Ring III: Shakur crowned kings of queens and shakur

What happens when you convert a tennis stadium in queens into a boxing location to display some of the best boxing? I decided to find out for myself and check the action at the Ring III card from Louis Armstrong Stadium.

(Credit: Golden Boy Promotions)

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Edgar Berlanga (23-2, 18 ko) began his career with sixteen in a row first round. The Brooklyn native lost a unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez in September 2024 but had won a title eliminator fight and a headline place on the Ring III card. Berlanga had the Queens, a New York crowd behind him, especially when Fat Joe and Remy performed MA live during the Puerto Rican circle walk.

Unfortunately, Berlanga could not make the rockaway, or lean back from the punch of Hamzah Sheeraz (23-0-1, 18 ko). Sheeraz Berlanga beat down twice towards the end of the fourth round before ending seventeen seconds into round five. Berlanga did a little good work early in Round One, but once Sheeraz had a feeling of Berlanga, it was a class above the native New Yorker.

Hamzah Sheeraz, of British and Pakistan descent, looked like a future star in the sport. Standing 6 feet, 3 inches tall, with a 75 -inch reach, Sheeraz used its length and skill to make Berlanga regret all the trash talk and a $ 100,000 side mentor who started with Sheeraz in the front of the pulley.

The Pwl was Sheeraz’s first fight at Super Middleweight, following a disappointing performance against CLL mid -weight champion Carlos Adames, where many felt Sheeraz was fortunate to escape with a draw.

As well as changing weight classes, Sheeraz changed coaches to Andy Lee, moving his training camp from Los Angeles to Dublin, who immediately paid. “Usually, when you go to new coaches, some things feel forced, some conversations feel forced. (Lee) is a very secure and confident man because, you know what he has done, he has been there and done.”

Following Sheeraz’s fifth round victory, Andy Lee said, “I’m very proud of it and we have only scratched the face of what he can do”. What might be next to Hamzah Sheeraz is to fight with Canelo Alvarez.

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Shakur Stevenson (24-0, 11 ko) against William Zepeda (33-1, 27 ko) for the light title of Stevenson’s WBC was the other joint chief event on the Ring III card. The attack was a conflict of contrasting styles, with Zepeda’s volume punching facing off with Stevenson’s protective witchcraft. Some may characterize bouts like Boxer vs Puncher, while others may use the phrase Bull Vs Matador, or, as Turki Alalshiki has recently described, Tom vs Jerry. This description refers to the classic cartoon where Tom, the cat, pursues Jerry, the mouse constantly. Alalshiki recently said he wanted to see “less of Tom & Jerry’s fighting”.

Stevenson was not happy with being labeled as a runner, saying in the period before the fighting, “If you call me Jerry, then I’m being ** a **. That’s what I’m coming here for, so Tom & Jerry, Jerry does and certainly.”

As he walked down to the circle at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Saturday night, confident Stevenson wore Tom and Jerry’s hat with Terence Crawford by his side and many men by 50 percent exploding through the PA system.

From the opening bell, William Zepeda continued to come forward and throw a punch. But Stevenson avoided or blocked most of the thrown punching before landing a right counter hook or a crisp combination through a Zepeda guard. Anytime Zepeda landed a clean shot on Stevenson, his fans shouted wildly. Although Zepeda landed a big shot on Stevenson off the balance towards the end of the third round, there was less and less for Zepeda fans to excite it as the battle wore on. Stevenson became more comfortable in engaging first and heading with Zepeda for pieces.

Zepeda, to his credit, still pressed on Stevenson and tried to break through the slick South -baw defensive protector. But after twelve rounds, Stevenson once again defended his title, winning 118-110 on two scorecards and 119-109 on the other hand.

This performance should calm many of the critics of the World Champion three young divisions. Stevenson is the latest in a line of defense fighters first that wins almost every round of all their fighting but again receives criticism for not being entertaining enough. Floyd Mayweather, Terence Crawford, and Andre Ward, Mentor Stevenson, were all stuck with that label at times. While his style may not suit every boxing fan, Stevenson’s status as an untreated champion and a top boxer in the sport becomes undisputed.

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Beyond the co-main events, Subriel defeated Matias (23-2, 22 ko) Alberto Puello (24-1, 10 ko) by majority decision to win the Super WBC light title. The attack had tied 114-114, while the other two judges had given Matias Edge, 115-113. When Matias was declared the new champion, Puerto Rican’s Puerto river exploded the crowd in joy.

The decision could have gone either way, but Matias pressed the action and got Puello fighting off the back foot for most of the pool. Matias spent much of the fighting walking Puello down as Matias showed the weight and the power punch that had earned him out in all his career earnings. But as the fighting progressed, Puello survived the weight of Matias and started to land some slick and frustrating counters Matias. Although Puello won the last two rounds on each of the three scorecards, he could not overcome the work that Matias did early.

Following his victory, Subriel Matias was greeted by Dalton Smith (18-0, 13 ko), who was revealed to be Matias’ first challenger for his new title. That attack will take place in four months on the IV Circle card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mike Coppinger reported on the broadcast that Matias-Smith’s winner will face Puello.

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In what could have been the best battle of the evening, David Morrell (12-1, 9 ko) sparked victory of ten-round partition decision over Imam Khataev (10-1, 9 ko) in a lightweight heavyweight competition. Morrell, fighting for the first time since the loss of David Benavidez, was demolished in the fifth round but composed himself sufficiently to win the final rounds and win a victory.

But it wasn’t an easy victory for Morrell. He was being struck with Khataev, winner of the Russian 2020 Olympic Bronze Medal, who looked like the better fighter in the first three rounds. In the fourth and fifth rounds, Morrell began to turn things around and he seemed to have turned the tide until Khataev beat Morrell down with a right hand near the end of the round.

Facing the hope of two consecutive losses, Morrell dug deeply and won the divided decision for Khataev.

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The opening pulse saw the highest light hope reito tsutsumi moving to 2-0 as a professional by defeating Michael Ruiz (2-8-1) of Toms River, New Jersey. Tsutsumi Ruiz dropped three times, having the 28 -second stop into the second round and finally revenge on the Little League World Series loss in 1998 to Toms River, New Jersey.

Tsutsumi’s first appearance was a victory on the Ring Magazine card in Times Square in May. Reito Tsutsumi is a Circle Ambassador, meaning he is a brand ambassador for Ring magazine. Tsutsumi demonstrated a combination of speed and power that made it easy to see why Ring magazine would support it.

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Ring III was a great fight card. The location was impressive, as the high stands gave an excellent look at the case for all present. The crowd was into the action and had a great fight. All that boxing fans might have hoped for in Queens for a day.