Four unbeaten or once-beaten headliners will christen a brand-new boxing venue on Saturday, 12 July, when Ring Magazine plants its “Inside The Ring 3” card inside the 14,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York - the first fight night ever held at the U.S. Open show-court.
Watch the press conference today at 1 pm ET at DAZN, The Ring Socials and YouTube.
Top billing on the night goes to a trans-Atlantic super-middle shoot-out: Brooklyn knockout artist Edgar Berlanga squares off against England’s rangy switch-hitter Hamzah Sheeraz in Sheeraz’s 168-lb debut. Berlanga rebounded from last September’s points loss to Canelo with a 90-second blow-out of Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz, while Sheeraz moves up after a disputed draw with WBC middleweight titlist Carlos Adames ended his 15-fight KO streak.
Watch Canelo vs. Berlanga highlights: Watch
The co-feature may steal the show: WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson will face interim titlist William “Camarón” Zepeda in a full-title consolidation. Compubox pegs Zepeda at a dizzying 94 punches per round, the highest in boxing, against Stevenson’s sport-best 5.4 punches absorbed.
Ring’s decision to run dual “main events” means Stevenson-Zepeda will headline fight-week media duties, but Berlanga-Sheeraz closes the show in the ring. The retractable-roof stadium offers a rain-proof summer night, and DAZN will stream globally beginning 8 p.m. ET.
Image Credit: X