Now that all super middleweight world titles have been won following Terence Crawford’s retirement, fans are hopeful that unification fights could come soon, but in the eyes of one champion’s promoter, that is unlikely.

Crawford defeated Canelo Alvarez in a legacy-defining fight last September to become the first undisputed three-weight champion since Henry Armstrong in 1938, and “Kill Hank” was the first in boxing history to accomplish the feat.

Having cemented his place among the greats, Crawford hung up his gloves and retired with his undefeated record intact and his respect as a current sports icon.

Boxing had to move on and it did so quickly, with four modern champions holding the super middleweight world title; Christian Mbilli (WBC), Osleys Iglesias (IBF), Jaime Munguia (WBA) and Hamzah Sheeraz (WBO).

In September, Canelo will attempt to become champion again challenges Mbilla for the coveted WBC green and gold belt. The other three main champions do not currently have fights lined up.

Speaking to Boxing News, Iglesias’ promoter Camille Estephan, who also promotes Mbilli, revealed why he thinks the Cuban southerner, who boasts a record of 15-0 with 14 KOs, may have difficulty finding a willing and available challenger.

“People recognize his ability, that’s why they don’t want to fight him. When you look at his last few opponents, he fought Siljagin; when he fought Siljagin, no one wanted to fight Siljagin – a technical fighter from Russia that people don’t know, very good defensively. He was destroyed, literally. By the end of the fight he was blind in one eye, couldn’t breathe and couldn’t hear.

“The previous warrior who fought him [Vladimir] Shishkin, was highly respected, was an emerging fighter who at one point thought he would spotless up the division. He was definitely a very, very forceful fighter, very good defensively as well, he was literally destroyed in the fight against Iglesias. Just look at the images.

“Then you see this guy, [Evgeny] Shvedenko, who drew with Silyagin. He was knocked out in a very scary way, we were very, very worried about him. Every guy he fought, he destroyed. The people who fight him are never the same again.

“We understand the hesitancy of a lot of the top guys. I think he’ll just keep doing it and then the fans will recognize that’s the guy – the guy who’s at the top of the hill.”

Recently at the 41st annual IBF convention in Vietnam, Troy Williamson was invited to negotiate a final eliminator with Diego Pacheco for a title shot, but it appears the Darlington operator will be unable to attend as his long-awaited rematch with Callum Simpson is currently being considered for July.

Continuing, Estephan praised Williamson for his courage, declaring that he is “one of the few people on the planet” who is confident enough to face Iglesias.

“When it comes to Troy Williamson, I hear a lot of different things. I don’t know what his next move will be, but in the case of Iglesias, Troy was ready to fight him, so kudos to him. He’s one of the few people in the world who wants to fight Iglesias.”

With few challengers daring to push for a fight with the undefeated 28-year-old, Estephan admitted that both he and his fighter are looking towards other super middleweight world champions in hopes of securing unification fights. However, this energy was not reciprocated.

“What I can say about Iglesias is that he wants to fight other world champions. He has the IBF and IBO titles, but it looks like Munguia wants nothing to do with Iglesias and Sheeraz, especially. They talk about wanting a unification, but when they hear Iglesias, they forget what a unification is.

“They would rather fight anyone other than Iglesias. He is clearly the bogeyman of boxing.”

“We want Iglesias to defend his title and we want Iglesias to be put in a situation where it will inevitably happen. Sheeraz and Munguia were talking about unifying until they heard about Iglesias, so maybe they will fight each other, but they can run and they can’t hide.”

One potential option for Sheeraz and Munguia is to compete on the Canelo-Mbilli card. Iglesias’ possible addition to the September 12 show means all four 168-pound belts will be up for grabs that night.

Billed as “Mexico vs. the World,” Iglesias would likely need to acquire a Mexican challenger, with the most obvious option being former WBA champion Armando Resendi if Estephan and Turki Alalshikh are indeed planning an Iglesias fight on the undercard.

Canelo Alvarez pinpointed exactly where he went wrong in his match against Terence Crawford, vowing to correct such mistakes and deliver a better performance in his next match.

The Mexican suffered a unanimous decision loss to “Bud” last September, losing the undisputed super middleweight crown in convincing fashion.

Moreover, Crawford moved up two weight classes after a points victory over Israil Madrimov, thanks to which he won the WBA super welterweight world title in August 2024.

In other words, the American was a sizable underdog before the Canelo fight, having remained undefeated since being conquered unanimously scored by Dmitry Bivol in 2022

It wasn’t quite as one-sided this time, but Crawford nonetheless seemed to be the faster and more skillful fighter during larger periods of competition.

Talks of a potential rematch were thwarted, however, when Crawford announced his retirement in December, meaning all four of his major 168-pound titles became vacant.

However, if there was a second match left on the table, Canelo believes he would make the necessary changes to win.

A 35-year-old man in particular told Inside the Ring that he wouldn’t focus so much on Crawford’s style, but rather on his own strengths.

“Sometimes your body doesn’t respond the way you want it to [it to]. But I know what my mistakes are [were]and I can adjust everything to make everything perfect.

“I see a lot of mistakes I made. I tried to be faster because of his style and everything. No, I just have to do my job and that’s it.”

Instead of a rematch with Crawford, Canelo is now preparing to face WBC super middleweight world champion Christian Mbilli on September 12 in Riyad, Saudi Arabia.

Mauricio Sulaiman has made clear the WBC’s position on Noel Mikaelian’s reported plans to continue his unification fight with Jai Opetaia.

The WBC president said Mikaelian must follow the sanctioning body’s order to fight David Benavidez. If he chooses Opetaia instead, he will no longer be recognized as the WBC cruiserweight champion.

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Last update: 2026/06/01 at 23:35