The Lure of Canelo: Edgar Berlanga Says Hamzah Sheeraz Had “No Choice” But to Accept Their Clash

Edgar Berlanga says Hamzah Sheeraz is only fighting him on July 12th because he was told that this was the only way he could fight Canelo Alvarez next year. He had no choice. It was either this or no Canelo. Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) appeared to intimidate Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) today during their face-off at the kickoff press conference at the Palladium in New York. Fans could see that Sheeraz looked terrified.

Berlanga-Sheeraz are headlining in a super middleweight clash on July 12th at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. The winner of the fight will be one step closer to getting a shot at undisputed 168-lb champion Canelo. They’ll still likely need one more fight before they get the bout against Canelo, because he’s already got a full schedule.

Sheeraz’s Forced Fight?

“They’re feeding him to the lion. He’s only doing this because they told him, ‘If you beat him [Berlanga], we’re going to give you Canelo.’ So, he had no option,” said Edgar Berlanga to Ring Magazine about Hamzah Sheeraz only taking the fight against him because his management told him that if he wins, he’ll get the Canelo Alvarez fight.

Berlanga is probably right. Sheeraz had no choice but to take the fight against him if he wanted to get a chance to fight Canelo and get a giant payday like the one he got last September. The lure of a potential $10 million goldmine fight is reason enough for Hamzah to fight Berlanga to earn the Canelo clash. He’ll likely receive a career-high payday fighting Edgar on July 12th.

“That’s what I was just telling him. I said, ‘You had no choice but to take this fight, bro.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, I’m coming to your hometown. I’m coming to your backyard to fight.’ I said, ‘Bro, you were forced to do this s*** to try and get the Canelo fight because they promised you that fight.’ But other than that, I’m going in there and I’m looking to hurt him,” said Berlanga about Sheeraz.

This is the path for Sheeraz to get the Canelo match. Fighting Caleb Plant or Jaime Munguia wouldn’t work as well, because those two don’t have the same popularity. Sheeraz likely would have stayed at 160 if not for the chance to enter the Canelo sweepstakes. He’s coming into this fight off a controversial draw against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames on February 22nd. So, it’s like he’s failed his way into it. Sheeraz has got to know from that encounter that it’ll only get worse for him at 168, but he’s taking a gamble to try and get the Canelo fight.

Berlanga’s Coming Out Party

“I’m 10 times more bigger, 20 times more bigger than in 2023 when I fought Jason Quigley,” said Berlanga when asked how much more popular he is since his fight with Canelo last September. “This is my coming out party for sure. This is like, ‘Alright, Berlanga is back.’ I’m back with everything. I feel like everything is doubled in my career, and stardom, money, and my IQ.”

Berlanga is better known now after fighting Canelo, but not necessarily more popular. Today’s press conference helped Berlanga a lot more than his loss to Alvarez because many boxing fans saw him in a favorable light. He was theatrical today, dominating the press conference with his stage presence and charisma.

“I gained a lot of experience from that Canelo fight. Something is in the works where once we get past this guy, I’m probably going to have to knock out [Jaime] Munguia, and then we could probably going to get that Canelo fight next year,” said Berlanga.

It’ll be up to Turki Alalshikh who Berlanga will fight next. It’s difficult to imagine him choosing Munguia, because he’s lost two out of his last four fights. Turki might want to give Edgar a tough road by making him go through Caleb Plant. That would be a tougher option than Munguia, who looks mentally weak when fighting good opposition.

Sheeraz: C-Level Fighter

“If it was easy, everybody would be knocking people out in the first round,” said Berlanga about his 16 first-round knockouts to start his career. “We grabbed legit fighters to try and get me rounds. Hey, I was going to knock them out. Yeah, maybe, who knows? I don’t think so. I think he’s a C-level fighter,” said Berlanga when told that Hamzah Sheeraz is the second best fighter on his resume behind Canelo.

Sheeraz is a B-level fighter, but he can punch. When he gets hit, he looks vulnerable and doesn’t react well to pressure. Adames walked him down all night, nailing him with shots and taking all the fight out of him. We’d already seen Sheeraz look beatable in his fight against Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams. He might have lost that fight if Ammo had continued to attack him aggressively after hurting him early.