Carlos Adames retains WBC title after contentious split draw with Hamzah Sheeraz

This was supposed to be Hamzah Sheeraz’s night. That didn’t mean Carlos Adames was just going to let it happen.

Sheeraz came into Kingdom Arena in Riyadh as the top middleweight contender, a 25-year-old who had worked his way up the rankings while scoring 15 straight knockouts. He also had the promotional backing of Frank Warren and was making his third consecutive appearance on a show financed by boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh.

But Adames was the defending titleholder with more experience overall, and against better opposition as well, having been in the ring with foes such as Patrick Teixeira, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Julian Williams and Terrell Gausha. And Adames used that experience to hold on to his WBC belt by a slim margin, retaining via split draw.

One judge had Adames far ahead 118-110, or 10 rounds to two. But another judge saw the action for Sheeraz, 115-114. The third judge saw things even, 114-114, which meant that a one-point swing would have made Sheeraz the victor.

Adames came out aggressive but patient. Sheeraz, as promised, worked behind his jab while circling around, utilizing his 6ft 3ins frame and four-inch height advantage.

Adames found an opportunity in the second round to land a counter right hand over Sheeraz’s jab. Sheeraz, meanwhile, stuck to his game plan, taking a half-step back and landing a counter jab at one point, and combining a pair of jabs with a good right cross at another.

Sheeraz continued to work from a distance in the third and fourth rounds. Adames was largely kept at bay while Sheeraz remained close enough to dig the occasional left hook to the body or score with a right hand upstairs before moving out of range.

Adames remained undeterred, still in pursuit, and he at last had some success in the second half of the fifth round. Sheeraz did land a good right hand just before the bell. But if that was meant to serve as a reminder from Sheeraz, it was Adames who was in control in the sixth, scoring with a mixture of blows to the body and head, capitalizing on Sheeraz no longer standing as far away or moving as much. 

In the seventh round, Sheeraz sought to use Adames’ aggression against him, walking his foe into a pair of counters, including a right uppercut. Both fighters had their moments in the eighth. Adames popped a pair of left hooks to Sheeraz’s body, and he scored a little later with an overhand right. Although Sheeraz took a couple steps back to the ropes, he wasn’t badly hurt and soon was able to retaliate with a good right hand of his own.

Sheeraz landed a pair of uppercuts early in the ninth but otherwise wasn’t doing enough to help his own cause. When he moved, he was no longer utilizing his jab as often. Adames was better able to get inside, maneuvering Sheeraz to the ropes and letting out a flurry of body shots. When Sheeraz probed with a number of jabs later in the ninth, Adames easily ducked and dodged them and continued his forward progress.

Sheeraz’s team gave him a pep talk with two rounds to go. That helped lead to some good sequences in the 11th round. Both men went to the body, Sheeraz with a strong left hook and Adames with a three-punch flurry. Sheeraz scored with a right uppercut and a left hook. Adames looped a one-two combination around the guard. Sheeraz scored with a left hand with about 45 seconds to go.

The fight was potentially on the line going into the 12th, and it was Adames who showed more initiative in the final three minutes, something that Sheeraz may wind up regretting.

Adames, a 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic who lives in Las Vegas, is now 24-1-1 (18 KOs). He had competed at welterweight and junior middleweight earlier in his career, including a unanimous decision loss to Teixeira in 2019; Teixeira went on to win a world title at 154lbs.

Adames moved up to the 160lb weight class in 2021 and soon took on Derevyanchenko, winning a majority decision. He earned the WBC’s interim middleweight belt in October 2022 with a third-round TKO of Juan Macias Montiel, then scored a ninth-round stoppage of Williams in June 2023.

When the WBC finally stripped inactive Jermall Charlo last year, Adames was elevated to the full titleholder. He made his first defense in June with a wide decision over Gausha.

Now he will either head toward a rematch with Sheeraz – which wouldn’t be a surprise given that Sheeraz was the WBC’s mandatory contender – or potential unification bouts with Janibek Alimkhanuly (IBF and WBO) and Erislandy Lara (WBA).

Sheeraz, who hails from England, is now 21-0-1 (17 KOs). He excelled in 2024, picking up victories over Liam Williams (TKO1), Austin “Ammo” Williams (TKO11) and Tyler Denny (TKO2).

He’ll need to look back on this fight, working with his team on what they should’ve done differently, and preparing him to perform better the next time out.