Hamzah Sheeraz smashes Edgar Berlanga with INCREDIBLE KO win to set up potential Canelo Alvarez showdown
Sheeraz came into the bout of the back of a controversial draw against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames in February.
2
2
And welcoming him up to super-middleweight Berlanga - once a man who scored 16 straight first-round knockouts.
But more recently, he was dominated over 12 rounds by Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Sheeraz went one further by stopping Sheeraz one round after his two knockdowns in the fourth.
He is now mandatory for the WBO 168lb title and said: 'Canelo is a boxing hero of mine.
"For my name to be mentioned in the same sentence is a great achievement.
'If it does happen I'll stand in the middle and have it out with him.
'Massive thank you to Andy Lee.
'Them first few rounds I was losing but we had a plan. I told him to trust me and he did, so thank you.
'I swear to you, whoever was in the ring with me today there was no stopping me.'
Sheeraz, 26, first floored Berlanga, 28, with a left hook after a combination of punches.
The American - with Puerto Rican heritage - made it to his feet but was dropped once more this time a right hand doing the damage.
Brave Berlanga made it out of the round but after a right hand dropped him again the referee waved off the bout.
Sheeraz moves to 22 wins and one draw and must await the next move of Canelo - who faces Terence Crawford on September 13.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
The Englishman who turned around Scheffler's putting fortunes
When world number one Scottie Scheffler reached out to one of golf's most sought-after putting coaches in September 2023, he could not have imagined the transformation it would bring to his American was already a major champion and had won twice that season but he was in a fug. The statistics proved he was the best from tee to green. They also proved he was among the worst with a putter in Tour players hole 90% of putts from four feet. At that time, Scheffler was making 80%. The best player in the world was ranked outside the top 150 in putting and fending off the same questions every in Phil Kenyon, coach to the best in the 12 months, Scheffler had risen into the top 15 putters and completed a remarkable season, winning seven PGA Tour events, including a second Masters, and an Olympic gold medal at the Paris he arrives at this week's Open Championship on the back of a run of three victories in his past 10 events - including winning his third major at the US PGA Championship - and finishing in the top 10 in the other seven to reaffirm his position as the world's dominant player."That was a particular high for Scottie after some lows and a lot of discussion about his putting," Kenyon told BBC Sport of the American's major victory at Augusta National in April 2024."And for him to putt so well fairly early on in my role working with him, that was a highlight for me."So what did Kenyon tweak? He helped with green reading, to give Scheffler more confidence in his own ability. He helped change his it was a switch from his trusted blade to a mallet putter "to help him with lining up putts" that really sparked a change in another poor performance on the greens in February 2024, long-time friend and mentor Brad Payne - speaking in a PGA Tour documentary of that season - recounted a conversation they had in Scheffler's Dallas home: "I said 'buddy, how are you doing?' and he said, 'I don't think I'm doing well'."That was after the Genesis Invitational, where Scheffler finished joint 10th. The mallet putter made its debut in his next event and Scheffler won four of his following five tournaments, including the Masters by four strokes. Who is Phil Kenyon? Kenyon, who hails from the seaside town of Southport, on England's 'golf coast', grew up surrounded by the game. His dad was friends with 'Britain's putting doctor' Harold Swash, who worked with European Tour legends Nick Faldo, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood among many others."He would pay me to help him out, carrying his gear around, and was a huge inspiration," said Kenyon, who was was a decent amateur and turned professional after studying a sports science quickly realised he "didn't have the game" to make a living as a pro so, with Swash as a mentor, started coaching."Harold was slowing down at that time so it gave me an opportunity to get stuck in," he added."I've been at it 25 years. You just work on your craft day-to-day and it organically develops. I never envisaged travelling the world though, following players to tournaments."And while he is quick to deflect the praise, Kenyon's achievements are impossible to triumph at May's US PGA Championship meant the Englishman completed the career 'Golden Slam' of coaching players to all four major titles and Olympic Henrik Stenson and Francesco Molinari picked up Claret Jugs while under his tutelage; Matt Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland won the US Open; Justin Rose won gold at the Rio 2016 Games; Scheffler picked up a second Green Jacket and Olympic title in their first year working also has Tommy Fleetwood and US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley among his client list. 