Hamzah Sheeraz moved up to super-middleweight and stopped Edgar Berlanga, starring at a boxing event held at the Louis Armstrong stadium, the home of the US Open tennis tournament.
Sheeraz, making his US debut, halted Berlanga in the fifth round.
“Massive, massive performance from myself,” Sheeraz said.
The Englishman showed he still has power at 168lbs, dropping Berlanga twice in the fourth round and then pouncing quickly to start the fifth before referee David Fields ended the fight.
Sheeraz was fortunate to escape with a draw in his last bout, a WBC middleweight title bout with Carlos Adames. But with this latest performance, the Briton has advanced his case for a shot at undisputed super-middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez.
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Highlights of the WBC world title fight between Hamzah Sheeraz and Carlos Adames which ended with a disputed decision
Berlanga had gone the distance with Canelo in his only previous loss.
In the fourth round Sheeraz dropped Berlanga flat on his back. Berlanga raised his arms in the air, perhaps trying to show he wasn’t hurt, but Sheeraz knocked him down a second time in the corner before the bell sounded to end the round.
But it didn’t take long once the fifth started, as a three-punch combination knocked Berlanga off balance and one of his gloves touched the canvas as Fields waved it off.
“Today there was nothing stopping me,” Sheeraz said.
Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated and defended his WBC lightweight title with a dominant display, beating William Zepeda by unanimous decision.
Stevenson won 119-109 on one card and 118-110 on the other two. Zepeda landed a left hand shortly after the opening bell that drew a smile from the champion, and he was able to get inside a number of times to unload a series of shots at Stevenson. But he was often powerless to stop the rapid flurries coming back at him.
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Highlights of the WBC lightweight world title fight between Shakur Stevenson and Josh Padley from February
Stevenson seemed happy to trade blows and most of the time came out ahead when he did.
“At the end of the day, I told you all, whatever it takes to get the job done,” Stevenson said. “I got dog in me. I’m not a puppy, I’m not a poodle, I’m a tough guy, so I got dog in me.”
Zepeda did trap Stevenson in a corner to score with some shots in the third round, bringing his Mexican fans out of their seats, but generally Stevenson’s head movement allowed him to dodge potential trouble. By the middle of the fight, Stevenson was firing off two, three, sometimes four unreturned shots
There was a title change when Subriel Matias edged Alberto Puello by majority decision to take the WBC’s super-lightweight belt.
Before that, Cuban David Morrell got up from a fifth-round knockdown to rally late and edge Imam Khataev by split decision in a light-heavyweight bout.
