Notebook: Berlanga, Sheeraz talk tough, aim to impress on Ring card
Andy Cruz lands lightweight title eliminator; Fisher-Allen rematch at hand; notable Golden Boy fights in works; Quick hits; Show and tell
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On their own, the fights that Turki Alalshikh will present as the top two bouts of his third Ring magazine card on July 12 are significant: super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga facing Hamzah Sheeraz, who is moving up from middleweight, in the main event and WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson defending against interim titlist and mandatory challenger William Zepeda.
But they also have a chance to lead to even bigger fights, Alalshikh explained. He was not present for the kickoff news conference on Thursday in New York but he called in during the proceedings to give his take on the bouts that will take place at Louis Armstrong Stadium, a 14,000-seat venue with a retractable roof that is part of the National Tennis Center in Queens.
“This card is very important for boxing and in a historic place, the first-ever boxing match in this tennis arena,” Alalshikh said. “This card has brilliant fighters. The eye of Shakur is on (Gervonta) ‘Tank’ (Davis). The eye of Zepeda is on big fights in Mexico. The result of Berlanga-Sheeraz is (maybe means a future fight with Canelo Alvarez). This is a big card, an important card. We are ready to do big fights. We have two (additional) big cards coming up in August and in October.”
Alalshikh added that he is in talks with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn about a fall fight between unified welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis defending against lineal/WBO junior welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez and also still thinking about fights for Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney, even if they don’t fight each other next due to Garcia’s loss earlier this month on the second Ring card.
“Let’s go back to this card,” Alalshikh said. “This card is very important to me. Sheeraz is looking to have a big performance in America and watching the result of (Terence) Crawford-Canelo. Berlanga wants to make a very big statement on his first card with us. Zepeda has a lot of options. We have ‘Latino Night,’ and we are preparing for a big (card) in Mexico.”
With that, Alalshikh said goodbye, leaving it to the fighters and their teams to continue discussing their bouts with the heated rhetoric between Berlanga and Sheeraz creating the most fireworks.
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The brash Berlanga, as always, talked tough to his opponent and generally had nothing nice to say.
“You already know what time it is. I’m knocking this motherfucker out,” Berlanga said. “He said we’re overlooking him, but I don't overlook any fighter. You are in NYC. You are in the lion's den. We’re going into this looking to hurt him. I’m going to break every bone in this guy's face and do what I do best — put on a show. Every fight, you have to turn it up.”
Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs), 27, a Puerto Rican from Brooklyn, New York, has won his only fight since he got knocked down but went the distance in a performance much better than anyone had expected when he challenged Alvarez for the unified and lineal title last September. Berlanga has always displayed confidence but he said that experience gave him even more.
“You saw me in the Canelo fight. I went toe-to-toe with him,” Berlanga said. “I was trash-talking him to his face. I’m like that at the highest level.”
As for Sheeraz, he called him “a basic fighter.”
“If he comes to fight the first round, I’m knocking him out,” said Berlanga, adding that he would love a rematch with Alvarez.
Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs), 25, of England, who will fight in the United States for the first time, had a very disappointing performance in his last fight when he boxed to draw with WBC middleweight titlist Carlos Adames in February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Most thought Adames deserved the victory.
In the wake of the bout Sheeraz linked up with trainer Andy Lee and elected to move up in weight to take on a serious opponent in Berlanga for his first fight in the division.
“I feel like this fight, for the first time in my career, I’m being underestimated,” Sheeraz said. “I get it; you’re only as good as your last performance in boxing. I’m telling you now, on July 12 — when I get the win — the Hamzah Sheeraz hype train will be back on again. We’re coming with everything.
“I’ve learned a lot of things (since the Adames bout), but it’s all well and good. That’s the past. We’re in New York. Everything is about the future and all about July 12. I’m ready. I’m going to go out there, throw a few jabs, land a right hand straight on the chin, and knock him the fuck out. But if it goes 12 rounds, it goes 12 rounds. Either way, it’ll be explosive.”
A win would put him in the running for a fight next year with Alvarez, who has two more fights with Alalshikh after his September defense against Terence Crawford in the year’s biggest fight.
“I’m not going to talk about that,” Sheeraz said when asked about Alvarez. “I need to smash Berlanga’s face, and then we can talk about that.”
The card will also include WBC junior welterweight titlist Alberto Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) against former IBF titleholder Subriel Matias (22-2, 22 KOs) and David Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs), a former secondary titlist at light heavyweight and super middleweight, against unbeaten Imam Khataev (10-0, 9 KOs) in a light heavyweight fight.