'McIlroy helped make me a better coach' Kenyon also still coaches from his studio in Formby on Merseyside and is equally as comfortable teaching a pro or an amateur."Different players provide different challenges," he said."I can get stuck into the weeds with the best of them if that's the route you want to go down but it's about trying to work out the right balance for each player."There is a terrific video from 2021 of Kenyon and Rose going through some technical are mic'd up so you can hear Rose asking for reassurance and guidance as Kenyon buzzes round the green, offering words of encouragement while simultaneously checking putter head alignment and confirming slope angles with a spirit is more into the stats. "In comparison to those two, Scheffler plays a lot more 'feel' and is a simpler golfer," said Kenyon. "He's less technical, less stats orientated, but equally, if not more, competitive."All the best players I've worked with are questioning and probing - you're working together to find the right solutions for them."Kenyon also spent some time coaching Rory McIlroy, with the pair hooking up post-2016 Olympics. "I felt like I did a decent job of improving him technically over that period of time but he felt the need to find other things," said Kenyon of their time together."In hindsight, some things I would have done differently. But I'm glad I didn't. You learn from it and I became a better coach because of it. "There are things that I learned through that experience with Rory that have helped me with Scottie." How to adapt to putting at The Open The professional circuit has arrived in the UK for two weeks of the links golf Kenyon was brought up on at Hillside Golf Club in on the coastal courses that host the annual Scottish Open and Open Championship are vastly different to those players encounter on the PGA Tour and it's all about adapting the three key areas of line, speed and green week's Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club near Edinburgh will have been a "great opportunity to prep" for this week's Open at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland."The big thing is getting the speeds," said Kenyon, who will be prowling the practice putting green "keeping on top of the maintenance" of his job at tournaments is more like "supervised practice" and "cheerleading" rather than getting into technical work."Links greens are slower than in the US and they can have more subtle slopes," he explained."And then you've got the wind. Wind will be a big factor. It influences the break a lot and when you've got these subtleties of break and wind it makes it a very different challenge in your read. "It's like in tennis - you've had clay court season and then you get on to grass - part of your preparation is adapting to the surfaces you're putting on."A lot of adaption occurs subconsciously and I'm there to provide feedback, making sure they are comfortable with what they are doing." What's the secret to putting like a pro? "You've got three skills to master. Starting the ball on the right line. Controlling the speed. Reading the green," said Kenyon."And there are a variety of techniques you can use within each skill. With all of them it's about trying to find the right technique for you, what matches you as a person, your personality."You can't just master two out of the three, though. All three skills need to be working in harmony for putts to of the techniques Kenyon coaches for green reading, for example, is AimPoint, which has been around for a couple of decades but has recently increased in popularity and is used by players such as former world number one Adam Scott, Rose and is being seen as a way of speeding up the putting process. In basic terms, players use their feet to feel and grade the severity of slope from one to three. They then hold up the corresponding number of fingers out in front of them towards the hole to line up the putt, using the outside edge of the fingers as the aim point."It's a valid method that is growing in appeal, but there are other ways to read greens," said Kenyon, who points to the internet as a huge source of information."It's not always good but people will come across things that will make them think more and that 'oh, I should try that this weekend'."And when you are next out and trying new putting techniques, perhaps frustrated at missing that eight-footer to 'win The Open', remind yourself that PGA Tour players fail to hole from that distance 50% of the time.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Yankees star Jazz Chisholm ruthlessly savaged by MLB fans after Home Run Derby humiliation
