Ring Magazine 3 will take place July 12 in New York City with Edgar Berlanga-Hamzah Sheeraz in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator and Shakur Stevenson defending his WBC lightweight title vs. William Zepeda, The Ring has learned.
Alberto Puello will defend his WBC junior welterweight title vs. Subriel Matias and David Morrell meets the undefeated Imam Khataev on the undercard.
The super card will be available exclusively on DAZN. This event will celebrate the launch of The Ring’s forthcoming TV show, “Inside The Ring.”
Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 9 super middleweight. Berlanga, 27, is from Brooklyn, New York. His lone professional defeat came against boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez, via decision in September.
England’s Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is coming off a controversial draw with Carlos Adames in a WBC middleweight title fight in February in Riyadh.
The 25-year-old will move up to 168 pounds and take on a contender in his super middleweight debut.
Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 4 boxer at 135 pounds. The 27-year-old will make the third defense of his title, and he’ll do so just miles from his hometown of Newark, New Jersey. Stevenson is coming off a ninth-round TKO victory over Josh Padley (who replaced Floyd Schofield during fight week) in February in Riyadh.
The three-division champion and Olympic silver medalist will face arguably his toughest opponent yet.
“Camaron” Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs) is a relentless body puncher who is rated No. 5 by The Ring at lightweight. The Mexican pressure fighter enters his first title shot on the heels of back-to-back wins over former champion Tevin Farmer.
Zepeda was surprisingly floored by Farmer in a split-decision victory in November in Riyadh. The 28-year-old defeated Farmer more soundly in the rematch last month (a majority-decision win) in Cancun, Mexico, but still endured some rocky moments.
The pair of victories over Farmer made it five consecutive fights against southpaws for Zepeda. Stevenson, of course, is a slick southpaw regarded as one of the toughest fighters in boxing to land cleanly on.
The Dominican Republic’s Puello (24-0, 10 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 4 boxer at 140 pounds. He’ll make the second defense of his WBC junior welterweight title. He’s coming off consecutive wins over Gary Antuanne Russell and Sandor Martin, whom he defeated in March.
Matias (22-2, 22 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 7 junior welterweight. The 33-year-old Puerto Rican is a former champion who lost his title last year to Liam Paro via decision.
Morrell (11-1, 9 KOs) is The Ring’s No. 8 light heavyweight. The Cuban suffered his first loss in February, a decision defeat to David Benavidez.
Morrell, 27, will look to return to the win column in a tough fight against action fighter Imam Khataev, a 30-year-old Russian. Khataev (10-0, 9 KOs) enters the bout on the heels of a bruising decision win over Durval Elias Palacios in March.
Mike Coppinger is The Ring’s senior insider. He was formerly ESPN’s boxing insider. Follow him on X/Instagram: @MikeCoppinger