Cruz lands eliminator
Lightweight Andy Cruz, the 2020 Cuban Olympic gold medalist with a laundry list of additional amateur accolades, has been on the fast track since defecting, settling in Miami, and turning pro in July 2023.
Now Cruz (5-0, 2 KOs), 29, is set for his biggest fight. He will face Hironori Mishiro (17-1-1, 6 KOs), 30, of Japan, in an IBF title eliminator in the co-feature of Richardson Hitchins’ first defense of the IBF junior welterweight title against former unified lightweight champion George Kambosos Jr. on June 14 (DAZN) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, Matchroom Boxing announced on Friday.
The Cruz-Mishiro winner will become No. 1 in the IBF rankings and the mandatory challenger for the title, which is held by injured Vasiliy Lomachenko, who must face interim titlist Raymond Muratalla first upon his return — if he wants to keep the belt.
“Andy is one of the very top lightweights in the world, and this is going to be a massive chance for him to show the 135-pound champions that he’s ready to take their titles away,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said.
Cruz is coming off a seventh-round knockout of Antonio Moran last August.
“I’ve put in the hard work and dedication, and I can’t wait to step into the ring again,” Cruz said. “This fight isn’t just about winning; it’s about showing my people the passion I have for the sport. I’m ready to prove that I’m a contender and bring that W home.”
Mishiro, who will fight in the United States for the first time, has won five fights in a row since a fifth-round technical decision loss in 2023.
“I’m really excited and motivated for such a great opportunity,” Mishiro said. “I have fought as the underdog many times and I look forward to making another big upset.”
Also announced for the main card:
Canadian heavyweight Alexis Barriere (12-0, 10 KOs), 29, who in February signed to have Matchroom Boxing join Yvon Michel as his co-promoter, will take on fellow southpaw Roney Hines (14-0-1, 8 KOs), 29, of Cleveland, in a 10-rounder.
Junior welterweight up-and-comer Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (17-0, 16 KOs), 23, of Pomona, California, in his second fight since signing with Matchroom, will face Jonathan Montrel (19-3, 13 KOs), 35, of New Orleans, over 10.
Junior lightweight Zaquin Moses (3-0, 2 KOs), 20, of Newark, New Jersey, who is the cousin of WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson, will fight Carl Rogers (3-2, 0 KOs), 34, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, in a four-rounder.
Fisher-Allen II at hand
When heavyweight hopeful Johnny Fisher stepped up in competition against British countryman and fan favorite Dave Allen on the undercard of the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury heavyweight championship rematch on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Fisher had all kinds of trouble in the slugfest.
He got knocked down for the first time in his career in the fifth round and escaped with a heavily disputed split decision win many thought Allen deserved. Fisher (13-0, 11 KOs), 26, got the nod 95-94 on two scorecards and Allen (23-7-2, 18 KOs), 33, won 96-94 on the third.
There were so many questions surrounding Fisher that Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn put together an immediate rematch, which will headline on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) at the Copper Box Arena in London, Fisher’s hometown, where is a major attraction.
“What we saw with Johnny and Dave in Saudi Arabia was a tremendous heavyweight tussle,” Hearn said. “One that involved skill but plenty of heart and two big sets of nuts. This is a tough, tough sport, and I think both guys should be commended for what they did that night, and more importantly, for running if back. Dave didn’t have to do the rematch, and Johnny certainly didn’t have to. But there was controversy and debate, there was split opinion, and on Saturday night they will do one of the hardest things you can do in life and that’s go in there and have a fight with another man in front of the world for your entertainment.”
Fisher said he expects another grueling battle.
“I am what I am. I go in there and it’s going to be a tear-up,” Fisher said this week. “As much as I train to do this and that, I’m going to go toe-to-toe and there’s not much choice in that matter as that’s just the way I’m wired.
“Last time, if I’m honest, I wasn’t well conditioned because of the work I was doing ahead of the cancelled shows. Now I’ve had a replenished camp. I’ve trained diligently, and I can try and say I will do this and that. You’ve seen me box. I really only know how to have a tear-up. I’m in a better position to do that and I’m just going to absolutely let me hands go.”
Allen said he was excited for the rematch and predicted a different result.
