Hamzah Sheeraz made Edgar Berlanga look bad during their Face Off on DAZN, exposing him as being deluded about his performance in his loss to undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez in 2024.
(Credit: Geoffrey Knott/Matchroom)
Sheeraz Exposes Berlanga’s Canelo Delusion
Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) has painted a picture in interviews of how the fight was an exciting war, but Sheeraz threw water on that by saying that’s not what played out. The only round in which Edgar fought aggressively was in the 12th, and by then, it was too late.
Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) and Berlanga are headlining on July 12th in a 12-round super middleweight fight on DAZN PPV at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York.
Turki Alalshikh said recently on X that he would be “very upset” if Sheeraz loses to Berlanga by knockout because he has “big plans” for him. It’s believed the fight that Turki wants for Hamzah is against Canelo next February.
Due to Berlanga’s one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Canelo in 2024, he’s not someone that Turki could use as an opponent.
Berlanga’s False Canelo Narrative
“He done good. But the perception he has in his head of the fight he had, I didn’t see that. He said he stood toe-to-toe with him,” said Hamzah Sheeraz to DAZN Boxing, talking about how Edgar Berlanga fought in his loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2024.
“Everybody knows that. Nobody said nothing. Walk around New York right now and ask about that fight. I had blocks shut down over here,” said Berlanga.
It’s crazy that Berlanga is trying to make it seem like his fight with Canelo was a toe-to-toe war, because it was nothing like that. The entire fight is on YouTube, and you can see that Berlanga boxed timidly, walking on eggshells from rounds 1 through 11. He only fought hard in the 12th, and even in that round, Canelo got the better of him. Berlanga’s huge size and youth advantage didn’t help him.
“It all comes down to winning, and did you win?” said Sheeraz. “That’s the reality of it.”
Berlanga’s Delusional Fight View
“Look at Arturo Gatti and Ward,” said Berlanga.
“So, you’re saying your fight [with Canelo] was like that?” said Sheeraz.
“I’m not saying that. Nobody talks about the winner or the loser. They talk about the war that they had,” said Berlanga.
What on earth is Berlanga talking about? His fight with Canelo was nothing like the wars that Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward had. It was the opposite. Berlanga boxed the majority of the fight and turned in an awful performance in losing.
What’s surprising is that Turki still chose to use him as an opponent for Hamzah Sheeraz to fight rather than one of the talented contenders at 168, like Christian Mbilli or Osleys Iglesias. Those two are far better fighters than Berlanga. However, they’re not New Yorkers and wouldn’t sell tickets or bring in PPV buys on DAZN. However, the tickets aren’t selling, which shows Berlanga isn’t a great draw. Turki made a mistake using him.
