Hamzah Sheeraz is determined to become Britain’s next world champion. Get a behind-the-scenes look as he prepares for his crucial fight in Saudi Arabia.

There are two moments during Mail Sport‘s day in camp with Hamzah Sheeraz that encapsulate his journey from a working class kid in East London to an undefeated 25-year-old who is now one win away from becoming the next British world champion.

The first comes shortly after noon at Kite Beach in Dubai, where Sheeraz is gearing up for his daily run in heat exceeding 30 degrees celsius and Kaif, his 14-year-old brother, comes cycling on a hire bike down the boardwalk to drop off his running kit.

Kaif hasn’t even taken his GCSEs but he plays an integral part throughout, just like most of Sheeraz’s family and closest friends have done in his journey so far.

Yet there’s an understanding that part of the pursuit of glory is having an ‘all or nothing’ mentality and investing in the best.

Later that day, with the clock ticking close to midnight after Sheeraz’s boxing session, we are inside the villa where he is residing for the last part of his training camp and former England head chef, Tim De’Ath – who has been with him since last year – is cooking veal steak for dinner.

De’Ath worked for England at major tournaments from 2009 to 2017 and now his focus primarily is on Sheeraz.

Before his emphatic second round knockout of Tyler Denny in front of 96,000 at Wembley in September, Sheeraz spoke of how sacrifices for his career plunged his family into £800K worth of debt and they were still clearing it. The higher the stakes, the deeper the investment.

His performance nutritionist is sat there too as Sheeraz does the final preparations ahead of Saturday’s WBC middleweight title showdown in Saudi Arabia with Carlos Adames.

‘It’s the best I’ve ever felt,’ Sheeraz tells Mail Sport. ‘Boxing is like a conveyor belt. While I’m on this journey, I have to maximise it. I’ve got the next five to seven years to capitalise now and I’ve not left one stone unturned in terms of preparation, both physically and mentally. The way you are elevated is just different. When you can afford it, go for it. It’s all or nothing.’

Sheeraz’s trainer Ricky Funez regards him as the next Canelo Alvarez, one of boxing’s biggest names. Ironically, that fight was offered to Warren last year but the experienced promoter felt it was too soon.

‘The discipline that Hamzah has and his hunger for success is pure,’ says Funez. 

‘I said after my first fight with him that he’s going to be the next Canelo (Alvarez) and the next face of boxing. He’s now got the fundamentals of boxing perfected. It took me five years to build with him but he’s a complete fighter,’ adds Funes, who once trained Floyd Mayweather.

Sheeraz insists he’s as ready as ever after ‘the best and hardest camp’ yet.

All of this is a far cry from his childhood days where his mum was forced to sell the jewellery she owned to keep the dream alive for him during a period where his father was in and out of prison. 

‘My parents and family sacrificed a lot. There were a lot of times we could have “deaded it” and I would have just got a 9-5 job to pay the bills and cracked on with life. But mum chose to believe in me. She saw my dreams,’ he says.

On a stacked card organised by Turki Alalshikh and billed as the greatest in boxing history, Sheeraz has his first world title bout on Saturday in Riyadh. It’s the stuff dreams are made of.

‘When I win, the first chapter of my life finishes. The second one as a world champion begins,’ he says. ‘Winning is the only way I can repay everyone so it’s so much more than a world title. It’s a gift for everyone who stuck by me.’

At 17, Sheeraz wasn’t picked for the Commonwealth Youth games. He stopped boxing for almost a year and took up an electrical apprenticeship but Warren saw something in the man he classed as ‘Britain’s Tommy Hearns’ and Queensberry gave him a deal when he turned 18.

We are in Dubai, where Sheeraz has spent the past fortnight training at the British Boxing Club. A place where the walls are illustrated with murals of former British world champions like Ricky Hatton, Prince Naseem and Lennox Lewis.

Before this, Sheeraz was in Los Angeles at the Ten Goose Boxing Gym, where Funez is based. Preparation has been similar to before, which makes sense given he has 15 successive knockout wins but the intensity has gone up considerably.

There’s more sparring and more running because ‘I know the reward’ that awaits.

Every morning, he visualises holding that world title belt.

For Funez, the tale is that he was done as a trainer until Sheeraz came along five years ago.

‘He didn’t just ask me to train with him, he made me believe in him,’ he says, ringside after a gruelling session in intense heat. ‘The way he’s mentally prepared, I know he will win.’

As for Sheeraz, the fear of losing is impalpable. For his last two fights, he has utilised the services of Paddy Upton, a mental coach who has worked intensively with Virat Kohli and the Indian cricket team.

‘The very thought of losing keeps me on my toes,’ Sheeraz admits over dinner. ‘God forbid it did happen, I know of the consequences so it’s about reminding myself that I can’t afford to lose. I go into a fight thinking about the sacrifices we’ve all made.’

It’s a mindset which only reinforces the notion that boxing is everything. Away from it, he is a huge Arsenal fan and friends with Declan Rice. There is a dream to fight at the Emirates. Recently, he has started piano lessons in a bid to fill the mental void during his downtime.

‘From the outside, it’s a cool life but trust me it’s not cool,’ he insists. ‘It’s lonely because there’s a constant sacrifice. People see fight night, the lights and the knockouts but not all the things you’re missing in life. I’m not complaining though because ultimately, it’s the life I chose.’

The life he chose is one where he has a tunnel vision in terms of becoming a world champion.

So what does he think of Adames, the man who holds the belt?

‘He’s dangerous and a world champion for a reason. He’s not a fraud like others,’ Sheeraz says.

Talks of a bout with Chris Eubank Jr fell through last year with Eubank claiming Sheeraz wasn’t a big enough name yet though Sheeraz recalls a story of meeting Eubank and the 35-year-old telling him he was ‘massive’ before changing his tune on camera.

‘I don’t give a f*ck about doubters. You’ve got to put on a show for them and that’s what I plan to do,’ he says. ‘Growing up, boxing was just something to keep me busy and a form of discipline. Now I’m fighting for one of the most prestigious belts in boxing. It’s surreal.’

I take him back to when we first met during the Umrah pilgrimage last March – a trip he regularly undertakes before each training camp to prepare himself spiritually. He promised then that the upcoming year was the one where he would become world champion (God willing).

‘Every time I’ve set out to achieve something, I’ve achieved it,’ he insists.

When Sheeraz stopped Guido Nicolas Pitto back then in 2020, David Haye called him ‘a bona fide world champion’. Carl Frampton, standing alongside Haye, added: ‘If he doesn’t win a world title, I’ll eat my hat.’

Funez remininisces about how when they first started, Sheeraz was somewhat shy and would struggle to speak directly to him, but now their relationship is thriving.

‘He doesn’t waste his words, just like he doesn’t waste punches,’ he says. ‘Am I right Hamzah? We talk more than before.’

Sheeraz laughs it off to which Funez replies ‘Come on man, why you hating for?’

Regardless, all around him are confident that he will do the talking in the ring come Saturday. Win in Riyadh and his name will be etched into the history books.

From there, the sky is the limit.