Hamzah Sheeraz takes on Edgar Berlanga in an intriguing showdown in New York tonight.
The WBC super-middleweight title eliminator headlines the ‘Ring III’ card also featuring Shakur Stevenson’s latest WBC lightweight championship defence against William Zepeda.
It will be the first time that boxing has ever taken place at Louis Armstrong Stadium, the 14,000-capacity venue at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows that usually forms part of the host venues for the US Open, with The Ring continuing to break new ground after May’s event in Times Square featuring Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero, Devin Haney and Teofimo Lopez.
Ilford’s Sheeraz, the former European, Commonwealth and WBC Silver middleweight champion, is moving up to the 168-pound division ruled by Canelo Alvarez for the first time after seeing his run of 21 consecutive victories - including 15 straight knockouts - since turning professional ended by a controversial split draw with WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames in Riyadh back in February.
Sheeraz seemed incredibly fortunate to avoid his first career defeat on the undercard of the blockbuster rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol, later revealing that his swollen left hand was broken early on in an uncharacteristically tentative performance that saw one judge return a scorecard of 118-110 in Adames’ favour.
Sheeraz, now trained by Andy Lee after parting ways with Ricky Funez, was always a huge middleweight and now jumps up a division to take on Berlanga, the American who is still on the comeback trail after suffering his first loss when challenging Canelo for the unified titles at 168 pounds in Las Vegas last September.
Brooklyn’s ‘Chosen One’ was dominated in that bout and lost a wide decision, but bounced back emphatically with a first-round stoppage of Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz in Florida in March having missed weight by 1.6 pounds.
Berlanga was hoping to face Jaime Munguia, Jermall Charlo or Caleb Plant next, but instead now has his sights set on a rematch against Canelo - this time for undisputed status with the winner of this weekend’s bout set to become the No1 contender for the WBC title he holds alongside the WBA, WBO and The Ring belts, plus the IBF gold he previously vacated but then regained by brushing aside former mandatory challenger William Scull in Riyadh in May.
Canelo puts his full restored collection of super-middleweight belts on the line in a blockbuster fight against two-weight undisputed champion Terence Crawford in Las Vegas in September.
Berlanga vs Sheeraz fight date and venue
Berlanga vs Sheeraz takes place today on Saturday July 12, 2025 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, USA.
Berlanga vs Sheeraz fight time and ring walks
The main undercard is due to begin at 11pm BST on Saturday night, which is 6pm ET and 3pm PT in the United States.
Berlanga and Sheeraz are expected to ring walk at approximately 2:55am BST in the early hours of Sunday morning, 9:55pm ET and 6:55pm PT on Saturday.
How to watch Berlanga vs Sheeraz
TV channel and live stream: The Ring III card is being shown live globally via DAZN pay-per-view. It costs £24.99 in the UK and $59.99 in the US.
DAZN are running a bundle option where you can purchase Saturday night’s event and the undisputed heavyweight title fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium on July 19 for a fee of £39.99 or $94.99.
Berlanga vs Sheeraz undercard
In addition to Stevenson defending his WBC lightweight title for the third time against Zepeda, Alberto Puello also puts his WBC super-lightweight belt on the line against former IBF champion Subriel Matias on a stacked card in New York.
David Morrell also looks to bounce back from losing his WBA ‘regular’ light-heavyweight title to David Benavidez against undefeated Russian Imam Khataev.
Edgar Berlanga vs Hamzah Sheeraz
Shakur Stevenson vs William Zepeda
Alberto Puello vs Subriel Matias
David Morrell vs Imam Khataev
Berlanga vs Sheeraz prediction
This could be an explosive clash between two fighters boasting impressive knockout records.
Sheeraz had reeled off 15 in a row before his very fortunate draw against Adames, while Berlanga’s first 16 pro bouts were all won by stoppage in addition to more recent meetings with the likes of Gonzalez-Ortiz and Ireland’s Padraig McCrory either side of that defeat by Canelo.
There is a reason why this has eventually been picked as the headline act in New York over Stevenson vs Zepeda, despite complaints from the likes of Oscar De La Hoya.
It’s a risky fight for Sheeraz to take in his debut at super-middle and he certainly won’t have things all his own way, but we’re backing him to get the job done on the cards after an entertaining tussle in the Big Apple.
Sheeraz to win on points.
Berlanga vs Sheeraz weigh-in results
Berlanga and Sheeraz both tipped the scales at 167.6 pounds at Friday’s feisty weigh-in, under the 168-pound super-middleweight limit.
Berlanga vs Sheeraz latest odds
Berlanga to win: 6/5
Sheeraz to win: 4/6
Draw: 16/1
Berlanga to win on points or by decision: 4/1
Berlanga to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 13/5
Sheeraz to win on points or by decision: 15/8
Sheeraz to win by knockout, technical knockout or disqualification: 13/5
Odds via Betfair (subject to change).
