William Scull nonetheless has his first profession title battle nicely 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 Enviornment in Las Vegas.
It’s extremely uncertain that Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) and Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) could have a battle date by then. What they each now have, nonetheless, is a clearer path to the title than was the case even a couple of months in the past.
Scull turned 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 latest got here in an eight-round victory over Sean Hemphill on Could 4 at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas. The battle happened 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 now not held water as soon as they failed to offer the correct 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 out there 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 not too long ago a March 24 win over Mike Man in Detroit.
Shishkin is rated No. 5 at 168 by The Ring. Scull not too long ago entered proper on the No. 10 spot.
With the ordered title battle, each boxers are obligated to honor the ruling. IBF Rule 9.C states that any boxer who withdraws from the proceedings “shall be dropped to beneath #10 for not less than six (6) months.” Moreover, neither participant can enter an settlement for an additional battle in the course of the assigned interval.
Jake Donovan is a senior author for The Ring and vp of the Boxing Writers Affiliation of America.
Observe @JakeNDaBox
