During today's final press conference, middleweight contender Austin “Amo” Williams told Queensberry Team Captain Hamza Sheeraz that he felt he lacked the fighting spirit to take on such a fight.
Williams (16-0, 11 KOs) says Sherez (19-0, 15 KOs) wasn't naturally cut out for the fight and he'll make that clear when the two face off on Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Williams, who now calls himself “Tiger,” said he has “transformed in terms of changing my fighting style and becoming a totally different fighter than I was before.”
If true, it comes at just the right time: Hamza has knocked out 13 consecutive opponents, many of them in the early rounds.
Williams' transformation
“As a fighter, you can clearly see who is right for this fight and who is not. I don't think he's right for this fight. He's being manipulated,” Austin “Amo” Williams said of Hamza Sheeraz during his final press conference today.
Hamza has been given plenty of opponents to choose from by his promoters and has arguably yet to face a true killer in the 160-pound division, which is common for young fighters in the sport. Hamza is 25 years old, so it would have been risky for Queensberry to put him at the forefront of his previous fights, because if they had put him against someone just a little too strong, he would probably have lost by now.
This fight will show whether Hamza is ready to face truly strong fighters like Janibek Alimkanuri and Carlos Adames, two of the biggest names in a currently very weak middleweight division.
With all the top fighters having either moved up, grown old or retired, it has become boxing's weakest weight class, and Hamza and “Tiger” Williams are now considered top fighters in a talent-starved middleweight division.
“He came up from the amateurs and Frank has developed him well and made his career what it is today and that's one of the reasons I picked him in September. Eddie knows I'm targeting Hamza because aesthetically he looks really good to me.
“So now I'm ready to show who I am. I've really evolved and gone through a metamorphosis and become more dangerous than you've ever seen before, and Saturday night that's going to be on full display,” Williams said.
It couldn't get any better for the division. Williams talks like he's changed, but so far we haven't seen a “transformation” from him.
In his last fight, he fought on eggshells and was extremely cautious before knocking out a lesser opponent, Armel Mbumba Yassa. If Williams' fighting style had truly changed, he would have pounced on this guy in the first round instead of waiting until the seventh.
Promises of War
“There are 48 hours to go until fight night and I am ready,” Hamza said. “I understand the task ahead of me and I am not taking it lightly. I know what I have to do, but in a match of this magnitude and with this history, I have only one thing in mind – to thoroughly beat my opponent,” Sheeraz said.
“It's a real fight, something Hamza has never experienced before, something he's going to experience on Saturday night,” Amo Williams said. “He's going to have to gather his mental strength and question himself.”
“You're all going to see it. I can't say any more. I'm just ready to show it,” said Williams, known as “Tiger.”
Captaincy of the Sheilas
“It's an honour. It shows the immense trust and confidence Frank has in me and I feel the only way to repay him is to get four more points,” said Hamza when asked how he felt about being selected as Queensberry team captain.
“I want it all, I want the power, I want the skill, I want it all,” Amo Williams said when asked if he was concerned about Hamza's punching power and the fact that he's seeking his 13th consecutive knockout. “I want to see it, I want to feel it. I'm craving it.”
“I'm not running from anything, I'm going straight for it. You can see this guy was born for this. Don't miss it, it will air live on DAZN on June 1st. I looked into his eyes and I saw his soul. I know who he is and on Saturday I will tap into the different sides of him that you may not know,” Williams said.
It will be interesting to see if “Tiger” Williams will just pay the talk or will play it safe and box as usual. I would not encourage Williams to fight Hamza because it would be risky and he doesn't have the strength to do it.
