After turning heads in his American debut, Hamzah Sheeraz says he wants more of the same on U.S. soil only bigger. The unbeaten super middleweight (22-0-1, 18 KOs) stormed onto the Stateside scene on July 12, stopping Edgar Berlanga in five rounds in the main event of The Ring III at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. The statement win arrived five months after his contentious split draw with WBC middleweight champ Carlos Adames, and it has Sheeraz thinking even louder for 2026.
“A Million Percent” Back to the U.S.
Asked if he wants another marquee fight across the pond, Sheeraz didn’t hesitate.
“A million percent. It’d be an honor to share the ring with those guys,” he told The Ring’s Louis Hart, listing Jermall Charlo, Caleb Plant, Jaime Munguia, and Jose Armando Resendiz as dream opponents. “I’ll go in there with every intention to completely destroy that person, but these are great fighters… My mindset is I want to fight these fighters from America or these big, big, big names fights where I’m the underdog.”
Canelo Plans Derailed—But Title Shot Still in Play
Sheeraz had been in the frame to face former undisputed champion Canelo Álvarez next year. But Álvarez’s loss to Terence Crawford and subsequent elbow surgery put that possibility on ice. Even so, Sheeraz believes championship stakes could materialize if Crawford vacates one or more belts at 168.
Fast Return Target: February
The 26-year-old is pushing for a swift turnaround.
“Hopefully February,” Sheeraz said. “We’ll see what Frank Warren and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh say… I’ll just continue to keep working hard.”
Fresh off the Berlanga stoppage and buoyed by the Adames performance, Sheeraz is positioning for a high-profile U.S. bout in 2026 ideally against a top American name, ideally as the underdog, and ideally with hardware at stake. If the titles shuffle in early 2026, don’t be surprised if Sheeraz’s next American headliner comes with a belt on the line.
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Robert LaMar is a writer for Dice City Sports. You can follow him on X via @RobertLaMar26
