Rising British star Hamzah Sheeraz made an explosive arrival to boxing\u2019s super middleweight division on Saturday night, stopping Edgar Berlanga in the fifth round of their bout at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. The destructive performance marked a resounding debut at 168lb for the 26-year-old from Ilford and dramatically altered the landscape of a weight class ruled by Saul \u2018Canelo\u2019 \u00c1lvarez.<\/p>\n
Fighting in the main event of a Ring Magazine card staged on the No 2 show court of the US Open tennis tournament, Sheeraz dropped Berlanga twice in the fourth round before closing the show 17 seconds into the fifth. It was the kind of showcase that not only silences critics but instantly propels a fighter from prospect to contender \u2013 and in this case, into potential lucrative matchups with the likes of \u00c1lvarez or David Benavidez.<\/p>\n
The setting for Sheeraz\u2019s career-best win was just as striking as the action. For the first time, the grounds of the US Open hosted a professional boxing card, transforming Louis Armstrong Stadium from the spiritual home of American tennis into a midsummer prizefighting stage. Originally slated for Central Park, the event instead brought Turki al-Sheikh\u2019s Ring series indoors beneath the stadium\u2019s retractable roof, offering welcome relief from New York\u2019s July swelter and a robust turnout that filled the lower bowl and pushed into the second tier. The scene was crackling with energy \u2013 a sharp contrast from May\u2019s sparsely attended Times Square card<\/a> \u2013 and a fitting capstone to a boxing-heavy weekend in New York that had begun with Katie Taylor\u2019s win over Amanda Serrano<\/a> on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) was making his super middleweight bow after a disappointing split draw against Carlos Adames at 160lb in February. In the wake of that result, he enlisted former middleweight champion Andy Lee as his trainer and moved up in weight. Both decisions looked inspired on Saturday.<\/p>\n Hamzah Sheeraz, right, lands a punch on Edgar Berlanga, left, during their super middleweight fight at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday night. Photograph: Cris Esqueda\/Golden Boy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n After a slow first three rounds, Sheeraz took control in the fourth. He slipped under a Berlanga uppercut and countered with a left hook that sent the Brooklyn native crashing flat onto his back and half under the ropes. Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) beat the count but never recovered. Seconds later, Sheeraz dropped him again with a crisp left-right combination that sent him clattering to the canvas, seemingly more dazed than defiant.<\/p>\n The bell temporarily spared Berlanga, but Sheeraz needed just one more salvo in the fifth \u2013 a right-left that left Berlanga sagging \u2013 to prompt referee David Fields\u2019 rightful intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cI promise you, I swear to you, whoever was in the ring with me today, there was no stopping me,\u201d Sheeraz said afterward. \u201cThe amount of abuse I got after the last fight made me a hungrier fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n The difference in class and composure was evident. Berlanga\u2019s only claim to fame was going the distance with \u00c1lvarez in 2023<\/a>. On Saturday, he was overwhelmed against the taller, rangier Briton who accomplished what Canelo couldn\u2019t. The power that once led him to 16 straight first-round knockouts never materialized, while his defense left wide gaps for Sheeraz to exploit. He has now been stopped for the first time in his career and leaves with more questions than answers about his future.<\/p>\n Sheeraz, on the other hand, looks like a genuine threat in a stacked weight class. His size, reach, and poise \u2013 not to mention his jab, which he used masterfully in the early rounds \u2013 suggest he belongs among the elite. Whether \u00c1lvarez, Benavidez or someone else will be next remains to be seen. But on a night where the crowd nearly filled the second deck of the 14,000-seat stadium, he managed to win them over despite the hometown credentials of his Brooklyn-bred victim.<\/p>\n In the co-feature bout, Shakur Stevenson turned in one of the more entertaining performances of his career, defeating Mexico\u2019s William Zepeda by unanimous decision to retain his WBC lightweight title. The ringside judges handed down scores of 119\u2013109 and 118\u2013110 (twice), but the fight was more spirited than the cards suggest.<\/p>\n William Zepeda, right, lands a punch on Shakur Stevenson, left, during their lightweight title fight at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday night. Photograph: Cris Esqueda\/Golden Boy\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Stevenson (24-0, 11 KOs) came into the ring under intense pressure to deliver a more fan-friendly performance after a widely panned win<\/a> over Artem Harutyunyan last July. On Saturday, he answered that criticism by standing his ground, exchanging with one of the division\u2019s more aggressive fighters and showcasing both his technical mastery and his tenacity.<\/p>\n \u201cI came in here to prove a point,\u201d Stevenson said in the ring. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the performance I was looking for because I came in here to try and fight, so I took more punishment than usual. But I proved that I\u2019m a dog.\u201d<\/p>\n