Britain’s Hamzah Sheeraz has been ordered to fight Diego Pacheco for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title following Terence Crawford’s retirement.
American Crawford left the sport last week, adding he has “nothing else left to prove” after beating Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvaraz in September to become the first man in the modern era to hold undisputed titles in three weight divisions.
In retirement Crawford, who won all 42 of his professional fights, vacated his belts, with the WBO instructing Sheeraz to fight American Pacheco for its title.
The bout gives 26-year-old Sheeraz a second option after he was previously ordered by the WBC to fight Christian Mbilli for their vacant super-middleweight title.
The sanctioning body stripped Crawford of his belt before his retirement because he did not pay sanctioning fees.
Sheeraz’s promoters Queensberry and Pacheco’s Matchroom have 20 days to agree on the terms of a fight but if they cannot reach an agreement they must proceed to purse bids according to WBO rules.
Sheeraz drew with WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames last February in an underwhelming performance over 12 rounds, before beating Edgar Berlanga in July.
He is unbeaten in 23 fights, while 24-year-old Pacheco has won all 25 of his bouts.
But Pavia apparently felt otherwise. After the results were announced Saturday in New York, the 23-year-old senior posted a photo of himself with his offensive linemen on his Instagram Stories and gave it a profane caption.
“F-ALL THE VOTERS,” Pavia wrote, followed by a thumbs-down emoji, “BUT ….. FAMILY FOR LIFE”
“Being a part of the Heisman ceremony last night as a finalist was such an honor,” he wrote. “As a competitor, just like in everything I do I wanted to win. To be so close to my dream and come up short was painful. I didn’t handle those emotions well at all and did not represent myself the way I wanted to.
“I have much love and respect for the Heisman voters and the selection process, and I apologize for being disrespectful. It was a mistake, and I am sorry.”
Heisman Trophy finalists, from left to right, Notre Dame‘s Jeremiah Love, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin pose with the trophy before the award ceremony Dec. 13 in New York.
(Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Associated Press)
Mendoza received 643 first-place votes and 2,362 overall points to Pavia’s 189 first-place votes and 1,435 points. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love finished third in voting (46 first place, 719 points), and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin was fourth (eight first place, 432 points).
Indiana (13-0) is the top team in the College Football Playoff rankings and will play the Oklahoma-Alabama winner in the Rose Bowl. Mendoza has played a large role in the Hoosiers’ success. He completed 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards with a national-best 33 touchdown passes and six interceptions. In addition, Mendoza rushed for 240 yards and six touchdowns.
“Fernando Mendoza is an elite competitor and a deserving winner of the award,” Pavia wrote. “I have nothing but respect for his accomplishments as well as the success that Jeremiyah and Julian had this season.”
Pavia also put up huge numbers for Vanderbilt (10-2), which was No. 14 in the final CFP ranking and will play Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 1. He completed 71.2% of his passes for 3,192 yards with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions and rushed for 826 yards and nine touchdowns.
A former walk-on at New Mexico Military Institute, Pavia played two years at New Mexico State before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2024. Leading up to the Heisman ceremony, Pavia declared himself the best college football player of all time. He recently told Sports Illustrated, however, that his self-confidence should not be mistaken for arrogance.
“As an underdog paying to walk on to JUCO, you kind of have to be your own cheerleader,” Pavia said. “And it just never left my head, to be like ‘Oh I arrived, I don’t need to do that anymore.’”
Pavia reflected on his past in his apology post.
“I’ve been doubted my whole life. Every step of my journey I’ve had to break down doors and fight for myself, because Ive learned that nothing would be handed to me,” he wrote. “My family has always been in my corner, and my teammates, coaches and staff have my six. I love them — I am grateful for them. — and I wouldn’t want anything to distract from that. I look forward to competing in front of my family and with my team one more time in the ReliaQuest Bowl.”
SAN DIEGO — Chad Baker-Mazara scored a season-high 31 and Ezra Ausar scored 22 of his career-high 29 points in the second half before fouling out and USC used the second half to take control and beat San Diego 94-81 on Tuesday night.
Reserve Jaden Brownell scored 16 points for USC (9-1) who once it stopped committing turnovers separated itself from San Diego (3-6).
It was Baker-Mazara’s fourth-straight game scoring 20 or more points. USC shot 62% (29 of 47).
Dominique Ford scored 22 points, Ty-Laur Johnson 13 and reserve Juanse Gorosito 10 for San Diego.
After a tie at 38, Alejandro Aviles’ layup gave San Diego a 48-46 lead a little more than five minutes into the second half. From there, Ausar took over the game with a personal 7-0 run that started a 13-0 outburst and the Trojans were never challenged again.
Despite shooting 55% (11 of 20) in the first half, the Trojans committed 13 turnovers which led to 14 San Diego points. Entering Tuesday, USC averaged 12 turnovers per game. The first half featured eight ties and 10 lead changes.
USC moved its record against the Toreros to 7-0.
Up next
USC hosts former Pac-12 rival Washington State on Sunday.
