Here we go again.
Last week, the IBF ordered Canelo Alvarez to battle Osleys Iglesias for the super middleweight title Terence Crawford left behind in his retirement. Unsurprisingly, Alvarez declined, citing
his ongoing recovery from elbow surgery that will cause him to miss his traditional Cinco de Mayo bout. The sanctioning body then moved on to no. 4 Jaime Munguia, whose promoters “refused the fight offer” within hours of Eye of the Tiger Management accepting it.
Next up is the rankings is Callum Simpson, whose stoppage loss to Troy Williamson will bounce him from the list as soon as it updates. No. 6 Hamzah Sheeraz already has offers for WBO and WBC title fights against the much more well-known Diego Pacheco and Christian Mbilli, respectively, so the smart money seems to be on no. 7 Pavel Silyagin. The 32-year-old Russian has never managed to break into the title picture despite a number of solid wins in his home country, including a near-sweep of previously undefeated Argentinean Pablo Exequiel Corzo in July.
He and Iglesias (14-0, 13 KO) share a common opponent in Evgeny Shvedenko, who drew with Silyagin in 2023 before suffering a gnarly one-punch KO at Iglesias’ hands a fight later.
Hopefully either Silyagin or no. 8 Simon Zachenhuber says yes and we avoid another Full Hrgovic. At least the IBF is working quickly.