“I was straight back in (the gym) after the first fight,” Allen said. “In the first fight, if Johnny is very good, I probably get beat and if he’s not, I win the fight. The first fight showed we’re on the same level. It was really competitive, and the second one is about if Johnny has improved past me or if the activity and staying in the gym will see me over the line.
“I’ve lost seven times so I would be a fool to sit here and say I can’t lose. But I’ve lost to an Olympic gold medalist (Tony Yoka), two Olympic bronze medalists (David Price and Frazer Clarke) and two world title challengers (Luis Ortiz and Lucas Browne). I’ve not lost to mugs. Johnny is a good fighter, but I think I am getting better as mad as that may seem. I think I probably win on points.”
Golden Boy fights in works
A proposed fight between Most Valuable Promotions’ lightweight Lucas Bahdi (19-0, 15 KOs), 31, of Canada, and Golden Boy’s Floyd Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs), 22, of Austin, Texas, in discussion to take place the undercard of the Jake Paul-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. card on June 28 (DAZN PPV) at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, won’t happen and talks have ended, sources with knowledge of the situation told Fight Freaks Unite, citing the inability agree to agree on money.
Bahdi, who lost every round to Ashton Sylve before rallying to score the extraordinarily violent 2024 knockout of the year when he rendered Sylve unconscious in the sixth round last July, is expected back in August on an MVP DAZN card.
There is a good chance Schofield, who withdrew during fight week from a bout against WBC lightweight titlist Shakur Stevenson due to illness in February, will still box on the Paul-Chavez PPV card with his opponent possibly being former junior lightweight titlist Tevin Farmer, the sources said.
Farmer (33-8-1, 8 KOs), 34, a southpaw from Philadelphia, has dropped three decisions in a row but all three we very close, debatable results. He lost to Raymond Muratalla, who went on to win the IBF interim lightweight title, and in his past two bouts lost to William Zepeda in WBC interim title bouts, a split decision in November, when he dropped Zepeda, and a majority verdict on March 29.
Golden Boy is also working on a fight between Kenneth Sims Jr. and Oscar Duarte, junior welterweight contenders it promotes, a source involved in the plans told FFU. If the fight is finalized it is targeted for Aug. 2 in Chicago, Sims’ hometown and also an area with a large Mexican community.
Sims (22-2-1, 8 KOs), 31, and Duarte (29-2-1, 23 KOs), 29, of Mexico, were scheduled to meet in a WBA junior welterweight title eliminator in November on the “Latino Night” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but Sims suffered a knee injury in training and withdrew.
Duarte instead faced 2016 Olympian Batyr Akhmedov, who stepped in on about three weeks’ notice for a fight contracted at 142 pounds. Duarte won a 10-round unanimous decision in a slugfest. Akhmedov dropped a majority decision in a WBA title eliminator to Sims in May 2023 in a sensational fight of the year candidate.
BetUS Boxing Show
If you missed the BetUS Boxing Show live at 1 p.m. ET on Friday please check out the replay (and also subscribe to the YouTube channel). We previewed and picked two 10-round bouts that will take place on Saturday on a light weekend: the heavyweight rematch between Johnny Fisher and Dave Allen that headlines the Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN in London and WBC junior mandatory challenger Serhii Bohachuk risking that status against Mykel Fox in the headliner on the 360 Promotions card on UFC Fight pass in Commerce, California. We also took viewer questions and comments and discussed the latest boxing news! Please check out the show here:
Quick hits
Weights from London for the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET): Johnny Fisher 245.5 pounds, Dave Allen 265 (rematch); George Liddard 159.4, Aaron Sutton 159.9; Kieron Conway 159.7, Gerome Warburton 158.8 (for Conway’s Commonwealth and vacant British middleweight titles); Jimmy Sains 159.4, Gideon Onyenani 158.4; John Hedges 199.8, Nathan Quarless 198.8; Taylor Bevan 169.8, Juan Cruz Cacheiro 169.6; Leli Buttigieg 163.6, Novak Radulovic 161.1; Shannon Ryan 114.3, Fara El Bousairi 114.6.
Weights from Commerce, California, for the 360 Promotions card on Saturday (UFC Fight Pass, 10 p.m. ET): Serhii Bohachuk 159.4 pounds, Mykel Fox 160; Omar Trinidad 125.8, Alexander Espinoza 128.4; Mizuki Hiruta 114.6, Carla Merino 114.2 (for Hiruta’s WBO women’s junior bantamweight title); Abel Mejia 130.6, Antonio Dunton El Jr. 130.8; Guadalupe Medina 104.6, Maria Micheo Santizo 105; Eduardo Diaz 150.8, Michael Meyers 149.4; Pablo Rubio Jr. 126.4, Alfredo Cruz 127.8; Jocelyn Camarillo 107.4, Qianyue Zhao 106.8.
