Fights
This is the twist. A boxer from Russia gets a chance to fight for the Crawford title
The vacant IBF world title in the super middleweight (up to 76.2 kg) will be played by the Cuban with the first number in the rating. Osleis Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs) and Russian boxer Pavel Silyagin (15–0–1, 7 knockouts).
The former owner of the belt, American Terence Crawford, ended his professional career, leaving all titles vacant. The International Boxing Federation tried to find an opponent for Iglesias for a long time, but many attempts were unsuccessful.
The former world champions representing Mexico refused to fight at first. Saul Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs, third place) continues his recovery from injury while Jaime Munguia (45-2, 35 KOs, fourth place) is scheduled to fight Jose Resendiz for the WBA title.
Britain’s Hamza Shiraz and Troy Williamson also found themselves busy; The former will fight for the WBO belt, while the latter is preparing for his rematch with Callum Simpson.
So it was the turn of Silyagin, who was ranked seventh but had an unexpected chance to replace Crawford. Of course, if he stops Iglesias.
Pavel Silyagin, ranked No. 7 by the IBF, has agreed to fight No. 1 Cuban knockout artist Osleys Iglesias for the vacant IBF super middleweight title. Canelo, Jaime Munguia and Hamzah Sheeraz, who is still trying to return from elbow surgery, have all opted out of facing Iglesias. Ours…
— Keith Idec (@Idecboxing) January 17, 2026
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports writer and journalist who has written for various online publications including Sportish. I’m originally from the UK but currently live in Toronto, Canada. I’m also an author on Sportish and have written several articles on a variety of sports-related topics.