The title has been vacant since Terence Crawford vacated it in December 2025. The sanctioning body ordered the fight between Pacheco and Sheeraz in late December on the 22nd.
Sheeraz was also ordered to face Christian Mbilli for the vacant WBC super middleweight title. That order actually came before the WBO’s, on December 3rd. Unsurprisingly, Hamzah has chosen not to take on the Mbilli fight.
Given the high volume and inside fighting style that Mbilli uses, it would be hard for the tall 6’3′ Sheeraz to deal with that type of fighter. The UK born Hamzah is at his best when he’s fighting at medium to long distance.
Mbilli wouldn’t allow him to do that, and would stay in close the entire fight in the same way Carlos Adames did when he fought Sheeraz. Unless he could find a way to hurt Mbilli by catching him with a big shot before he got in close, I believe he’ll lose the fight. So, it’s understandable why Hamzah, 26, and his promoters are taking the fight with Diego.
Pacheco looked vulnerable in his last fight against Kevin Lele Sadjo last month on December 13th. He spent much of the fight holding Sadjo whenever he got close, and looked incapable of fighting him off without resorting to this tactic.
Sadjo dropped Pacheco in the eighth round and had him hurt on several other occasions in the fight. That fight showed Pacheco’s vulnerability against fighters with power and hand speed. If he didn’t clinch as frequently as he did, there’s an excellent chance he would have been knocked out by Sadjo.
