IBO super middleweight champion Osleys Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs) retained his unbeaten record, scoring an eighth-round technical knockout of Vladimir Shishikin (16-2, 10 KOs) in an IBF 168-lb title eliminator on Thursday night at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Canada.
Iglesias’s Unrelenting Barrage
Iglesias was getting outboxed by the defense-minded Shishkin through seven rounds. In the eighth, the Cuban Iglesias changed tactics, unloading on Shishikin with a barrage of punches after hurting him with a left. Shishkin tried his best to survive by moving, clinching, and covering up.
With nothing being thrown back by Shishikin, the referee, Michael Griffin, had no choice but to step in and halt the contest. It was a good move because Iglesias was unloading on Shishikin at will with punches, and he was too hurt to fire back anything in his own defense.
If the referee had allowed it to continue, Osleys surely would have laid out Shishkin. He saw the condition that Vladimir was in, and he couldn’t absorb another 20 consecutive headshots.
Shishikin had done well through most of the contest, using his punch and retreat method to avoid getting chewed up by Iglesias’ powerful right hook, uppercut, and left-hand shots. It wasn’t pretty to watch the constant retreating style of Shishikin, but it was effective.
Osley’s best rounds before the eighth were the third and fifth in which he landed some brutal right hooks that snapped Shishkin’s head back hard. He took them well, but you could tell that it was only a matter of time before Iglesias eventually knocked him out.
Unconventional Power of Osleys
Olseys’ shots were weird-looking. The Cuban Iglesias appeared awkward with the way he threw shots and often missed badly. He looked gangly, but when the punches landed, you could hear the sound and judge from Shishikin’s reaction that he wasn’t enjoying the experience of being in the ring with him.
It was a different experience from what Shikshikin went through in his previous fight against William Scull, who didn’t fight aggressively, and his punch connect was low. Osleys, 27, was on the attack all night, forcing Shishkin to move to survive.
A New Threat to Canelo
With the victory, Iglesias, 27, is now the IBF mandatory challenger for the title Canelo Alvarez holds. The way Osleys looked tonight, I don’t believe the Canelo vs. Terence Crawford winner will agree to fight him. He hits too hard, and he has power in both hands. In my opinion, I doubt that Canelo or Crawford would take the chance of fighting Iglesias. He may have to wait until the IBF title is stripped or vacated.
The way Iglesias loops his shots makes it hard to spot them until it’s too late. He looks like a bigger version of the lanky featherweight champion, Rafael Espinoza.