NEW YORK — Just as Wimbledon is winding down, action at the home of the U.S. Open will heat up.
Boxing action, that is.
Swinging rackets will be replaced by swinging fists Saturday night when the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center hosts boxing for the first time.
Edgar Berlanga and Shakur Stevenson headline the show in separate bouts on the card, which sends both locally based fighters to a place they'd never visited before. The fights will be in Louis Armstrong Stadium, the No. 2 venue on the grounds.
''It's a new stadium, it's going to be a big arena, there's going to be a lot of fans there, so I'm excited to put on a show,'' said Stevenson, who is from Newark, New Jersey.
Stevenson (23-0, 11 KOs) will defend his WBC lightweight title against fellow unbeaten William Zepeda (33-0, 27 KOs). Berlanga (23-1, 18 KOs) then takes on Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0-1, 17 KOs) in a super middleweight bout in the main event.
The second Ring Magazine card in New York caps a big fight weekend in the city, following Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano's third fight Friday at Madison Square Garden, and again bypasses a traditional boxing venue for an usual location. Times Square was the site of a tripleheader in May, with an outdoor ring set up in the middle of the tourist center.
Both Berlanga and Stevenson were originally told that plans were for this card to take place in Central Park. It will be Flushing Meadows instead, but the Brooklyn-based Berlanga said his fans will find him.