NEW YORK -- Hamzah Sheeraz dropped Edgar Berlanga twice before finishing the job with a fifth-round TKO in the main event of Ring Magazine 3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
There was a tremendous amount of bad blood between Sheeraz and Berlanga, with the fight being hosted in the Puerto Rican's backyard. However, it was a one-sided performance from the British fighter, who won the early rounds before putting together a scintillating series of punches in Round 4 that put Berlanga on the canvas.
Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) was two fights removed from his unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez last September and was looking to get his name back into title contention with a win. He put away Jonathan Ortiz with ease in the first round in March to secure a fight with Sheeraz, who was making his super middleweight debut.
Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) fought WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames to a disappointing split draw in February and decided to make the move to super middleweight as the weight cut was said to be too draining. He was right.
Sheeraz fought with crisp and clean combinations under the tutelage of Andy Lee, sticking Berlanga with the jab and landing precise combinations.
The fourth round saw Sheeraz pick his spots and light up Berlanga with a combination that put him down hard. While on his back, Berlanga banged his gloves together and smiled as he rose to his feet but was met with another hard combination that sent him right back down. He barely survived the round and Sheeraz wouldn't left him off the hook.
Sheeraz immediately rolled in at the start of Round 5 and followed a left hook with a right hand that put Berlanga down one last time with the fight being called off at the 17-second mark.