Aaron McKenna is the new IBF middleweight champion of the world, following a clear and deserved decision win over Etinosa Oliha
today at Zuffa Boxing 10 in Dublin.McKenna (21-0, 10 KO) was fighting in his native country of Ireland for the first time as a professional, and made the most of the headline gig at 3Arena, winning his first world title.
The IBF title had gone vacant in 2025, after the sanctioning body stripped Janibek Alimkhanuly for failing a drug test.
McKenna vs Oliha official score cards
Judges saw the fight 116-112, 117-111,
and 118-110 for McKenna. Bad Left Hook unofficially had it even a bit wider, scoring the bout 119-109 for McKenna.
Italy’s Oliha (22-1, 10 KO) fought up to his prior performances against lesser opposition, but he just couldn’t figure the way to actually win rounds off of McKenna, whose smart, tough performance leaned on his willingness to get physical and bully Oliha, which isn’t always the most exciting thing to watch, but he does it quite effectively.
In a weak middleweight division, which could soon lose titleholder Carlos Adames to super middleweight, McKenna is looking to make the case that the is the best in the world right now at 160 lbs.
McKenna new IBF champion, no Zuffa belt on the line
Zuffa promoted this IBF title fight and didn’t try too hard to force in a “Zuffa title” despite the fact that this was probably as good a middleweight matchup we’ll see this year from anyone
Really, it would have been understandable if they wanted to put their in-house belt up, but if the IBF is still stern on not recognizing Zuffa’s belts and thus not allowing unification, then Zuffa probably made the right decision for now. They can worry about bullying the belt scene if and when they have a bigger, stronger roster. As it is, they can now say they have “the world champion” at middleweight on their roster. The issue with the established “big four” sanctioning bodies won’t be as easy or likely wind up as black-and-white an outcome as Zuffa might have imagined, in part because the fighters really do care about these belts.
