Christian Mbilli’s Halloween showdown with Canelo Alvarez won’t be that month’s only October title defense, as Julius Julianis reports that IBF super middleweight champion Osleys Iglesias will meet no. 5 Oliver Zaren on October 8th in the former’s eternal stomping grounds of Quebec.
Zaren (19-0-1, 8 KO), the other undefeated mid-20s Danish super middleweight, has spent the bulk of his career munching on limited foes in his home country. His one journey abroad came in June, when he traveled to Spain
to battle Jose Luis Navarro Jr for the European title, built up an early lead on the scorecards, then had to settle for a no contest because they were boxing outside and a thunderstorm hit.
A losing record against atmospheric phenomena bodes ill for his chances against a Cuban “Tornado.” Iglesias (15-0, 14 KO) has looked like a potential vanguard of the post-Canelo era, demolishing all comers and only rarely deigning to lose a round. His last two efforts have seen him run over Vladimir Shishkin and Pavel Silyagin, the latter victory earning Iglesias his belt.
Not the most stirring matchup, but Zaren is reasonably high up in the rankings, Iglesias doesn’t have a mandatory challenger yet, and the other champions aren’t going to touch him with a 10-foot pole, so I suppose we’ve got to take what we can get.
