Hamzah Sheeraz vs Liam Williams Preview Feb. 10th, 2024
Liam Williams of Wales will be challenging for the Commonwealth and WBC Silver Middleweight Titles in a big British domestic clash this Saturday, February 10th against England’s unbeaten Hamzah Sheeraz. The 12-rounder will be held in London and can be seen live in the UK and Ireland on TNT Sports 1 while fans in America can catch it on ESPN+. Williams was last in action in November when he stopped Florin Cardos in just 77 seconds while Sheeraz halted Dmytro Mytrofanov in the second round in his last bout in August to defend his WBC Silver Belt.
Sheeraz vs Williams Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Liam Williams +350
- Hamzah Sheeraz -500
My Pick
The 31-year-old Williams was riding a seven-bout winning streak with all of the victories coming by stoppage before losing to Demetrius Andrade in a shot at the WBO Middleweight Title in April 202. He then lost his next contest 10 months later when Chris Eubank beat him by a 12-round unanimous decision and decked him four times along the way as he was dropped in the first, second, fourth and 11th rounds. Since then Williams has rebounded with two KO wins over limited opposition and enters the ring with a mark of 25-4-1 with 20 Ko’s.
The only other man to beat Williams as a pro is fellow Brit Liam Smith. He lost to Smith after nine rounds in April 2017 for the interim WBO Jr Middleweight Title when the fight was stopped due to a cut eye and dropped the rematch by majority 12-round decision seven months later. His lone draw was a third-round technical affair with Tyan Booth in December, 2013. Williams has boxed 148 rounds since making his pro debut in 2011 following a successful amateur career in which he reportedly went 44-5. Williams stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with an unlisted reach and has pretty good power in his punches as 80 per cent of his wins have come by way of stoppage.
He’s 9-4 in his last 13 fights and all nine wins have come by stoppage. In fact his last 17 wins have been by stoppage. Andrade and Smith have definitely been Williams’ toughest opponents with the rest of his fights being against mainly domestic and lower-level opponents. Since turning pro he’s won the British, Commonwealth and European Jr Middleweight Championships as well as the WBO Inter-Continental, and WBC Silver Middleweight titles and has wins over Alantez Fox, Karim Achour, Gary Corcoran and Mark Heffron.
As for Sheeraz, he’s just 24 years old and owns a perfect record of 18-0 with 14 Ko’s. He also enjoyed a fine amateur career and has 72 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2017. He was a three-time finalist at the national junior championships but became disillusioned boxing after being overlooked for the Commonwealth Youth championships. He then took a year off to focus on an electrician’s apprenticeship before being talked back into the ring and turning pro.
It was a wise choice as Sheeraz won the vacant WBO European Super Welterweight Title in 2019 when he stopped Ryan Kelly in the sixth round. He defended the title four times and captured the vacant WBC International Silver Middleweight Belt in 2022 by halting Jez Smith in the second round. Sheeraz added the Commonwealth Middleweight Title in November, 2022 when he stopped River Wilson-Bent in the second round and will be defending that piece of silverware for the first time this weekend.
Sheeraz is quite big for a middleweight as he measures 6-feet-3-inches tall with an unlisted reach so is five inches taller than Williams. He also carries plenty of power in his fists as his current knockout ratio clocks in at 77.8 per cent and he’s stopped his last 12 opponents. He’s stepping up in class against Williams but so far his power has been too much for most of his opponents to handle.
Prediction…
Williams is a little underrated as a boxer as he possesses good power and skills. However, his chin may not be the greatest. He’s fought some top level opponents as a pro though and definitely has the edge in experience here. Sheeraz is on a knockout streak but has been dropped before, so he needs to be wary of Williams’ power. Sheeraz certainly can’t take Williams lightly but with his overall height, skills and power I’m expecting him to do enough to beat him in an entertaining domestic contest.
The more polished and powerful Sheeraz should prevail.
Play: Sheeraz -500 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Hamzah Sheeraz betting • Liam Williams betting