Hamzah Sheeraz says his fight against Liam Williams is a “must win” for both as he looks to avoid a slip-up on Saturday.

The 18-0-0 Sheeraz, who celebrated a second-round stoppage over Ukrainian Dmytro Mytrofanov in August, continues his impressive run against experienced 31-year-old Williams.

The Slough fighter insists he must get the job done at the Copper Box Arena if he is to continue his world title bid.

“It’s a must win for both of us,” Sheeraz told the PA news agency.

“I can’t afford to slip up. The sacrifices I’ve made are more than an average fighter would make. It would be disrespectful to my team if I slip up.

“My aspirations and plans are too big to be losing. It all comes down to how I can display my work in camp on fight night.

“I’ve done that for 18 fights and hopefully 19 will be on the way.

“This can give me endless opportunities. I can fight for a world title, I can fight for a British title, face the likes of Chris Eubank Jr.

“Once you get through a fight like this in flying colours then the doors are open.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hamzah Sheeraz (@hamzahsheeraz)

Williams was accused of being a “dirty fighter” by Eubank Jr in the build-up to his unanimous decision defeat to the Brighton boxer in 2022.

The Welshman has since bounced back, picking up two victories over the relatively unknown Nizar Trimech and Florin Cardos.

Sheeraz talked up his upcoming opponent’s attributes and believes he needs to stay disciplined.

“He’s experienced and he’s fought for world titles,” Sheeraz added.

“He’s tough, he’s rugged, he’s someone who has almost won world titles and he’s proven. He’s going to be confident for sure.

“I need to stay disciplined and not get involved emotionally. Once you get involved emotionally then you’re playing into your opponent’s hands.”

Sheeraz has eyed a potential bout in Saudi Arabia in 2024, insisting now is the best time to be a boxer.

He said: “I want a good performance on February 10 and then I want a fight out in Saudi and to become well known out there.

“It’s probably the best time to be involved in boxing. Especially with the money in it, the promoters working together, the platform, it’s all at its peak.”

Conor Benn admits he fell out of love with boxing following his failed drugs tests but is willing to “spend every last penny” to prove his innocence in the appeal.

Benn’s career was thrown into turmoil in October 2022 after he twice tested positive for the banned drug clomifene in the lead-up to a bout against Chris Eubank Jr that was subsequently shelved in fight week.

His provisional suspension was lifted by the independent National Anti-Doping Panel, although the British Boxing Board of Control and UK Anti-Doping have lodged an appeal against that decision.

The 27-year-old was hoping to face Eubank Jr in a rearranged clash following the collapse of the initial fight until talks fell through and is now instead preparing for his second fight since returning to the ring, against Peter Dobson on February 3 in Las Vegas.

Benn emotionally explained his struggles to stay motivated in the aftermath of the failed tests.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Conor Benn (@conorbennofficial)

He said: “I’m willing to spend every last penny I have to fight my innocence, that’s how much this means to me.

“I know how hard it is to drag myself to the gym, fall out of love with boxing and still have to stay disciplined.

“I’ve been so demotivated for the past year-and-a-half. It wasn’t motivation that got me through, it was discipline and determination to do what’s right.

“I will continue to shout it from the rooftops for my innocence because I am.”

Benn made a first high-profile public appearance since the episode when Anthony Joshua fought Jermaine Franklin in April 2023 at the O2 Arena and was overwhelmed with the attention he received.

The son of former two-division world champion Nigel Benn felt his family’s name had been tarnished and has spoken about how the news of the failed tests left him feeling suicidal.

“That (affecting family reputation) was the worst thing to deal with, the shame. You get so emotional talking about it. My dad still loves me, I still love him,” he said.

“I went to AJ v Franklin in April. When I talk about anxiety, I thought I’m not ready to front this and had security with me and I thought I’d have it there for different reasons. I got mobbed, I couldn’t walk.

“I didn’t leave the house – when I walked to Sainsbury’s, I had to walk back and forget the shop because I couldn’t handle it. I’m one hell of a fighter, I’m bold, fearless, but I’m still human. I care about my name.

“It has been taxing, testing, like I’ve been through hell and back. Some days I’ve not been motivated and down in the dumps, some days I have been suicidal. I’ve learned a lot in the process and it’s made me a better man.”

Benn now switches his attention to the fight with American Dobson, his second consecutive fight outside the UK.

Benn is looking forward to coming back and fighting in the UK in the future but knows he has a job to do before he starts thinking about bigger fights.

