NEW YORK — Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens is one of two sites that host the men’s and women’s U.S. Open tennis championship tournaments each year. Arthur Ashe Stadium is the main Open site. But the smaller venue has seen its share of drama.

On Saturday, that drama was keyed to boxing. David Morrell escaped with a questionable split-decision win over Imam Khataev. Subriel Matias ground out a majority decision over Alberto Puello to seize his WBC 140-pound belt. And Shakur Stevenson proved his mettle with a lopsided verdict over William Zepeda to retain his WBC 135-pound title.

But the night belonged to Hamzah Sheeraz who demolished Edgar Berlanga on a fifth-round stoppage

Let’s put the evening in perspective.

The event was designated as Ring III, following in the footsteps of Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn in London on April 25 (Ring I) and the Times Square tripleheader featuring Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, and Ryan Garcia on May 2 (Ring II).

Initially, it was believed that Ring III would be contested in New York City’s Central Park. But city officials and Riyadh Season representatives locked horns often enough in bringing the May 2 venture to fruition that there was a mutual feeling that a venue for Ring III that was not directly overseen by the city would be appropriate. Hence the Louis Armstrong Stadium site.

Given the venue, a musical nod to the New Orleans-born trumpeter who helped revolutionize American popular music and jazz would have been nice. But it wasn’t to be. Loud rap and other contemporary sounds blared over the loudspeaker system throughout the night.

Meanwhile, unlike its predecessors, Ring III wasn’t marketed as an iconic event. But real fight fans go to the fights for the fights, not the trappings. This fight card shaped up as a good one and lived up to expectations.

Morrell came out of the Cuban amateur system, was highly touted and had fought credibly in a loss by decision to David Benavidez earlier this year. Iman Khataev was a 5-to-1 underdog. He fought aggressively, clearly won the first three rounds and dropped Morrell (whose strategy seemed to be to counter off the ropes) with a solid right hand in Round 5. Morrell regrouped and, as the fight progressed, Khataev tired a bit. But Morrell let him dictate the pace of the action and didn’t fight with urgency until the final round. The 96-93, 95-94, 94-94 split-verdict in Morrell’s favor seemed an injustice.

Puello vs. Matias matched two solid fighters with the latter a slight 6-to-5 favorite. Like Morrell, Puello seemed content to fight off the ropes for most of the bout while Matias opted for constant aggression. The 115-113, 115-113, 114-114 majority decision in Subriel’s favor was a bit closer than one might have thought.

That set the table for Stevenson vs. Zepeda in the first half of what was billed as a “double main event.”

Stevenson is talented. But it’s hard to know how talented because, for the most part, Shakur has fought slow opponents who aren’t big punchers. Zepeda is an effective volume puncher. But he’s slow and, in his two most recent outings, had squeaked by a faded Tevin Farmer. Stevenson was a 10-to-1 betting favorite.

Zepeda’s fight plan was predicated on pinning Stevenson in a corner and firing away with both hands. What he hadn’t counted on was Shakur willingly backing into corners and trading punches with him.

Speed kills. Stevenson’s hands were faster than Zepeda’s. Much faster. He jabbed less than expected and used his legs to circumnavigate the ring less often than in previous fights. Instead, he stayed in the pocket, getting off first and blocking Zepeda’s punches with his forearms and gloves.

After four rounds of relatively even action, Stevenson established his superiority. By the late stanzas, he was toying with Zepeda. He fought Zepeda’s fight and beat him at it, winning a 119-109, 118-110, 118-110 decision.

That set the stage for Berlanga vs. Sheeraz in a WBC 168-pound “title elimination" bout designed in theory to determine a mandatory challenger for the winner of the Sept. 13 fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford.

Berlanga talks big and had an impressive first-round knockout streak early in his career. But he’d lost 10 of 12 rounds against Canelo Alvarez in his only previous step-up fight, and more than a few people thought of him as an insufferable blowhard. Sheeraz had been fast-tracked for stardom by promoter Frank Warren but stalled when he fought to a draw against Carlos Adames in February after what his team says was a fractured left hand early in the bout.

Berlanga was a slight betting favorite. But a majority of industry insiders leaned toward Sheeraz. The pre-fight dialogue was typical of each man.

Berlanga called Sheeraz a “dick-eater” and said, “I’m knocking this [expletive] out. I want to break every bone in his face.”

Sheeraz responded in measured fashion, saying, “You’ve heard the quote ‘empty cans make the most noise.’ That’s what he is. He’s an empty can.” Hamzah then acknowledged, “I feel like this fight, for the first time in my career, I’m being underestimated. And I get it because in boxing you’re only as good as your last performance.”

Then, at the final pre-fight press conference July 10, Berlanga (who was dressed like a rough-trade gigolo) continued his unpleasant ways, throwing a pair of high-heeled shoes, a wig, and women’s lingerie at Oscar De La Hoya (one of the card’s co-promoters).

Sheeraz conducted himself in a more professional manner. It was a showcase fight. But when the bell for Round 1 rang, Berlanga didn’t show. Both men started cautiously. There was little action in the early going.

Then, with 44 seconds left in the fourth, Sheeraz froze Berlanga with a left hook up top and followed with a left-right combination that dropped him hard to the canvas. Berlanga, rose on unsteady legs, was floored again by a left-right combination, pulled himself off the canvas for the second time, and was saved by the bell. Seventeen seconds into the fifth, with Sheeraz teeing off on his defenseless opponent, referee David Fields stopped the carnage.

Sheeraz is a young fighter on the rise. It’s likely that Berlanga (who has never risen beyond a certain point) will look to fight faded names such as Caleb Plant and Jermall Charlo (who offer good pay-days and less resistance).