Berlanga: Sheeraz ‘Fed by Silver Spoon’

Edgar Berlanga says his opponent, Hamzah Sheeraz, has been “fed by a silver spoon” by Turki Alalshikh going into their fight on July 12th. He believes he’s had it much tougher than he has. This Saturday, Berlanga vs. Sheeraz will battle in the main event on DAZN PPV. The PPV price is $59.99 in the US and £24.99 in the UK.

Canelo Rematch: Berlanga’s Main Goal

Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) states that he’s coming to take that silver spoon out of Hamzah’s mouth, beat him, and then use the victory to get a rematch with Canelo Alvarez next year.

“Carlos Adames really won that fight. They all know it. You could see his face. I was watching Turki [Alalshikh] the whole fight,” said Edgar Berlanga to DAZN Boxing on X about Hamzah Sheeraz’s last fight against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames.

The judges did Sheeraz no favors by giving him a draw against Adames because the outcome wasn’t acknowledged as valid by fans. They saw it as sheer favoritism. He made things worse for himself by not pushing for an immediate rematch. If Hamzah had asked Turki to make the rematch with Adames, he likely would have granted his request.

Sheeraz: Gifted Win, Low Popularity

“I watched the fight like 20 times. Turki was getting up from his seat, leaving, coming back. [Sheeraz’s promoter] Frank Warren was screaming, ‘Ahhhh.’ His coach knew he lost. That’s why he fired his coach because his coach knew he lost. He showed it on national television. Like, he knew. You got a gift, bro,” said Berlanga about Sheeraz’s clash against Adames.

The boxing world saw it as a robbery of Adames. It hurt what little popularity Hamzah had going for him in the UK. The U.S fans didn’t rate Sheeraz as a good fighter. They saw how he was being matched before his fight against Adames. So, when he was exposed in that fight, it wasn’t a surprise.

That’s why it was a bad idea for Turki Alalshikh to use Hamzah as Berlanga’s opponent for this event. He should have switched things around by matching David Morrell against Berlanga, and put Sheeraz in with Imam Khataev. Berlanga and Sheeraz would both be massive underdogs, but if they were victorious, their popularity would soar.

Sheeraz’s “Silver Spoon” Privilege

“There’s a difference. You’re fed with a silver spoon, right? You’ve got one of the richest families in Saudi backing you up,” said Berlanga about Sheeraz. “But we’re coming to take that because I got bigger things to do. I got bigger fish to fry. I want that rematch with Canelo. So, that’s my main focus. Me, I came from the bottom, bro.”

Sheeraz didn’t fight on any of Turki Alalshikh’s cards until last February when he battled to a controversial 12-round draw against Carlos Adames for the WBC middleweight championship in Riyadh.

If Turki backs Hamzah, he hasn’t had that going for him that long. Berlanga hasn’t been paying attention well to what Turki has been saying on social media. He’s only interested in Sheeraz or the winner of the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn fight as the opponent for Canelo Alvarez next February.

Turki’s Canelo Plans Exclude Berlanga

Berlanga is NOT in Turki’s plans for a clash against Canelo. Turki hasn’t said which fights he has for Edgar if he’s victorious, but it’ll likely be someone dangerous. The last thing he needs is to match Berlanga the way Top Rank and Eddie Hearn did, feeding him mostly cream puffs, and getting no value in return due to the non-competitive match-ups.

Turki should insist that Berlanga fight an elite-level super middleweight or, preferably, a light heavyweight because he’s got to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans after his loss to Canelo.

“Ain’t no promoter wanted to sign me. Top Rank didn’t want to sign me. Golden Boy didn’t want to sign me. PBC didn’t want to sign me. Nobody wanted to sign me,” said Berlanga.

That explains why Top Rank chose to match Berlanga against exclusively weak opposition to build him for his first 20 fights. If they didn’t want to sign him, they likely saw flaws, hence, the soft matchmaking of strictly tomato cans.

Berlanga left the company to sign with Matchroom before Top Rank ever got the opportunity to move him up against contender-level fighters. Matchroom didn’t develop Berlanga either, putting him in against British domestic-level fighters Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory before matching him against Canelo Alvarez last year. Not surprisingly, Berlanga was nowhere near ready for the Canelo fight, given his preparation or lack thereof.