The WBO is ready to crown a new super middleweight champion.

The sanctioning body has officially ordered Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) and Diego Pacheco (25-0, 18 KOs), its second and third-ranked contenders, to fight for its vacant title.

The winner of their proposed matchup will fill the hole recently left by Terence Crawford.

Earlier this month, the future first ballot Hall of Famer announced his retirement, just three months after becoming the first male fighter to become an undisputed champion across three weight divisions in the four-belt era after his 12-round points win over Canelo Alvarez.

The Ring's No. 8-rated super middleweight Sheeraz, 26, experienced an up-and-down 2025 campaign. The British contender fought for his maiden world title against WBC middleweight beltholder Carlos Adames on February 22, but was forced to settle for a split decision draw after a sluggish second-half - one many felt he was fortunate not to lose.

Rather than continue boiling his body down to 160-pounds, he confirmed he'd be moving up and looked like a new man four months later, easily stopping Edgar Berlanga with a fifth-round knockout victory on July 12 during the 'Ring III' headliner in New York.

The Ring's No. 5-rated Pacheco meanwhile, went 3-0 this year with a trio of decision victories over contenders Steven Nelson, Trevor McCumby and most recently, recovering from a career-first knockdown to outpoint Kevin Lele Sadjo on December 13.

Previously, both men have expressed a willingness and intrigue towards fighting one another in the future and that may come to fruition in 2026 after this latest update.