Baseball fans are mercilessly mocking New York Yankees star Jazz Chisholm, who had a night to forget at the 2025 Home Run Derby in Atlanta. This year's derby only featured three of the top-ten home run hitters in the league. While top-ten hitters Cal Raleigh, James Wood, and Junior Caminero participated, the league had to go as low as 43rd on the home run list to fill out a roster of ten stars to participate. As a result, some shocking performances were turned in - but none worse than Jazz Chisholm. Chisholm, who is currently 31st on the MLB home run list, stepped into the batters box and hit a paltry three home runs on 38 swings. It was by far the least amount of home runs in the first round for the night - with the next lowest number coming from Matt Olson, who hit 15 homers. Chisholm was eviscerated on social media - with memes mocking him popping up moments after he was eliminated. Memes compared him to George Costanza, Billy Beane of 'Moneyball' fame, and his struggling Yankees teammate Anthony Volpe. 'Fun fact: Jazz Chisholm Jr. chose to wear the jersey number 3 to foreshadow the amount of home runs he was going to hit tonight... chills,' joked one user on X. Boston sports fan Tyler Milliken joked that former Red Sox minor leaguer Bobby Dalbec 'would've put on a better show than Jazz Chisholm. I know that.' 'People are mad about [Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob] Misiorowski being in the All Star Game when we should really be asking why the f Jazz Chisholm was in the Home Run Derby,' said another account. Another account raged, 'This is a black eye on Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred. Eugenio Suarez, an all-star with 31 home runs (4th in MLB), wanted to participate in the Derby. MLB wouldn't let him so they could let Jazz Chisholm, a guy with 4 HRs on the road this season, play. Hope you're happy.' 'Jazz Chisholm needs a friend in his life who would have told him no when he said he was gonna sign up for the Home Run Derby,' joked another. Fans mocked Chisholm and blasted MLB for letting him participate despite his low numbers In a season where the Yankees have struggled to keep momentum going, Chisholm has been one of the few bright spots. His 17 home runs is good for second on the team behind Aaron Judge, who did not compete in the Home Run Derby despite being second in the league in the statistic. As for the event itself, Seattle Mariners superstar Cal Raleigh won the Home Run Derby with 18 blasts in the final round to outlast Junior Caminero of the Tampa Bay Rays. Raleigh, who leads MLB in home runs at the All-Star Break, hit 17 homers in the first round to barely survive into the semifinals after StatCast determined he broke a tie with Brent Rooker by 0.1 feet. He then outlasted Oneil Cruz in the semifinals before beating Caminero and becoming the first Mariner to win the event since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999.
The Guardian
5 hours ago
- The Guardian
Jake Paul is boxing's newest power broker. Taylor v Serrano was his proof of concept
On Friday night, 11 July, Katie Taylor earned the clear-cut win that had eluded her in two previous victories by controversial decision over Amanda Serrano. Fighting before a sold-out crowd of 19,721 on the first all-women's boxing card ever at Madison Square Garden, Taylor outboxed her longtime rival and solidified her status as one of the greatest women boxers of all time. The evening was a celebration of women's boxing and also marked a significant step forward for Most Valuable Promotions (Jake Paul's promotional company), which orchestrated, produced and marketed the event. Paul is a highly visible social media influencer with 28.4m followers on Instagram and 20.9m subscribers to his YouTube channel. He and Nakisa Bidarian (who was once the UFC's chief strategy and chief financial officer) met in 2019 when Bidarian began planning the 2020 exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones for Triller. Paul had only one fight on his resume at the time – a victory over social media personality Ali Eson Gib. But Bidarian signed him for the primary support bout beneath Tyson-Jones, and Jake knocked out former NBA basketball player Nate Robinson in the second round. The following year, he and Bidarian founded MVP. Bidarian has a reputation for being hard-working, abrasive and smart. One person who has worked with him says, 'Nakisa always thinks he's the smartest person in the room, and very often that's true. But he has the personality of a porcupine and can be difficult to deal with.' That said; another person who has worked with Bidarian opines, 'Nakisa is a hard negotiator but he's always professional. He thinks creatively outside the box. And once he makes a deal, he lives up to it. He doesn't look at a contract as the starting point for a new round of negotiations, which distinguishes him from a lot of people in boxing.' MVP calls itself a managerial company. But like Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions (another 'managerial' company), it functions as a promoter. In recent years, MVP has promoted numerous small