Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz: Who Wins?

Edgar Berlanga Can Talk The Talk, But Can He Walk The Walk?

The 28-year-old Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs), who was born in Florida but spent most of his childhood in New York, was a terror since turning pro in 2016. He scored 16 consecutive stoppages, all of them being in the first round. Top Rank promoted Berlanga at the time, and the marketing machine was on overdrive as Berlanga was being built as the next Mike Tyson. With all of that talk, Berlanga bought into it a little too much, and the purse demands began to increase even though he was the subject of great matchmaking.

Regardless, Berlanga was riding a big wave, but something happened in April 2021 when he faced veteran Demond Nicholson. Although Berlanga would score multiple knockdowns that night, he couldn’t put Nicholson away and was also hit in ways he hadn’t been up to that night.

Nicholson exposed a bit of a blueprint against Berlanga, which Mercelo Coceres would soon use to knock down Berlanga, for the first time in his career, in the ninth round of their October 2021 fight. Berlanga would earn the unanimous decision that night, but he wouldn’t get another stoppage until February 2024 when he knocked out Padraig McCrory in the sixth round of their fight. Berlanga would fight Canelo Alvarez seven months later and lose via unanimous decision. Berlanga came back in March to earn a first-round TKO against a lifeless Jonathan Ortiz.

Now, Berlanga must look impressive against Sheeraz to secure a bigger fight in the future. How does Berlanga do it? He needs to come out aggressively from the start, as Sheeraz will be fighting at super middleweight for the first time as a pro. Berlanga needs to focus on the body of Sheeraz to bring down the high guard defense he often has. Once Berlanga has Sheeraz on the back foot, he can then unload his offense and maybe even force a stoppage late in the fight.

Hamzah Sheeraz Has A Chance To Introduce Himself In A Big Way

There is a reason the oddsmakers have made the 26-year-old Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) the favorite to win this fight. He is a solid contender who has good power, defense, and boxing skills. Sheeraz hasn‘t fought top competition on the way up, and when he stepped up and fought for the WBC title in February against Carlos Adames, he suffered a split draw, but those watching at home felt Sheeraz should have lost. Adames pushed him to the limit and even forced a concerned Turki Alalshikh to get out of his seat and tell Sheeraz he was down on the scorecards to motivate him.

Sheeraz has to push Berlanga back and use volume to mute Berlanga’s offense. Sheeraz can also use his 75” reach to throw the jab and keep Berlanga outside of mid-range. If Sheeraz can avoid getting into a firefight with Berlanga, he can box his way to a unanimous decision just like Canelo did in September.

Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz Prediction

Berlanga has more to lose in this fight, and I think he will use that as fuel to score a unanimous decision over Sheeraz. He will do so while giving his NY fans their pound of flesh with a knockdown at some point in the fight.

Edgar Berlanga vs. Hamzah Sheeraz Betting Odds

Per DraftKings SportsBook, Hamzah Sheeraz is the favorite at -135, and Edgar Berlanga is the underdog at +110.

Edgar Berlanga: TKO/KO +260; Decision +350

Draw: +1600

Hamzah Sheeraz: TKO/KO +270; Decision +200