is definitely now or never but I feel like I am more than ready for this opportunity and on Saturday night we will see. Joe Gallagher has been working me extra hard and has got me 110% ready with big, strong sparring partners brought in. When I land I will definitely hurt him.”

Lennox Clarke
“I’ve been out, unluckily, with injury but I am back now fit and ready to go. I’ve prepared very well and very hard for 12 rounds and I am looking forward to Saturday night. I am coming into this fight as a challenger to relaunch myself and get right back in there. Mark is a good, tough fighter and I believe our fight has got the makings of a fight of the year. I’ve got the beating of him, I am fit, I’m strong and I am starving for success and want to get back on track. I am going to give it my all and I believe me at 110% smokes Mark Heffron. You are touching down there on Joe Gallagher, but he has had more coaches than anyone in boxing so there is going to be no gain there.”

Dennis McCann
“Listen, I am ready to rock. Give me a couple of packets of Haribos and I will fight right now. I’ve been training very hard for the last 16 weeks and rounds is not an issue for me at all. I’ve done 200 rounds of sparring against world champions, European champions and I have been putting all my sparring partners over. Not even on purpose and with 14-16oz gloves on. Saturday night will be the best you have ever seen Dennis McCann. I am very, very confident that I will put him over on Saturday. There are levels to this game and I believe I will definitely be a future world champion and he is in my way right now. He has won a few Area titles, but if he brings them with him on Saturday I will call the police and get him arrested. He can’t be bringing them out.”

James Beech jr
“I’ve just got to be better than I was against Brad Foster and Chris Bourke and then just do what I do. Dennis is a good lad, I don’t think he is as good as the hype he’s had around him, but I’ve just got to do what I do. For this one I have trained harder than ever before and I’ve got the experience from those two fights that I will be taking into this one. This is Dennis’ step up and he has never done the 10 rounds before so I’ve got to take him into the deep waters. I don’t think the hype around him is justified, not after his last two or three fights. He has got a big step up this Saturday and I think he will be found out. I’ve got to bully the bully and that is what I’ll be doing. I will hit him back for a start, I ain’t no flyweight who is coming up and fat, I am coming down in weight and I will be bigger than him.”

Nick Ball
“I am feeling good and thanks to Frank for getting me back out so soon. I am ready to go now and can’t wait. It has all been good and I’ve been getting a load of attention and new supporters, but life hasn’t changed for me and I will stay with the hard work and being focused. I will push on for bigger and better things now. I don’t want to look at him on YouTube, I want to look at him in real life and I will find out everything about him on Saturday night. I’ve got nothing really to say to him. No talking and all action, as always.”

Nathanael Kakololo
“I am feeling good and I am feeling at home. I used to see him fight and I have seen him struggling but, for me, he is a good customer for me. He is a small boy and I just want to tell him that every champion was once a contender. I hung up my WBA African belt at home and I have come to challenge for the WBC. I am here to win and become WBC champion. Champions stay ready and I am ready for him. I am ready for anything at any time.”

Pierce O’Leary
“I am feeling great, this is a massive opportunity for me so I am taking it all in. It is fantastic to see all the cameras here and this is something I have never done before. I am really loving it. My knockouts before haven’t been on BT Sport so nobody has seen them, but on Saturday night everyone will be able to see it all around the world. I am a nine-times national champion who has fought all over Europe and I am here to win titles and it is only a matter of time now. I do believe I will become a world champion in multiple weight classes.”

[Ruthless-RKO]

Weigh in results from London as Hamzah Sheeraz prepares to headline on BT Sport at Copper Box.

WBC Silver Middleweight Championship – 12×3 Rounds @ 160 lbs
Hamzah Sheeraz – 11 stone 5 lbs 4oz
Francisco Torres – 11 stone 5 lbs 4oz

The British, Commonwealth & IBF Intercontinental Super-middleweight Championship – 12 X 3 Minute Rounds @ 168 lbs
Lennox Clarke – 11 stone 13 lbs 10oz
Mark Heffron – 11 stone 12 lbs 12oz

The WBC Silver Featherweight Championship -12 X 3 Minute Rounds @ 126 lbs
Nick Ball – 8 stone 13 lbs 12 oz
Nathanael Kakololo – 8 stone 12lbs 10oz

The Vacant WBC International Silver Featherweight Championship
10 X 3 Minute Rounds @ 124 lbs (Max)
Dennis McCann – 8 stone 11 lbs 4oz
James Beech Jnr – 8 Stone 11 Lbs 10 oz

8 X 3 Minute Rounds International Super-Featherweight Contest
Ryan Garner – 9 Stone 6 lbs
Christian Lopez Torres – 9 Stone 7lbs 6oz

