Hamzah Sheeraz stops Berlanga, Shakur Stevenson defends lightweight title at home of US Open tennis
NEW YORK: Hamzah Sheeraz punctuated the first boxing card held on the grounds of the US Open tennis tournament by stopping Edgar Berlanga in the fifth round Saturday night.The English fighter moved up in weight to make his debut at super middleweight and showed he has plenty of power for it, dropping Berlanga twice in the fourth round and then pouncing quickly to start the fifth before referee David Fields stopped the fight.Sheeraz (22-0-1, 18 KOs) has been touted as a potential opponent for 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez and would not only deserve it but have a chance to win if if he looked as good as he did against Berlanga (23-2), who had boasted that he would have an easy night.In the co-main event, Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated and defended his WBC lightweight title with a dominant performance, beating William Zepeda by unanimous decision.One judge favored Stevenson 119-109, while the other two had it 118-110 for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.Stevenson (24-0) won just before Berlanga and Sheeraz fought in the final bout of the night in Louis Armstrong Stadium, the No. 2 venue at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.But it was a main event-level performance from Stevenson and the first wide victory of the night after the previous two bouts were close right to the finish.Zepeda (33-1) landed a left hand shortly after the opening bell that drew a smile from the champion, and he was able to get inside a number of times to unload a series of shots at Stevenson.
