Hamzah Sheeraz escapes with narrow points win against brave Simon Zachenhuber in lethargic first world title defence

HAMZAH SHEERAZ’S drab world title defence turned the biggest cheers of the night into whistles and boos. The WBO super-middleweight champ is a hero in Saudi Arabia and the KO artist had the Jeddah Superdome bouncing for his defence against Simon Zachenhuber. Hamzah Sheeraz defended his WBO super middleweight title via a narrow majority decision Credit: Getty The Brit was not his usual electric self, but he got the job done in Jeddah Credit: Getty But, by the 12th tiresome session, the locals had turned and jeered the ending before the judges called it: 114-114, 115-113 and 116-112. Ilford’s 27-year-old defending champ was sung into the desert arena by Punjabi rapper Gurinder Gill. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! ANTHONY JOSHUA VS KRISTIAN PRENGA LIVE COVERAGE The 6ft 3in proud Pakistani-Brit towered over the 28-year-old German but only poked and prodded at him in the opening round. Zachenhuber threw straight shots at Sheeraz’s long torso but didn’t land anything significant. Sheeraz raced up the gears in the second, whipping lead left hooks into Zachenhuber’s right flank. But the southpaw underdog rocked the champ’s head back with a stiff left hand that kept him honest. Between rounds the Arsenal-loving beanpole sat on a specially made stall that saved him from scrunching his long limbs up between stanzas. Zachenhuber was briefly staggered by a right hook in the third but the challenger was frustrating the Saudi crowd that wanted Sheeraz to win easily. Most read in Sport CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Sheeraz seemed lethargic against the fit German athlete Credit: Getty And his bright red gloves did connect with Zachenhuber’s shaven head a few more times before the bell ended the round and an image of Anthony Joshua getting his hands wrapped backstage made the thin crowd cheer. Sheeraz kept plodding forward and looking for openings on the awkward leftie but he was struggling for inspiration. The Andy Lee-trained ace used his freakishly long arms to apply thuggish pressure on Zachenhuber in the sixth, with uppercuts and hooks slashing into the struggling leftie. Overmatched Zachenhuber kept vertical and throwing back but it felt like little more than a sparring session for the red-hot favourite. An arrow of a right hand stumbled Zachenhuber right at the start of the seventh but Sheeraz could not finish the job. The crowd came alive for their fellow muslim – with chants worthy of a football stadium – but he could not convert their enthusiasm into an early highlight finish. Zachenhuber landed a decent whack at the start of the 11th but it was another sleepy stanza that nobody missed at the bell. In the final round the bored Saudi crowd that started the fight cheering with excitement were whistling and booing the drab 36 minutes they lost before Anthony Joshua’s return. Sheeraz tipped a future fight with Danish prospect Jacob Bank (right) after the match Credit: Getty Anthony Joshua vs Kristian Prenga - all the info Anthony Joshua faces Kristian Prenga in his huge comeback fight When asked after the bout, Sheeraz claimed that his lacklustre performance was, at least in part, due to the lack of challenge presented by Zachenhuber. He said: “I think I need a step up now, I need someone who mentally is going to present a challenge. “I was switching off at times. When you get too comfortable and you don’t have a threat in front of you, I tend to fall into those habits. “Hopefully we get a big fight next, inshallah.” He added on the fact that one judge scored the bout as a draw: “I knew it weren’t that good but I didn’t think it was that bad!” He then put forward Danish prospect Jacob Bank as a potential next challenger. The 25-year-old scored a win over Pawel August just hours earlier on the Jeddah card. Comment now