The WBO super middleweight champion expects the Mexican to prove he is still a serious force to be reckoned with in the not too distant future.

A multi-weight world champion, Canelo ruled the 168-pound division for almost five years. He enjoyed two spells as the undisputed champion, and it took a fantastic performance from modern great Terence Crawford to unseat him.

Crawford’s decision to retire after that September 2025 masterclass meant that a new group of fighters now hold the super middleweight belts.

Sheeraz recently beat Alem Begic for the WBO strap, Christian Mbilli holds the WBC belt, Osleys Iglesias is the IBF champion and the WBA belt is owned by Jaime Munguia.

Still, 36-year-old Canelo (63-3-2, 39 KOs) remains atop The Ring’s 168-pound rankings and gets the chance to regain one of his old titles when he fights undefeated French buzzsaw Mbilli (29-0-1, 24 KOs) on October 31.

Sheeraz (23-0-1, 19 KOs) knows that the super middleweight division is the most competitive it has been for some time, but he doesn’t believe that Canelo’s powers have waned as much as some may think.

“It's open. It's definitely open. It's still good to have him in the division. I don't believe that he's fully finished,” Sheeraz said during an interview with Playbook Boxing. “I just think the last couple of runs of opponents he had weren't beneficial to making him look as good as he normally does because, listen, you had William Scull, who was just running for 12 rounds, and then you've got Terence Crawford, who’s one of the greats. Do you know what I mean? I reckon that's all it was. “I still think he he's got it. I do still think Canelo's got it, and I believe we'll see that against Mbilli. “I reckon he'll knock Mbilli out”