The next big thing in the super middleweight division has firmly arrived.
One fight after a disappointing performance in a middleweight title shot against Carlos Adames that ended via a heavily disputed draw, Hamzah Sheeraz made a spectacular statement in his 168-pound debut on Saturday.
In the main event of an exciting “Ring III” card, presented by Turki Alalshikh, Sheeraz scored a pair of knockdowns to break open a tense start before brutally finishing Edgar Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) in Round 5 inside Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.
The victory made Sheeraz, a 26-year-old from England, the mandatory challenger to undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez’s WBO title. Alvarez must first defend his titles against former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Sept. 13.
“I promise, I swear to you, whoever was in the ring with me today, there would be no stopping me [tonight],” Sheeraz said. “After my last fight, the amount of abuse I got on social media and in person, I understand it’s part of boxing but it made me a hungry fighter. When I say there was nothing stopping me, there was nothing stopping me.”
Sheeraz (22-0-1, 17 KOs) looked flat at times and out of answers at others when he appeared headed toward his first defeat against Adames in February before the highly contested scorecards were revealed. He not only moved up in weight, he switched trainers to former middleweight champion and knockout artist Andy Lee and the results were explosive.
“Just a massive thank you to Andy Lee, a man who put his faith and his trust in me,” Sheeraz said. “Even in the first few rounds, I was losing them but we had a plan. I told him in his ear, ‘I could hunt this guy down.’ I told him and he believed me and not many coaches would do that.”
After a tense trio of opening rounds, in which Berlanga’s power jab jousted on even terms in a continued battle of front-foot placement with Sheeraz’s larger variety of hooks, body shots, overhand rights and a stinging jab.
Berlanga, the brash 28-year-old from nearby Brooklyn who went the distance in a one-sided loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2024, stood tall physically in the clinch and made a good account for himself in a sharp, patient start. But once the events of Round 4 began to unfold, Sheeraz’s versatile offensive attack began to plant its own flag in a new division.
After eating a flush left hook from Berlanga to open the round, Sheeraz began to slowly weaken Berlanga’s guard with timely overhand rights. A late left hook set up a stinging two-punch combo to drop Berlanga before a swarming combination sent him back down the canvas almost as soon as he got up.
Referee David Fields chose to let a visibly weary Berlanga continue despite appearing as if he might be out of his feet but the bell to end the round saved Berlanga. Safety, however, would be about short as the 60-second break between rounds.
Sheeraz jumped all over Berlanga in Round 5 and after a lead left hook was blocked, the tall slugger followed through with a right cross that knocked Berlanga down and out for good. Fields immediately waived off the fight at 17 seconds of the round.
“[Sheeraz] has a big heart and he’s very strong in the left hand,” Lee said. “We are only scratching the surface. There is so much potential left in this guy, there’s no limit as to how far he can go. Listen, take notice, new star in world boxing, Hamzah Sheeraz.”
When asked about the possibility of a future fight against Alvarez, Sheeraz was respectful and direct.
“Listen, Canelo has always been a boxing hero of mine so even for my name to be mentioned in the same sentence as his is a great achievement, myself,” Sheeraz said. “If I do get the opportunity to fight him, it won’t be one of those where I try to nick it on points. I will stand in the middle with him and have it out. Whoever lands first, I suppose they get knocked out.
“After my last performance, before this, no promoter would have given me an opportunity. His Excellency [Alalshikh] gave me the opportunity to bounce right back. I spoke to him Monday and he said, ‘Put on a great performance for me,’ and I stuck to my word.”
CBS Sports was with you throughout the entire way on Saturday with live results and highlights below.
Fight card, results, oddsHamzah Sheeraz def. Edgar Berlanga via fifth-round TKOShakur Stevenson (c) def. William Zepeda via unanimous decision (118-110, 118-110, 119-109)Subriel Matias def. Alberto Puello (c) via majority decision (114-114, 115-113, 115-113)David Morrell def. Imam Khataev via split decision (94-95, 96-93, 95-94)