Hamzah Sheeraz is, in his own words, one of the lucky ones. The Ilford fighter is one of 10 competing on Frank Warren’s behind-closed-doors show at the BT Sport Studios in the capital on Friday night – boxing’s first night back since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The 10-0 super-welterweight is putting his WBO European strap on the line against Dundee’s Paul Kean, a bout that was originally scheduled for April on the Daniel Dubois vs Joe Joyce card at the O2 Arena.
The 21-year-old regularly has a couple of hundred of his family, friends and fans in attendance for his bouts but will walk out to the sound of silence this week as boxing takes its first tentative steps back.
It’s a dilemma of sorts for Sheeraz. It has been an agonising wait to fight again and he is relishing the opening bell more than ever before in his career. But having spent fight week in isolation in a hotel room in between regular Covid-19 tests, part of new safety measures implemented to ensure fighters and their teams are kept safe, it’s been a strange experience.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I’m definitely looking forward to it,” Sheeraz told Standard Sport. “The fight itself, I’m 100 percent looking forward to it, this is what I do. But the whole experience around it, it’s so different.
“The closer you come to fight night the more you realise how different it is. I suppose what I have got to keep in mind is that I am one of the lucky ones, given the opportunity to fight this early. I’ve got to take the positive from the negative situation and just get on with things.”
Sheeraz and the other fighters on the bill have been kept behind closed doors during a very new kind of fight week, emerging from hotel rooms for testing, meals and for workouts. It’s been a world away from the usual hustle and bustle that come with the days leading into the big night.
“Being limited and on your own during fight week can do a lot of things to you, if anything it can damage you. Luckily, I’m strong headed like that though. I’ll be ready.
“As long as I can read my book I’ll be alright. I’ve bought an iPad too the other day so that will keep me going.”
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While there has been apprehension about the circumstances around boxing’s return, Sheeraz jumped at the chance to be among the first fighters back, fully aware of how valuable a good showing is in front of a new audience starved of action will be for his profile. And as always, the fighter’s instinct will kick in on the night.
“At the end of the day we are fighters, that’s what we do. So regardless of how camp has gone we are more than willing to get in there and do what we need to do. That’s my mentality and I think that should be the same for most of the other fighters.
"Regardless of circumstances, getting in there and getting the job done should be the main focus.
"Professional boxing is about entertaining. People have been bored during lockdown, I understand football is back but combat sport just has a different sort of kick to it when you see people punching each other in the face.”
Sheeraz experienced a personal tragedy in April when he lost his aunt to Covid-19. Shabnum Sadiq, one of his biggest fans, left behind her family which included 13-year-old quadruplets.
While the platform he has been given on Friday will serve him well going forward, above all else he will use it to pay tribute to her memory.
“My main focus is to make her proud. I know she is looking down on me. God-willing, she is proud of me right now. I’ll be fighting in her honour on Friday and will dedicate the win to her name.”
Hamzah Sheeraz will be fighting live on BT Sport 1 from 7pm on Friday July 10.