Hamzah Sheeraz landed in New York this week as a reasonably unknown quantity, but he is adamant he will leave The Big Apple as boxing’s latest star.

The 26-year-old Sheeraz faces Edgar Berlanga at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens as part of “Ring III” on July 12.

It will be his first fight since his disappointing split draw with Carlos Adames on February 22, in what was his first attempt to win a world title. That unsuccessful challenge also turned out to be his final fight as a middleweight, with this month’s Berlanga showdown taking place at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds.

Before locking horns with Adames, the man from Ilford was on a 15-fight knockout streak and had emerged as one of the UK’s most exciting punchers. His promoter, Frank Warren, even labeled him the country’s answer to Tommy Hearns.

But Adames was able to stifle him at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia five months ago. Sheeraz has since not only changed weight class, but also switched trainers, from Ricky Funez in California to Andy Lee in Dublin.

Lee, a former WBO middleweight champion, was one of his era’s most underrated one-punch knockout artists in his own right. The highlight reel from his memorable career is evidence of that.

Now Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is hoping the new alliance will not only secure him a victory, but also a win that will catch the attention of the American boxing public in his first fight on U.S. soil.

“It’s not just about winning,” Sheeraz said. “It’s about putting on a performance because the U.S. fans truly appreciate the razzmatazz and the drama that comes with a fight of this magnitude. The buck stops with me at the minute. I definitely have to impress because it's my first fight in the USA, so I need to kind of get these fans over here behind me and let them know who Hamzah Sheeraz really is.

“Winning this fight does everything for my profile in America and more. Everything and more. You couldn’t ask for a better fight to come out to the U.S. fans with. This is against someone with a loud mouth, who talks a lot of smack. That just brings a lot more attention to the fight as well.”

Since landing in New York, Sheeraz has felt the anticipation for the fight growing during strolls around Times Square. And while it might not quite feel like it yet, there is no denying he will be fighting behind enemy lines given Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) was born and raised in Brooklyn.

“It’s been all good so far,” Sheeraz said of his time in New York. “We had everything sorted before I landed anyway, so as soon as I come here I'll kind of hit the ground running. Because we're staying near Times Square, when you're walking around the streets, you get random people coming up to you saying, 'Oh we're going to be at the fight’. So it's quite surreal and it shows that it's quite a big fight. You don't really get that in the UK, but I suppose where we're located here now is like the prime spot.

“And in terms of the hostile environment, there's nothing I'm really concerned about, nothing I'm really concerned about because surprisingly a lot of people here don't even like him, to be fair. And if anything, they're rooting for me. So it'll be a hostile environment for him.”

Berlanga’s sole defeat came against undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez back in September 2024. Although Sheeraz’s last outing officially went down as a draw, he revealed much of the fall-out felt like he had lost against Adames.

“It took me a good six to eight weeks to get over it,” Sheeraz said. “It was an interesting space because I’ve never been there before. I thought, 'This is it. The world has come crashing down. What do I do now?' You go from winning, knocking everyone out, to having a performance that is a dip in your career. Then it’s like ‘What happens now?’ You see people’s energy change towards you. You hear about that all the time, but not until you’re in that certain situation and you experience it do you truly understand what is meant by that.

“But what helped me get over it was getting the phone call from His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, to tell me that I’ll be fighting in New York against Edgar Berlanga. As soon as he told me that it was like ‘Right, cool.’ I’ve got an opportunity to really put things right here at a more natural weight to get me back on top again.”