The title has remained vacant since Terence Crawford vacated it in December 2025. The sanctioning body has ordered the fight between Pacheco and Sheeraz to take place in behind schedule December, on December 22.
Sheeraz has also been ordered to face Christian Mbilli for the vacant WBC super middleweight title. This order actually came before the WBO, on December 3. It is therefore not surprising that Hamzah chose not to take part in the fight against Mbilli.
Given the high volume and internal fighting style that Mbilli uses, it would be arduous for the high Sheeraz, standing at 180 cm, to deal with this type of fighter. British-born Hamzah excels at medium and long-range combat.
Mbilli didn’t let him do that and stayed close throughout the fight, the same way Carlos Adames did against Sheeraz. If he doesn’t find a way to hurt Mbilli and catches him with a massive shot before he gets close, I think he will lose this fight. So it’s understandable why 26-year-old Hamzah and his promoters are taking on the fight against Diego.
Pacheco looked vulnerable in his last fight against Kevin Lele Sadjo last month on December 13. He spent most of the fight holding onto Sadjo whenever he got close, and looked unable to fight him without using this tactic.
Sadjo dropped Pacheco in the eighth round and injured him several times in the fight. This fight showed Pacheco’s vulnerability against fighters with hand strength and speed. If he hadn’t been clinching as often as he did, there’s a good chance he would have been knocked out by Sadjo.
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