Hamzah Sheeraz seemed “a bit delicate” to Eddie Hearn when the British contender squeezed his 6-foot-4 frame down to 160 pounds.

Now that Sheeraz moved up to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds, Hearn sees him as a live underdog in his division debut against Edgar Berlanga. Brooklyn’s Berlanga, who was once promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, has competed in the super middleweight division for five years.

The heavy-handed Berlanga has faced a higher level of opposition than Sheeraz as well, most notably in his one-sided decision defeat to undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez. Hearn, nonetheless, expects Sheeraz to test Berlanga in a fight featured on The Ring’s next pay-per-view event July 12 at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens.

“I think it’s gonna be very dangerous for Hamzah early,” Hearn told The Ring, “because Berlanga is a sharp puncher and punches very hard. And when his confidence is up, he doesn’t mind exchanging and he’s actually quite effective and fast in the exchanges. And I can see Hamzah getting hurt if he decides to fight that kinda fight, where he comes out a little bit rabbit in headlights, and he kinda just lets his hands go and his chin’s in the air.

“I can see [Sheeraz] having success early. I think if he’s disciplined, he can punch as well. And I think he’ll be so much better at 168, because he was really struggling at 160. So, I do think Edgar’s the favorite in the fight, given experience, home turf and all that type of stuff. But it’s a real, live fight.”

Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) will fight for the second time since his loss to Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) on Sept. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He knocked out fellow Puerto Rican Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-1-1, 16 KOs) in the first round of their March 15 bout at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.

He will encounter a familiar foe as England’s Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) is working with a new trainer in former WBO middleweight champ Andy Lee. Ireland’s Jason Quigley (20-3, 14 KOs) was trained by Lee when he battled Berlanga, who dropped him four times en route to a comfortable 12-round decision on June 2023 at Madison Square Garden’s Theater in New York.

“There’s two sides to Edgar,” Hearn said. “There’s the believe and falling for what he says. And then there’s actually watching what he does in the ring. Coming off Canelo he’s kind of a self-proclaimed superstar of the sport. 'It was a thriller. It was a fight that could’ve gone either way.' ...

“I thought he was really tough, but he didn’t really win many rounds. He’s a great talker, but Hamzah has teamed up with Andy Lee, who had Jason Quigley when he boxed [Berlanga]. He lost a lotta rounds against Quigley. ... But [Sheeraz and Lee] like the fight.”

Sheeraz escaped with a disputed split draw in his last fight, a 12-round challenge of WBC middleweight champ Carlos Adames (24-1-1, 18 KOs) on Feb. 22 at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Sheeraz, 25, fractured his left hand early in that bout, which likely hurt his confidence.

“He could’ve won that world championship fight,” Hearn said. “He didn’t box well at all. And I know he hurt his hand in the fight. But I think if Hamzah would’ve believed in himself a bit more in that fight, I actually think he would’ve won. However, he was lucky to get the draw.”