Hamzah Looking to Serve up a Storm

While tennis fans in the UK are flocking to SW19 to bask in the sunshine at Wimbledon, Hamzah Sheeraz will be looking to serve up a few aces of his own in New York.

Our super middleweight contender, on Saturday night in the Big Apple, will be performing at the Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, home, of course, to the US Open.

Here’s hoping Hamzah can deliver a Grand Slam to bring back home to Blighty.

Unlike at the All England Club, I am also hoping that Hamzah is something of a hard court specialist and that he can steer clear of the mighty backhands of his opponent, the brash and confident ‘Chosen One’, Edgar Berlanga.

This is, indeed, a stern test for our man on his opening night at 168lbs following his world title tilt at 160 in February against Carlos Adames. I think even Hamzah will concede that he got the luck of the draw that night in Riyadh, but he had simply run out of road at middleweight and a busted hand didn’t help either!

Hamzah so much wanted to win a world title at middleweight before departing the scene but, if it is becoming too much of a struggle, you must give yourself the extra poundage. He is a big lad and, in truth, it is probably only a matter of time before he is campaigning at light heavyweight.

Now with a new training team headed by Andy Lee and at a new weight, Hamzah had every reason to ask for a gentler curtain-raiser. However, he didn’t want to just go for a paddle, preferring more of a deep sea dive against one of the most formidable punchers in the sport, with 18 stoppages in his log book and incredibly 17 of those coming in the first round.

This makes Berlanga seem like some sort of monster. Yes he can punch and yes he is highly dangerous, but there is more to this boxing lark than being heavy-handed. He isn’t the most skilled or refined and, if he can’t blast an opponent out, he can look a little laboured in his work.

Strangely, his most notable performance and the one he seems to refer to most, was his defeat to Canelo last September. He went 12 rounds with the great Mexican but did lose wide on the cards.

Berlanga has been displaying plenty of bluster this week in New York, giving it the big one with lots of shouting and hollering. I don’t tend to view this as a sign of strength and confidence.

Hamzah is staying composed, saving energy and showing no signs of nerves at all.

If he boxes smart, uses his jab regularly and effectively, he can take away Berlanga’s primary weapon and win the fight.

This is what I anticipate happening and it will be a significant victory that will open all sorts of doors leading to big, big fights.

It has got all the ingredients to be a real cracker and I would encourage you to tune in on DAZN in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Here’s hoping for Game, Set and Match Sheeraz at the famous Flushing Meadow.