8 X 3 Minute Rounds International Super-Lightweight Contest
Pierce O’Leary – 10 stone 1 lbs
Robin Zamora – 10 stone 1 lbs

6 X 3 Minute Rounds International Light-Heavyweight Contest
Karol Itauma – 12 stone 9 lbs
Michal Gazdik – 12 stone 7 lbs

8 X 3 Minute Rounds International Featherweight Contest
Masood Abdulah – 8 stone 9 lbs
Tinko Banabakov – 8 stone 12 lbs

6 X 3 Minute Rounds International Featherweight Contest
Umar Khan – 8 stone 13 lbs
Engel Gomez – 9 stone 2 lbs

6 X 3 Minute Rounds Welterweight Contest
Khalid Ali – 10 stone 10 lbs
Des Newton – 11 stone

6 X 3 Minute Rounds Super-Lightweight Contest
Sonny Liston Ali – 10 stone 2 lbs
Chris Adaway – 10 stone 2 lbs

4 X 3 Minute Rounds Welterweight Contest
Sean Noakes – 10 stone 6 lbs
MJ Hall – 10 stone 8lbs

[magnus]

I like the look of Itauma, but Christ, he's being matched like Campbell Hatton's less talented twin.

[Ruthless-RKO]

only UK caard on tonight.

Unless you wanna catch the prelims of the DAZN card on Youtube..

[Manchester Hitman]

Good card tonight. Warren seems to be upping the quality recently- I hope this continues.

[Frostieballs]

I’m actually going to watch a lot of this card.

[handsofstone]

Yeh good card from Warren, pity the Collins/Ball fight got scrapped, hopefully they'll rearrange

[Manchester Hitman]

Yeh good card from Warren, pity the Collins/Ball fight got scrapped, hopefully they'll rearrange

I can’t see it being re-scheduled. It’s a tricky fight, and they want to push Ball as an attraction

[handsofstone]

Just seen the head to head with Ball and Kakololo, that height differential is wild

[rd350lc]

Is "Sonny Liston Ali " from a boxing family at all ?

My old man named me
Billy Perch Chub Carp ent got a clue why .

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is "Sonny Liston Ali " from a boxing family at all ?

My old man named me
Billy Perch Chub Carp ent got a clue why .

No. He did an interview.

He said, with a name like that, I had to fight..

[JamesPhilips]

Is "Sonny Liston Ali " from a boxing family at all ?

My old man named me
Billy Perch Chub Carp ent got a clue why .

No. He did an interview.

He said, with a name like that, I had to fight..

That’s his real name????

[Ruthless-RKO]

Is "Sonny Liston Ali " from a boxing family at all ?

My old man named me
Billy Perch Chub Carp ent got a clue why .

No. He did an interview.

He said, with a name like that, I had to fight..

That’s his real name????

Undefeated British boxer Sonny Liston Ali shares story behind his birthname

"It's destiny. With my name, I had no choice but to box," Ali, who has won all three of his professional bouts, tells BBC Sport.

"My grandad wanted to name me Sonny, my mum is a big boxing fan and she gave me the name Liston and my dad - who is a quarter Bengali - just so happened to have Ali as his surname."

"For me it's just my name; I've had it my whole life. But for other people it's a unique name and it's definitely a talking point."

"I didn't start boxing until I was about nine or 10," he says. "It's not like my mum gave me that name and said he has to be a boxer. I was getting trouble in school and took it up.

"I lost my first five fights but then I knuckled down because I was enjoying boxing. I then kept winning one and losing one before I went on a 30-fight winning streak."

[Glass Joe]

bit early for a bt show, first 2 hours full of mismatches no doubt

[JamesPhilips]

No. He did an interview.

He said, with a name like that, I had to fight..

That’s his real name????

Undefeated British boxer Sonny Liston Ali shares story behind his birthname

"It's destiny. With my name, I had no choice but to box," Ali, who has won all three of his professional bouts, tells BBC Sport.

"My grandad wanted to name me Sonny, my mum is a big boxing fan and she gave me the name Liston and my dad - who is a quarter Bengali - just so happened to have Ali as his surname."

"For me it's just my name; I've had it my whole life. But for other people it's a unique name and it's definitely a talking point."

"I didn't start boxing until I was about nine or 10," he says. "It's not like my mum gave me that name and said he has to be a boxer. I was getting trouble in school and took it up.

"I lost my first five fights but then I knuckled down because I was enjoying boxing. I then kept winning one and losing one before I went on a 30-fight winning streak."

Wow. Interesting stuff. Better than Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jnr lol