Hamzah Sheeraz made an emphatic and impressive statement in New York on Saturday when he halted Edgar Berlanga to announce his arrival in the super middleweight division currently ruled by Canelo Alvarez. The fight was staged by The Ring, which is owned by Turki Alalshikh, as part of a huge card at the Louis Armstrong Stadium and the influential Saudi Arabian paymaster was mightily impressed by the Englishman.
"What a performance from Hamzah Sheeraz in NY with thousands against him," Alalshikh posted on social media about the Riyadh Season ambassador. "England and Pakistan should be proud of Hamzah. He will be champion inshallah... Hamzah now deserves Canelo in 2026."
Alvarez is currently preparing for his September date with Terence Crawford when the Mexican superstar, who outpointed Berlanga over 12 rounds 10 months ago, will defend his world championship at 168lbs.
Sheeraz, who bounced back from a contentious draw with Carlos Adames in an unsuccessful bid for the vacant WBC middleweight title and has since joined forces with coach Andy Lee, dropped the Puerto Rican twice in the fourth before putting an exclamation mark on the thrashing in the fifth.
Heading into last night's bout, Berlanga was unranked by The Ring - or the completely independent TBRB - at 168lbs.