He added: “I treat him (Dobson) as the world title fight, the big fight because without him there is no big fight.

“Fighting in Orlando and now Vegas is not under the best conditions, but it’s a big chapter and I like the way my book’s coming along.

“I just can’t wait for the homecoming. I’m excited to fight in America because that’s where all the world titles are. It’s every fighter’s dream to show in America, let alone Vegas, the home of boxing over there.”

:: Conor Benn and Peter Dobson will put their unbeaten records on the line live on DAZN

Conor Benn’s hopes of fighting Chris Eubank Jr in the UK have been dealt a blow after the British Boxing Board of Control rejected an application to stage the bout in this country.

Robert Smith, general secretary of the governing body, told talkSPORT on Wednesday that the BBBoC made the decision because it believes the investigation into Benn’s two failed drugs tests remains ongoing.

Benn and Eubank Jr had been due to fight in a catchweight contest last October, but the bout had to be cancelled days out from the event after Benn tested positive for banned substance Clomifene on two occasions.

It resulted in Benn being hit with a provisional suspension and while it was announced in July that he had been cleared by an independent National Anti-Doping Panel, the BBBoC and UK Anti-Doping appealed against the decision to lift Benn’s provisional ban.

Benn was able to fight for the first time in 525 days in September but his unanimous points victory over Rodolfo Orozco had to be staged in Florida.

It did still appear to open the door for a long-awaited clash with Eubank Jr, but talks over a potential February 3 date could now be scuppered.

Smith told talkSPORT: “The Board feel that any athlete, not just a boxer, but any athlete who has failed a drugs test needs to go through an investigation with the proper authorities and that hasn’t happened.

“We’re waiting for that to happen and the Boxing Board and UKAD have been pushing for that to happen right from the beginning of this and unfortunately it’s been delayed, not through the Boxing Board of Control or UKAD, but through other parties.

“With regard to Mr Benn boxing in this country, we have had an application for him to box in this country, that has been refused.”

The PA news agency has contacted promoters Matchroom and Wasserman Boxing, but both have declined to comment.

Benn and Eubank Jr traded blows over social media on Monday night with the former teasing the date of the proposed fight between the sons of old rivals Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank.

“I’ll remind you of this when you are being scraped up off the f****** canvas. Feb 3 I’m ending your career,” Benn said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

However, any potential fight to settle the feud may have to take place overseas or be licensed in England by an alternative boxing body.

Conor Benn will make his comeback in Orlando on Saturday in his first bout since failing two voluntary drug tests and promoter Eddie Hearn says a clash with Chris Eubank Jr could happen in December.

Benn, who has not fought since April 2022 when he knocked out Chris van Heerden, has been cleared to fight Mexico’s Rodolfo Orozco this weekend.

The 26-year-old saw his proposed bout with Eubank Jr last October fall through following two positive tests for the banned drug clomifene, which resulted in him being hit with a provisional suspension.

Benn promised to prove his innocence and, while he was formally charged by UK Anti-Doping in April, it was announced in July he had been cleared by an independent National Anti-Doping Panel.

Hearn, in Florida for Saturday’s bout against Orozco at Caribe Royale, said: “We want the Eubank fight. It’s the biggest fight in British boxing, outside AJ v Fury and right up there with it.

“We want to fight in the UK. Conor won his case. He was cleared, his suspension was lifted and I keep hearing this ‘he was not cleared’.

“If he wasn’t cleared he wouldn’t be allowed to fight on Saturday.

“The Association of Boxing Commissions would not lift their suspension of Benn until it was confirmed to them by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) that he was no longer suspended and therefore he was cleared to fight.

“So our plan, ideally, is to fight Chris Eubank Jr in the UK in December. We’ve already had offers from a number of international venues to stage that fight, but I would like to try and make that fight in the UK.”

UKAD and the BBBofC appealed against the decision to lift Benn’s provisional suspension last month, which prevented the son of former two-weight world champion Nigel Benn being able to resume his boxing career in his home country.

Benn and promotion company Matchroom have now decided to try and get his career back on track with a bout in the United States.

Mexican veteran Orozco has been drafted in as a last-minute opponent for Benn, whose fight will be the co-main event of a show also involving super-lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda.

Hearn said: “We were made aware a few weeks ago or a month ago that there would be an appeal – we’ve heard nothing more, no dates for that appeal.

“We’re not sure if that will take place or when it will take place, but this man’s free to go back to work and that’s what we’ve decided to do.”

