Unbeaten Cuban knockout artist to challenge for IBF title at 168 pounds.
Terence Crawford’s retirement allowed all the belts at super-middleweight to scatter, and now several talented fighters have gotten their hands on a title.
Mexico’s José Armando Resendiz was first to benefit from Crawford walking away from the sport, being upgraded to WBA champion after an upset win over Caleb Plant. He is expended to defend against Uzbek contender Bektemir Melikuziev.
Next was Christian Mbilli, the unbeaten Cameroonian puncher who went to war with Lester Martínez on the undercard of Terence Crawford’s victory over Canelo Álvarez. Mbilli was awarded the WBC title and is expected to take on Martínez in a rematch.
Britain’s undefeated Hamzah Sheeraz will be facing Germany’s Alem Begic for the vacant WBO title in a contest yet to be officially announced, and now the last of Crawford’s relinquished titles has a confirmed pair of challengers.
The IBF super-middleweight belt will be contested between feared Cuban Osleys Iglesias and Russia’s unbeaten Pavel Silyagin.
Iglesias already holds the lesser IBO title at the weight, but will be fighting for world honours in a matchup he will be a big favourite in.
Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs) has faced very little struggle in his career so far. Marcelo Coceres, who is known for having dropped Edgar Berlanga and given Billy Joe Saunders and Diego Pacheco hard times, was taken out in one round by Iglesias.
Evgeny Shvedenko, who went the distance with William Scull and actually drew with Pavel Silyagin, was scarily knocked out in the opening frame, too.
The durable Sena Agbeko, having never been knocked down, was dropped and stopped by Iglesias. The unbeaten Petro Ivanov and Vladimir Shishkin (who had previously lost a controversial decision to William Scull for the same title Iglesias will now be fighting for) were both also stopped inside the distance.
Such is Iglesias’s aura of terror that his fight with Silyagin (16-0-1, 7 KOs) is being billed as “Le Boogeyman Est De Retour”, which is “The Boogeyman Is Back” in French.
Iglesias-Silyagin will be taking place on the 9th of April at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Should Iglesias win, he would be the second super-middleweight titleholder under Camille Estephan’s Eye of the Tiger Promotions, as Christian Mbilli is part of the same stable.
Should both Mbilli and Iglesias still be champions after their first fights for their titles, that could set up a mouth-watering clash between the two.
We may well need underground bunkers to prepare for that one.
🌪️𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙂𝙀𝙔𝙈𝘼𝙉 𝙄𝙎 𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆🌪️
Osleys Iglesias vs. Pavel Silyagin pour le championnat mondial unifié 𝗜𝗕𝗙 et 𝗜𝗕𝗢 des super-moyens, le 9 avril, au Casino de Montréal!
👹𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗦: https://t.co/mo9F0uFBcl
📺 @DAZNBoxing #IglesiasSilyagin | #EottmArmy pic.twitter.com/l3r879KZlm
— Eye of the Tiger (@eottm_boxing) February 12, 2026
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