Tensions didn’t temper one bit between Edgar Berlanga and Hamzah Sheeraz after their contentious press conference to officially announce their upcoming fight.

Following their press conference May 15, Berlanga and Sheeraz did more verbal sparring during their face-off for DAZN. Between the shouting back and forth at each other, both fighters exuded confidence and a willingness to leave it all in the ring when they clash in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator on July 12 in the main event of The Ring’s “Ring III” pay-per-view show at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, on DAZN PPV.

“If he comes to fight, you're going to see," Berlanga said after predicting a first-round knockout. "It's different. My power is not like [Austin "Ammo" Williams]. ... July 12, I’m going to hurt this dude.”

“Empty cans make the most noise,” Sheeraz said. “I always say it and I stick by it. All the talkers in my career that I fought, you’ve seen what’s happened. It ignites a fire in me.”

Amid the trash talk, they also agreed to put $100,000 on the line for the winner.

Among the many talking points was four-division titleholder and two-time undisputed super middleweight Canelo Alvarez. Berlanga’s lone loss came at the hands of Alvarez via unanimous decision on Sept. 14.

The winner will move one step closer toward facing Alvarez if he emerges victorious against Terence Crawford on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. While Berlanga hopes to one day share the ring with Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) again, he also knows that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh has his eyes on Sheeraz as a potential opponent for him in 2026.

“I’m not taking you lightly. I know you’re coming because Turki got a plan for you. He told you, 'You beat Berlanga, I’m giving you Canelo.’ You're going straight to Canelo after this. I’m your Canelo right now.”

Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) has fought once since his loss to Alvarez, defeating an overmatched Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz by first-round knockout on March 15. Berlanga’s knockout of Gonzalez-Ortiz was the 17th of his career and his first since he began with 16 straight first-round knockouts from 2016 to 2020.

Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) will be in his first fight at super middleweight and his first fight with Andy Lee as his trainer. In his last outing, Sheeraz escaped with a disputed split draw against WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames on Feb. 22. Sheeraz had won 15 straight fights by knockout heading into his clash against Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs).

“How much do you want to bet I’ll stand in that ring with you?” Sheeraz quipped to Berlanga. “I’ll stand in that ring with you. I’m coming to your backyard. I can box. ... You know I’m coming. I’m coming with everything. I’m leaving everything in that ring.”