Part of the stacked card taking place on Saturday at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the bout between WBC middleweight titlist, Carlos Adames, and Hamzah Sheeraz. While Sheeraz hails from Britain, at this point he can be considered a Southern California boxer.
For this contest, Sheeraz once again spent the majority of his camp in Van Nuys working with trainer, Ricky Funez, at Ten Goose Boxing.
And this time around, he was preparing for his first title bout. When asked if anything was different given that dynamic, Sheeraz told SNAC.com in late January, "The start of my camp, that was the worry -- I didn't want to do way more than I have before and burn myself out. But the good thing is I got Ricky all afternoon, he's been in a gym full of champions.
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"So I feel as though this is my actual welcoming to Ten Goose Boxing. I win this world title, and then you almost feel worthy of being here."
Winning the green belt would put the 25-year old Sheeraz in the company of the likes of Michael Nunn, Gabe and Rafael Ruelas, Joel Casamayor and Diego Corrales, among others, who called this gym on Friar Avenue home.
How much does a gym environment matter? Well, according to Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs), not training there in the lead up to his bout with Ammo Williams last June, certainly impacted him psychologically.
"I was nervous going into the fight after awhile because I didn't have the top notch sparring I normally get. I hadn't run the mountains I normally run, I hadn't run the stairs. That fight was more of a mental battle for me," admitted Sheeraz, who had to overcome some rough moments to eventually stabilize things and then wear down Williams to score an 11th round TKO.
DAZN
For this fight, Sheeraz spent eight weeks Van Nuys till January 31, before shifting things to Dubai, and then headed to Saudi Arabia on February 17.
These trips to California are business trips for Sheeraz, who admits to missing his dogs, but he appreciates the privacy and solitude he is afforded.
"It's beautiful here, nobody knows who I am, and I can just crack on it with training camp," he said. "And the good thing is that the sparring over here. You have to earn your respect no matter who you are. That's what I've been doing since I've been coming here, earning my respect."
In Adames (24-1, 18 KOs), they are facing a heavy handed puncher, who is perhaps more seasoned at the world class level. "This is going to be his biggest test," admitted Funez. "He's a strong fighter, he fights right-handed, southpaw, and he can bang."
DAZN
Funez, like every other trainer in the history of the game, says that they have had their best training camp (it never fails), but he insists, "I just see him progressing each camp. It's not like we plateaued since I started with him. He's been progressing and progressing. This camp has been the best sparring."
This is a bit of a step-up for Funez as a trainer, who for years has been a loyal assistant to Hall-of-Famer, Joe Goossen. Now he leads his own fighter into a title contest. But he claims that he feels no extra apprehension going into this bout.
"No," he insisted, "because you know why? I bring that mentality with the opportunities thanks to Joe Goossen that I was able to work in those championship fights because I would get nervous going with Diego Corrales, Gabe and Rafael, going into those fights and it's like, 'Oh, shit.' But working with Hamzah for so long and seeing his potential and the way he works in there, and what he's proved in those fights has given me so much confidence."
Sheeraz said simply, "This is the kind of champion I've always wanted to beat."
BOUT ORDER
OK, so for those of you who are planning on watching this card on Saturday, here are the approximate start times from DAZN. Not sure if anything has changed with Shakur Stevenson no longer facing Floyd Schofield.
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule' with Mario Lopez and I, we look back at all of last weeks action, and preview 'the Last Crescendo' card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQRXnFOP8TI
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