fight cards on DAZN. But its greatest success has come with Jake Paul's fights. Now it's trying to build on Paul's social media presence and ring exploits to establish a promotional company that isn't reliant on Jake fighting to turn a profit. Paul's ring career has blurred the line between social media influencers and traditional boxers. After knocking out Gib and Robinson, he won four more fights against a string of aging former MMA combatants before losing a decision to Tommy Fury. That was followed by five more wins, the most notable of which was an eight-round decision over 58-year-old Mike Tyson last November. Two weeks ago, he decisioned an unmotivated, out-of-shape, long-past-his-prime Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Paul has the ring skills of a club fighter. That merits respect. But now that the novelty of his fighting has worn off, he needs a dance partner to attract a large audience willing to pay big money to watch him fight. Tyson-Paul fit that profile to perfection. The fight was marred by a lack of serious PED testing and questionable medical-clearance standards for Tyson. But it drew 72,300 fans to AT&T Stadium in Texas. The live gate surpassed $18m, making it the largest on-site gate ever in the United States for a fight card held outside of Las Vegas. It was also the first live professional sports event ever on Netflix and the most-streamed sports event of all time. More than 60m households around the world watched it. That made Taylor-Serrano II (which was on the undercard of Tyson-Paul) the most-watched women's sporting event in US history. Building on that success, Netflix purchased rights to stream Taylor-Serrano III as well as the upcoming 13 September Saudi-backed encounter between Canelo Álvarez and Terence Crawford. Paul has mastered the art of making money through social media. 'We've been fortunate to have Jake as the head of our spear,' Bidarian acknowledges. 'Social media is the most important currency in the world today because the vast majority of Gen Z and younger get their news, get their content, get their updates from social media.' But once Paul stops boxing, MVP's biggest money-making vehicle will be gone. Jake simply showing up for someone else's fight that he's promoting won't create much wealth. 'They're trying to develop other stars to fill the void,' says a manager who has done business with MVP. 'But most of their young fighters aren't very good. Other than Amanda Serrano, they haven't signed a fighter who can generate big money. And Amanda has to be paired with someone like Katie Taylor to sell.' Bidarian is believed to be trying to raise capital from outside sources to expand MVP. Meanwhile, the company is working to establish a reputation as the place for elite women boxers to be and build what Bidarian calls 'a cohesive unfragmented women's boxing program'. In recent months, it has announced a series of high-profile signings and hopes to launch an all-women's boxing series. 'Women's boxing might not become as popular as men's boxing,' Bidarian acknowledges. 'But it can carry its own weight.' Meanwhile, there's a huge plus to what MVP is doing. It's generating the cash through live gate receipts, pay-per-view buys, license fees, sponsorships and other income streams to cover what Paul and the company are paid. No big loser is keeping MVP afloat, which is an all-too-common formula in the boxing business today. That brings us to Taylor-Serrano III. Most boxing trilogies result from the first two fights between the combatants being split. Here the trilogy came about because, even though Taylor emerged victorious on the judges' scorecards in Taylor-Serrano I and II, they were exceptionally good fights. And many knowledgeable observers thought that Serrano deserved the decision in one or both of them. Taylor-Serrano I was a watershed moment for women's boxing. Promoted by Eddie Hearn, it was contested at Madison Square Garden on 30 April 2022, before a sellout crowd of 19,187 and engendered a live gate of $1,450,180. The atmosphere was electric. The action was heated. Taylor won a 97-93, 96-93, 94-96 verdict. Taylor-Serrano II (on the undercard of Tyson-Paul) was just as enthralling. Once again, Taylor prevailed; this time by a slender 95-94, 95-94, 95-94 margin. On both occasions, Serrano was remarkably gracious in defeat and accepted her loss without public complaint. But her resentment showed at the 9 April kick-off press conference for her third encounter with Taylor. Not one to shy away from hype, host Ariel Helwani began the press conference by calling it 'one of the most important press conferences in combat sports history'. Eventually the fighters had their say. Serrano called Taylor a great champion and said she respected her in and out of the ring. Katie responded, 'There's no animosity on my side. I'm just here to fight.' But things got testy when Serrano said that she'd wanted 12 three-minute rounds for their upcoming fight rather than the 10 two-minute rounds that are traditional for women's championship bouts and claimed that Taylor had reneged on a promise to accept that format. Taylor countered that she'd declined the request because the WBC wouldn't sanction the fight on those terms and added, 'The challenger shouldn't be dictating the terms of the fight. Amanda's not in a position to dictate and Amanda's not in a position to change the format of women's boxing.' That pushed Serrano's buttons and she turned to the judging of the first two fights, declaring, 'The world has eyes. They saw what they saw. It sucks that three judges see something completely different. But millions of people saw it another way.' 