Hamzah Sheeraz is the TSS Fighter of the Month for July

It was no big surprise that Hamzah Sheeraz defeated Edgar Berlanga when they met on July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in the New York City borough of Queens. Although Berlanga would have the crowd in his corner, the oddsmakers installed Sheeraz a small favorite.

What was surprising was the manner in which he accomplished the task. The lanky 26-year-old Englishman of Pakistani and Indian descent turned heads with a dominant performance.

In the closing minute of the fourth round, Sheeraz put the Boricua on the canvas twice with blazing combinations. Berlanga was woozy when he returned to his corner and was a sitting duck when he came out for round five. It took only two more punches before referee David Fields stepped in and waived it off.

Berlanda dismissed his first 16 opponents in the opening round. Heading into the Sheeraz fight, he was 23-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez in a bout that went the full 12 rounds.

In Sheeraz’s fight prior to meeting Berlanga, he was awarded a gift draw vs. WBC middleweight title-holder Carlos Adames. That raised questions about whether he had been overhyped. He answered that question emphatically on July 12. “The next big thing in the super middleweight division has arrived,” pronounced CBS boxing writer Brian Campbell in his post-fight story.

Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18KOs) was making his first start at 168 and his first start with Emanuel Steward protégé Andy Lee in his corner. For this bout, he trained in Dublin after training for his previous 10 fights at the Ten Goose boxing gym in the Los Angeles area where he was handled by Ricky Funez.

The win puts Sheeraz in line to fight Canelo Alvarez which Sheeraz’s booster Turki Alalshikh hopes to make happen in early 2026. Of course, Terence Crawford can spoil those plans by defeating the Mexican superstar when they meet in September in Las Vegas.

Honorable mentions: James “Jazza” Dickens, Manny Pacquiao, Ricardo Sandoval.

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