Benn said: “I am undefeated in the ring, and in spirit. A return on Saturday is a step closer to redemption.

“After that, I’m putting the 147-160 divisions on notice. You are looking at a determined man with a deep desire to beat them all.”

Even though Greenwich-born Benn (21-0, 14KOs) will fight for the first time in 17 months on Saturday, his fight to clear his name is not over yet.

Benn relinquished his BBBC licence after his bout against Eubank was scrapped and criticised the governing body’s handling of his case.

Benn’s positive tests were conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for the WBC, which cleared the boxer of any wrongdoing in February, pointing to an “elevated consumption of eggs” for the findings.

Londoner Benn himself insisted eggs were never blamed in a 270-page report he sent the WBC, but he has repeatedly stressed his innocence, having faced a two-year ban.

Conor Benn will make his boxing comeback in Orlando on Saturday in his first bout since his two failed drugs tests.

Benn has not stepped into the ring since he knocked out Chris van Heerden in April last year. His proposed October bout with Chris Eubank Jr fell through following two positive tests for the banned drug clomifene, which resulted in him being hit with a provision suspension.

Benn promised to prove his innocence and, while he was formally charged by UK Anti-Doping in April, it was announced in July he had been cleared by an independent National Anti-Doping Panel.

UKAD and the British Boxing Board of Control appealed against the decision to lift Benn’s provisional suspension last month, which prevented the son of former two-weight world champion Nigel Benn being able to resume his boxing career in his home country.

Benn and promotion company Matchroom have now decided to try and get his career back on track with a bout in the United States.

Mexican veteran Rodolfo Orozco has been drafted in as a last-minute opponent for Benn, whose fight will be the co-main event of the show also involving super-lightweights Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda at Caribe Royale.

Benn said: “I am undefeated in the ring, and in spirit. A return on Saturday is a step closer to redemption.

“After that, I’m putting the 147-160 divisions on notice. You are looking at a determined man with a deep desire to beat them all.”

Chris Eubank Jr stopped British rival Liam Smith in round 10 of their rematch to gain revenge for his defeat in January at the AO Arena in Manchester.

Smith, who beat Eubank in a fourth-round stoppage at the same venue in January, was twice knocked down before the referee stepped in to spare the Liverpudlian from further punishment.

Eubank produced a brilliant performance from the opening round, first sending Smith to the canvas in the fourth round and again in the 10th, as he secured the 34th win of his professional career.

“I had no other choice (but to beat Smith). There’s too many other big fights out there for me that the fans want to see, that I want to be involved in,” Eubank said in the ring after the bout.

“I had to beat Liam tonight. Liam is a warrior. I respect him, his team, his family and his brothers.

“They always come out and put it all on the line. He fought until the last second, so big up to Liam and his team.”

“I trained hard for that fight, I trained hard for this fight. The focus is always there. I dedicate my life to this sport.

“Now we’re onto bigger and better fights. There’s some big names out there. I see a few of these guys in the crowd. I’m coming for you.”

The rematch, twice rescheduled earlier this summer from June and then July, lived up to expectation, with Eubank overcoming a hostile reception having been booed when entering the arena.

Former two-time IBO super-middleweight champion Eubank began to take control in the second round, staying behind his jab.

He caught former WBO light-middleweight champion Smith in the third round and sent him to the floor for the first time with a fierce uppercut in the next.

Smith was controversially given an extended 30 seconds to recover after spitting out his mouthguard, but he came in for more punishment in the fifth as Eubank swarmed his man as he looked to settle the bout.

More head and body shots from Eubank in the seventh round hurt Smith, who was nursing an ankle issue, with replays suggesting he twisted it in the second round.

Eubank continued to fight with controlled aggression as the two fighters continually exchanged words at the end of rounds.

Smith was pushed backwards in the 10th and was sent sprawling to the canvas for the second time. He gamely continued, but was pinned against the ropes again and the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

Smith, sporting a deep cut above his right eye, said after the defeat: “Everything from start to finish (went wrong). I was just flat from the start.

“Chris was sharp. That’s all I can say about it really. I shout when I win, I take my defeats when I lose.”

Liam Smith questioned Chris Eubank Jr’s intelligence as the pair bickered ahead of their rematch this weekend.

The British fighters meet for a second time at Manchester’s AO Arena on Saturday, seven months on from Liverpudlian Smith’s fourth-round stoppage victory over his middleweight rival.

Both were in bullish mood as they held a fractious press conference in the city on Thursday, with Eubank predicting he will gain revenge with a “beautiful, artistic display of savage boxing”.

