The super middleweight division continues to move away from Terence Crawford’s brief undisputed reign, with the third of his four previous titles won last night by one of boxing’s fiercest knockout artists.
Crawford scored a legendary victory over Canelo Alvarez to become the undisputed super middleweight king in September, but he retired three months later and a group of 168-pound fighters were hoping to take advantage of the piecemeal titles.
Jose Armando Resendiz and Christian Mbilli were elevated to the WBA and WBC world champions respectively while Hamzah Sheeraz and Alem Begic will fight for the vacant WBO world title next month.
As for the IBF belt, it was on the line last night in Montreal when Cuban winger Osleys Iglesias improved his record to 15-0 (14 KOs), winning the vacant world title with eighth-round withdrawal from Russian challenger Pavel Siljagin.
In the post-fight interview, Iglesias, who also holds the less recognizable IBO title, beamed with joy as he revealed his plans to charge for the undisputed crown.
“Mom, I’m finally a double world champion – I hope you’re proud of me, but I still have a long way to go to be undisputed.”
Iglesias performed almost perfectly throughout the eight-round fight and likely would have struggled to land major fights had he not become champion.
As far as it goes undisputed, one of the remaining belts belongs to Mbilla, who is also promoted by Eye of the Tiger Promotions and Camille Estephan. After seeing Iglesias’ latest and most prolific masterclass, the promoter sent a message to the rest of the division outlining his goal of taking control of each of the remaining titles.
“We have two titles. We have the WBC title with Mbilli, the remaining WBA and WBO titles. We will win them, so whoever has them. Right now Sheeraz is fighting, Resendiz is fighting [Jaime] Munguia. Everyone, one by one. Not on the same night [but against] whoever is brave enough to go with this guy [Iglesias].
“The fact that Siljagin left on his stool says a lot. He is a very good defensive player, one of the elite technical players in the world. We saw from the very beginning that he was injured. He showed a lot of heart, but he is damaged. Who is willing? Who is there? Caleb Plant? Munguia? Resendiz?”
There will be an internal fight between Mbilli and Iglesias in the works, says Estephan, but only if all four belts are on the line. Meanwhile, Mbilli continues to be linked with a lucrative clash with Canelo.