Olivieri’s statement offered no insight beyond the termination itself, and the WBO did not say whether private talks remain possible. That silence is telling. When sanctioning bodies expect a fight to survive through negotiation, they usually say so. Here, they did not.
Sheeraz has lived inside this fog for months. He was first aligned with a WBC route, then watched that door shut when the WBC upgraded Christian Mbilli from interim to full champion, canceling their own ordered fight. The WBO option looked like a reset. Now it is gone as well.
Where this leaves Sheeraz boxed in
Sheeraz had also been invited by the IBF to negotiate for its vacant super middleweight belt against Osleys Iglesias. He declined at the time, pointing to ongoing WBC and WBO obligations. Those obligations have now evaporated.
Pacheco, meanwhile, loses a title shot without losing a fight. That is the quiet cruelty of sanctioning politics. Camps burn money. Fighters stay sharp. Then the paper trail collapses.
As of Friday, the WBO has not outlined next steps. No new order. No replacement bout. Just a promise of further communication “in due course,” which in boxing terms can mean anything from days to never.
For now, the only confirmed reality is this. The Sheeraz vs Pacheco purse bid is dead. The belt is still vacant. The division waits again.
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