Eubank has brought in a new coach in Brian McIntyre and introduced other changes to his training regime in preparation for the contest.

McIntyre has hailed Eubank, 33, as an intelligent fighter, but 35-year-old Smith scoffed at that suggestion when they met with media.

The former WBO super-welterweight champion said: “You class Chris as an intelligent fighter? That is one thing Chris is not!”

“I’m definitely more intelligent than you, my friend,” Eubank responded.

Smith, who has a career record of 33-3-1, said: “Results speak for themselves!

“You are trying to convince people you’re intelligent? You’ve been fit, you’ve been durable, you have an engine, but you’ve never been classed as intelligent.”

“You have one form of fighting, I have many,” said Eubank. “So, if we are going to talk about intelligence there is no competition.”

Eubank, who now has 32 wins and three defeats to his name, is so confident of victory that he says he has banned his camp from even taking a towel to the ring.

Eubank’s former coach Roy Jones Jr had appeared ready to throw in the towel immediately prior to the referee’s decision to halt the first bout.

“We are not going to look for the easy way out,” said Eubank. “If it gets rough, if it gets hairy, we are there for the long haul. We are going to get through it.

“If there is going to be a towel involved in this fight it will definitely be coming from the other corner.

“What happened in the last fight was not supposed to happen. Even to Liam – he may not admit it – but he was not expecting the fight to finish how it finished. Nobody was.

“I know I am the better fighter and I am going to go out there and prove it on Saturday.

“The preparation I have had has been excellent and the performance I am going to have is going to be exquisite, supernatural. It is going to be a beautiful, artistic display of savage boxing.”

Smith was incredulous at Eubank’s remarks and claimed the outcome would be similar to that of the first fight.

He said: “All week it was, ‘Chris couldn’t be hurt’. I was like, ‘Never say never’.

“I told everyone, ‘Don’t think anyone can’t be hurt because they have got a good chin’. I do still think he has got a good chin, but he got hit, looking at the floor, and he went.

“The same will happen again. If he makes the same mistakes, I will punish him.”

Conor Benn’s suspension imposed for failing two drugs tests in the build-up to his cancelled fight with Chris Eubank Jr has been lifted.

UK Anti-Doping confirmed the news first revealed by Benn and his promoters Matchroom Boxing on Friday afternoon, but added that it has 21 days to appeal the verdict of the National Anti-Doping Panel, an independent tribunal.

Benn was formally charged by UKAD in April after twice testing positive for the female fertility drug clomifene in the build-up to October’s catchweight showdown with British rival Eubank Jr.

“UKAD carefully reviews all decisions in its cases before deciding whether to exercise its right of appeal,” UKAD said in a statement, before declining to comment further on the case.

Benn, son of boxing great Nigel Benn, had claimed on social media that he had been exonerated only for UKAD’s statement to indicate his case is not yet closed as the drugs agency considers whether to appeal.

“Today marks the end of a gruelling 10-month process, during which the WBC had already decided I was innocent of any wrongdoing,” Benn said on Twitter.

“After a hearing with the National-Doping Agency Panel and UKAD, I have now been vindicated for the second time.

“Hopefully, the public and various members of the media can now understand why I have maintained my innocence so strongly all the way through.

“The UKAD process has now formally ended and I remain free to fight.”

If Benn is cleared, he will reapply for the British Boxing Board of Control licence that was relinquished during his dispute with the governing body.

Promoter Eddie Hearn said he is already planning a comeback fight for the 26-year-old Londoner in September ahead of a clash with a high-profile opponent in December.

Benn had been banned from competing in the UK until his case had been heard by UKAD, although he was free to fight overseas.

The lucrative showdown with Eubank Jr is likely to be revived and having protested his innocence from the outset, Benn revealed his joy at what he considers to be the end of the process.

“Naturally, I am pleased that I can now put this behind me once and for all,” he said.

“As you can imagine the last 10 months have weighed heavily on me and I am anxious that if this happened to me, it could potentially happen to any honest, dedicated and clean athlete like me.

“I would like to thank my fans that have kept the faith when many have turned against me, as well as my team, Matchroom, my friends and family, sponsors and also my legal team, all of whom have shared a belief in me and a commitment to ensure the correct result being obtained and justice being services.

“Only with the strength of all this support have I been able to continue during this challenging time.

“I now intend to put this matter behind me and look forward. Which begins with fighting as soon as possible so I can remind everyone who I am.”