Ten days ago, Frank Warren was at ringside in Saudi Arabia to watch Saul "Canelo" Alvarez become the undisputed super middleweight champion for a second time with a unanimous decision victory over William Scull.

Alvarez and Scull combined to throw just 445 punches, setting a new CompuBox record for the lowest number of punches thrown in a 12-round fight.

Boxing is unusual in that whilst fans and pundits can pore over statistics and draw endless conclusions, the only people who truly know what happens between the ropes are the fighters themselves. But whether you hold any store in the numbers or class them as an interesting but irrelevant detail to look over after a fight, Alvarez’s lack of activity and output was equally as glaring as Scull’s reluctance to engage.

The 34 year-old’s underwhelming performance may have been down to the level of threat he felt Scull posed or years of wear and tear finally beginning to take their toll, but over the course of his Hall of Fame career, Warren has proven himself to be one of the very best judges of choosing the right opponents at the right time for his fighters.

He saw signs that Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) could become a target for one of his biggest stars.

“I thought it was a very close fight and, I've got to be honest, if Scull could have punched he could have won that fight,” Warren told The Ring.

“Twenty years as a pro, he’s been doing it since he was a kid and it’s a funny thing, you look at him and you think to yourself, ‘If Hamzah Sheeraz can beat [Edgar] Berlanga, then I've got to fancy him to have a chance of beating [Canelo].’”

Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) will fight Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) in New York on July 12. DAZN will broadcast the third Ring event.

After appearing fortunate to scrape a draw with WBC middleweight champion, Carlos Adames, in February, Sheeraz admitted that boiling his broad, 6ft 3in tall frame down to 160lbs was affecting his level of performance and announced an immediate move up to super middleweight.

Rather than hand picking an opponent to give him a confidence-boosting soft entry at 168lbs, Sheeraz will make his super middleweight debut against Berlanga, 27, who lost a unanimous decision — and his undefeated record — to Alvarez in September.

Ranked at No. 9 by The Ring, Berlanga spat fire throughout the build-up and emerged from this first real step up in level with credit. At times, his lack of experience was apparent and he struggled to land regularly on the wily Alvarez but he still stood toe to toe with the Mexican great as the bell sounded to end the fight.

Warren acknowledges that giving Sheeraz the opportunity to better Alvarez’s performance and lay the foundations for a potential future fight was one of the factors in accepting the fight with Berlanga. He also revealed that having grown accustomed to the big stage, Sheeraz wanted to step directly back into something meaningful.

“It was. There was part of that in it, but the other thing is that he wanted to be challenged and I think Berlanga’s style — and I hope I’m right — could be [made for him] and I want to see it, especially after that last fight he had where he was struggling at the weight,” Warren said.

“When I went around [to his corner] and started saying, ‘You're going to have to up your game’ he did up his game, and he started giving Adames a few problems but he can't afford to do that anymore.”

In the aftermath of the disappointing showing against Adames, Sheeraz elected to pare down his team and parted with his longtime coach, Ricky Funez.

As well as being his first appearance at 168lbs, the fight with Berlanga will be the first of his partnership with his new trainer, Andy Lee, and although he has spent the past few years training in California he has never fought professionally in America.

The 25 year-old is taking on a lot, but Warren remains a big believer in Sheeraz’s ability.

“He's isn’t just dipping his toe in the water is he? He’s just jumped in the pond, but that's what he's done and it is a tough, tough fight,” Warren said.

“That's where we are and if he goes out to the States and he beats him on July 12, then terrific.”