William Scull nonetheless has his first profession title struggle effectively in his sights.
The unbeaten obligatory 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 obligatory Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs). Their bout will happen on Sept. 14 at T-Cellular Area in Las Vegas.
It’s extremely uncertain that Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) and Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) could have a struggle date by then. What they each now have, nevertheless, is a clearer path to the title than was the case even just a few months in the past.
Scull grew to become the obligatory challenger after a July 2022 factors win over Evgeny Shvedenko. The title eliminator between unbeaten contenders noticed Scull—a Cuban export primarily based 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-Cellular Area in Las Vegas. The struggle 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 subsequent highest ranked accessible challenger and agreed to commit not less than to the negotiation course of.
The unbeaten Russian–who trains in Florida and largely fights out of the higher 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 lately a March 24 win over Mike Man in Detroit.
Shishkin is rated No. 5 at 168 by The Ring. Scull lately entered proper on the No. 10 spot.
With the ordered title struggle, each boxers are obligated to honor the ruling. IBF Rule 9.C states that any boxer who withdraws from the proceedings “will likely be dropped to beneath #10 for not less than six (6) months.” Moreover, neither participant can enter an settlement for one more struggle through the assigned interval.
Jake Donovan is a senior author for The Ring and vice chairman of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