'I'm not interested in what Amanda says about the fight,' Taylor countered. 'I'm only interested in what the judges say about the fight. I am 2-and-0 here. I was the deserved winner. Here we are again, having a silly conversation because you're trying to create a narrative that you were robbed in that fight. That's not OK, Amanda.' 'A lot of times I let those comments go,' Taylor said afterward. 'But enough is enough of all the silly comments and the complaints over the decision and stuff. I'm 2-and-0 against her. She actually feels like she won that fight, which is not correct. She wants to walk to the ring second. She wants to be announced second. It's absolutely ridiculous. After I beat her a third time, I don't want any more complaints.' Fight week offered the usual mix of media workouts, photo ops and other promotional activities. Serrano gave the impression of enjoying it. Taylor is on the shy side and would rather train and fight than talk. MVP announced that the event would 'break the official Guinness World Records title for the most world championship belts ever contested on a single fight card, male or female, with 17 world titles on the line across five bouts'. But while fighters and networks care about the belts, most fight fans don't. Championships were devalued in boxing long ago. And that's particularly true of women's boxing. Meanwhile, Ariel Helwani upped the ante at the final pre-fight press conference, calling the event 'the greatest fight card of all time'. Some of the undercard bouts that preceded Taylor-Serrano III were competitive and spirited. Others weren't. Of particular note, Shadasia Green won a 96-93, 95-94, 93-96 split-decision over Savannah Marshall in an action fight that saw both women dig deep and could have gone either way on the judges' scorecards. Finally it was time for the main event. Taylor-Serrano III was for all four of Taylor's 140lb belts. But as a concession to Serrano, there was a 136lb contract weight. The high stakes and enthusiastic crowd (which leaned toward Serrano) gave the bout high drama. But the action was far more muted than in their first two encounters. This time around, Taylor put on a defensive boxing clinic. The first three rounds were tactically fought with both women probing for openings and finding little to exploit. A judge could have scored them either way. Taylor's game plan was clear. She had no intention of engaging in firefight exchanges. She would move, box and pick up points when and where she could. She fought a smart, measured, disciplined fight with side-to-side movement that exposed Serrano's limitations as a boxer. And Amanda had no Plan B to break through Katie's defensive shield. Serrano clearly won round six. But other than that, her stalking was largely ineffective aggression. Two of the judges scored the fight 97-93 for Taylor, which was on the mark. The third tally (95-95) was bad judging. 'The whole game plan,' Taylor said afterward, 'was to not let her feet set. I knew I was capable of a performance like that in the other two fights as well. But the two fights previously ended up as complete wars, and I came out of the ring battered and bruised and I'm thinking, 'Why am I just standing there, fighting?'' Putting that comment in perspective; Serrano landed 173 punches to Taylor's 147 in their first encounter. In Taylor-Serrano II, those numbers increased to 324 to 217 in Amanda's favor. This time around, each fighter landed a meager 70 punches. Both women were gracious in the aftermath of the fight. 'I'm so grateful for Amanda Serrano,' Taylor said. 'What an amazing champion. And we created history together three times. My name will be embedded with hers forever. I'm very very happy about that.' Serrano responded in kind, saying, 'Thank you Katie Taylor for an incredible three fights and 30 rounds. It has truly been an honor to face you.' As for the future; Taylor's voice is starting to sound softer and a bit less crisp and clear than it once did. Serrano is showing the wear and tear of 52 professional fights. Each woman has earned life-changing money. Their health shouldn't be trifled with. It would be nice if they both retired now. Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@ His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder. In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
