Hamzah Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) brought Edger Berlanga (23-2, 18 KOs) down to earth, annihilating him in a three-knockdown, fifth-round knockout victory in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator on Saturday night at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, NewYork. The fight went from a slow-paced affair to an explosion of punches from the British fighter, Sheeraz.
Berlanga looked in good shape through three rounds, connecting big shots and jabbing effectively against the tall 6’3″ Sheeraz. Then disaster struck in round four when Berlanga suddenly unloaded a rapid-fire four-punch combination that put Berlanga down on the canvas.
The last two punches, a right followed by a left, badly hurt the Brooklyn, New York native, Berlanga. While on the canvas, Edgar banged his gloves together out of frustration. He got to his feet, and the action was restarted. Sheeraz wasted no time but to drop Berlanga with another left-right combination.
This time, Berlanga was in bad shape on the canvas, bleeding from his nose and right eye. The referee seemed to take forever checking the dazed-looking Berlanga over before he let the action resume, however, luckily for Berlanga. The round ended before Sheeraz could get a chance to finish the job.
One could tell from looking at Berlanga in his corner between rounds that he wouldn’t survive the next round. He was too hurt and groggy-looking. Sure enough, when the fifth round started, Sheeraz immediately dropped Berlanga with a combination to the head. Referee David Fields then waved it off. The time was at 17 seconds of the round.
“When he went down at the end of the round, I thought the referee did him a favor. He took a long time to get back. The bell saved him. He carried on where he left off in the next round and did the job,” said promoter Frank Warren to BoxNation about Hamzah.
