Pakistan promoters’ dream deal for Raza
Lahore beckons…Raza Hamza with Spencer McCracken Jnr and Snr
RAZA Hamza, the Birmingham boxer who has frustrated and dazzled in equal measure, has landed a dream deal with Pakistan’s leading promotional outfit.
Financial terms have not been revealed, but if Hamza strings together a winning run for Falcon Promotions, he claims the cash could be “life changing”. It is a two year contract with the potential to make him “the face of boxing in Pakistan”, the former British title challenger has announced.
The partnership kicks off on November 29 when 33-year-old Raza boxes in a spanking new 5,000 stadium in Lahore. The show also features Pakistan’s former world flyweight title challenger Muhammad Waseem.
“I’ll be fighting four times next year, and that’s the worst case scenario,” Raza, part of McCracken’s gym, said. “The plan is to get someone who’s decent, then my second fight in April will be for a title, something down the WBA route.
“Fighting on the same bill as Muhammad Waseem is a dream come true.”
“This is major,” the super-lightweight stressed, “this is backed by the government there. It can change my life if I win my next few fights. The aim is to become the face of boxing in Pakistan. I can talk and I can fight.”
For Raza, the good news caps a frustrating 10 year pro journey. He hits hard and has talent to burn but seemed destined to incinerate those gifts on a bonfire of inactivity.
In a stop-start career, Raza built a long, 18 fight unbeaten run before being outpointed in 2022 by James Beech.
Despite that surprise loss, he still landed a British featherweight title fight the following year – and was blitzed in a single round by Nathaniel Collins.
With Spencer McCracken Snr as his new manager, Raza eased back with a low-key 2024 distance win.
Now he’s netted the opportunity of stardom in his parents’ native country.
There were compelling reasons for the bouts of inactivity, Raza told me.
“I’ve never had a break, never said no to a fight. Covid didn’t help, in 2018-2019 I had three pull-outs in consecutive fights, I was up and down with management. Injury meant I couldn’t perform the way I performed in the gym.
“A fighter like me always craves activity. When a fighter like me has activity then he becomes a problem.
“There were maybe a handful of people after the Collins fight and the injury who believed in me, no one believed in me.
“I’ve shown patience, I have shown resilience, I could’ve walked away.”
He added: “When I fight in Pakistan you’ll see the reaction – I’ve already had 180 people ask for tickets.
“There were times when it would’ve been so easy to walk away and earn a shedload of money doing something else. I didn’t do it because God had my back.”