William Scull nonetheless has his first profession title combat properly in his sights.
The unbeaten necessary challenger was ordered to enter talks with Vladimir Shishkin for the vacant IBF tremendous middleweight title. Scull-Shishkin was formally ordered on July 29, with a 30-day negotiation interval assigned to the method.
Scull is represented by AGON Sports activities. Shishkin is signed to Salita Promotions.
The winner will declare the title faraway from the clutches of RING and unified 168-pound champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 knockouts). Fittingly, the event got here as Alvarez introduced his championship protection versus WBA necessary Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs). Their bout will happen on Sept. 14 at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas.
It’s extremely uncertain that Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) and Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) can have a combat date by then. What they each now have, nevertheless, is a clearer path to the title than was the case even a number of months in the past.
Scull grew to become the necessary challenger after a July 2022 factors win over Evgeny Shvedenko. The title eliminator between unbeaten contenders noticed Scull—a Cuban export based mostly in Berlin—win a lopsided unanimous choice.
Simply three fights have adopted for the 31-year-old. The newest got here in an eight-round victory over Sean Hemphill on Might 4 at T-Cell Enviornment in Las Vegas. The combat befell on the non-televised undercard portion of Alvarez-Munguia.
Alvarez-Scull was ordered by the IBF simply 9 days later. A handbag bid listening to was ordered however Alvarez’s facet repeatedly delayed the method. The session was canceled outright when it was alleged by Alvarez and TGB Promotions {that a} deal was reached.
That declare not held water as soon as they failed to supply the right proof to the IBF. Alvarez as an alternative introduced his RING, WBC, WBA and WBO title protection versus Berlanga.
Shishkin was the following highest ranked obtainable challenger and agreed to commit a minimum of to the negotiation course of.
The unbeaten Russian–who trains in Florida and largely fights out of the larger Detroit space—has been within the hunt for greater than 18 months. He beat former titlist Jose Uzcategui in a Dec. 2022 title eliminator.
Simply two fights have adopted for Shishkin, most just lately a March 24 win over Mike Man in Detroit.
Shishkin is rated No. 5 at 168 by The Ring. Scull just lately entered proper on the No. 10 spot.
With the ordered title combat, each boxers are obligated to honor the ruling. IBF Rule 9.C states that any boxer who withdraws from the proceedings “can be dropped to under #10 for a minimum of six (6) months.” Moreover, neither participant can enter an settlement for one more combat in the course of the assigned interval.
Jake Donovan is a senior author for The Ring and vice chairman of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