Poland’s Michal Cieslak (27-2, 21 KOs), 36, and former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (37-7-1, 21 KOs), 42, will vie for the vacant WBC interim cruiserweight belt July 28 at Place Bell in Pascal’s hometown of Laval, Canada, the WBC said. Cieslak was originally supposed to fight Yamil Peralta for the belt but the fight “ran into complications” as the WBC put it in April, with Peralta being unavailable. Cieslak has won six fights in a row since a decision loss to then-WBC titlist Lawrence Okolie in 2022. Pascal is 2-1 since 2019 and will be in his second bout since rising to cruiserweight. The winner is obligated to defend against Argentina’s Peralta (17-1-1, 9 KOs), 33. On the undercard, former light heavyweight title challenger Marcus Browne (25-2, 16 KOs), 34, a 2012 U.S. Olympian from Staten Island, New York, will end a 22-month layoff against Olanrewaju Durodola (50-10, 44 KO), 44, of Nigeria.
A deal is in the works for former junior welterweight title challenger Jack Catterall (30-2, 13 KOs), 31, southpaw, and British countryman Harlem Eubank (21-0, 9 KOs), 31, the nephew of former two-division titlist Chris Eubank Sr., to meet on July 5 (DAZN) on a Matchroom Boxing card at AO Arena in Manchester, England, a source told Fight Freaks Unite, confirming other media reports. Eubank is coming off a 10th-round knockout of Tyrone McKenna in a strong showing in March. Catterall, who would fight in his home region, would move up to welterweight. Catterall is coming off a split decision loss to then-unbeaten Arnold Barboza Jr. in Manchester in February.
Junior welterweight contender Brandun Lee (29-0, 23 KOs), of La Quinta, California, will end an 11-month layoff, against Argentina’s Elias Araujo (22-5, 9 KOs), 37, in an eight-rounder on June 21 (ESPN+) at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, where home area middleweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. headlines against Kamil Gardzielik. Lee is promoted by Queensberry’s Frank Warren but made a deal with Top Rank to put Lee on the show.
Former WBA strawweight and junior flyweight titlist Rosendo Alvarez’s Buffalo Boxing Promotions is putting on an exhibition card that will include retired former world titleholders on Saturday at the Alexis Arguello Sports Center in Managua, Nicaragua. Among the six-round bouts in which competitors will wear 16-ounce gloves: Luis Ramon “Yory Boy” Campas vs. Ricardo Mayorga and Jose Luis Castillo vs. Jose Alfaro.
Show and tell
For many years, Juan Manuel Marquez could not land a shot at a world title. He was blatantly avoided by Naseem Hamed even when he was the longtime WBO mandatory challenger. But not only did he eventually win a world title he became an all-time great and a Hall of Famer. He even separated himself from and surpassed his more famous Mexican countrymen Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera by becoming a stalwart on the pound-for-pound list and winning seven world titles in four weight classes from featherweight to junior welterweight. Among the top fighters he defeated were Barrera for a junior lightweight title, Joel Casamayor by knockout for the lineal lightweight title and Juan Diaz by knockout in a lightweight title bout. Of course, he is most famous for his raging four-fight series with Manny Pacquiao in four great fights. Officially, Marquez was 1-2-1 against Pacquiao with a legit argument he won all four of them. He did win the fight with the only definitive result in the series, a massive sixth-round out-cold, face-first KO in their final showdown.
Marquez fought just twice more after that historic victory over Pacquiao, a split decision loss to Timothy Bradley in a welterweight world title fight and what turned out to be his final bout, a clear unanimous decision over Mike Alvarado in which they were both knocked down. Marquez hoped to fight again but could not overcome a knee injury, so the Alvarado victory goes down as his final fight. I was ringside to cover it (one of 14 Marquez fights I covered in person) at The Forum in Inglewood, California on May 17, 2014 — 11 years ago on Saturday. He is an extremely limited HBO poster from the fight in my collection.
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Photos: Berlanga-Sheeraz: Golden Boy; Cruz: Melina Pizano/Matchroom Boxing; Fisher-Allen and Schofield: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Bohachuk-Fox: 360 Promotions
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