Hamzah Sheeraz continued his march towards stardom as he beat Tyler Denny in emphatic fashion at Wembley Stadium to clinch the European middleweight title on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old made it 15 successive stoppage victories to improve his perfect record to 21-0 (17 KOs) as one of British boxing’s rising world title contenders.
Sheeraz delivered a brutal statement in the opening seconds as he floored Denny with a flash left hook, before finishing the job with another dazing headshot in the second as the referee brought the contest to a halt.
“I’m a very humble man, humble in life, but I feel great. Massive thank you to everybody for coming out to support me,” said Sheeraz.
“I always leave it down to my team. This wasn’t a banana skin for me, they got me in here for a reason and I delivered.
“I’m tired of calling for world title fights now. Whoever is put in the ring with me, I’m knocking them out. It means everything and more (to be fighting here).”
An extension of Denny’s remarkable underdog story was not to be in front of a bustling London crowd as he fell victim to the size and power of his younger opponent.
He felt the force of Sheeraz’s quality just seconds into the first round when he was toppled by a left hook, which had failed to land cleanly but packed enough to drop the Black Country fighter.
Denny recovered well over the next two minutes of the round, operating low and working hard to take the fight on the inside in order to eradicate Sheeraz’s dangerous reach.
He was animated as he returned to his corner after the bell, punching himself in the head in frustration at his early fall.
Sheeraz retained his dominance in the second as he continued to look the faster, stronger, more dangerous of the two fighters, operating on the front foot and offering Denny few if any openings.
Denny seemed to be finding some momentary joy with his effort to work doggedly on the inside, targeting the body with short sharp shots before being caught by a sharp combination that left him on the canvas once more.
From there he managed to beat the eight count, only for referee Mark Bates to wave off the contest much to the disappointment of the defending champion.
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