From there the landscape narrows rapidly.
Jaime Munguia is the next logical option, but expectations around the division are that he will also succeed. Hamzah Sheeraz, ranked just below, has multiple alternatives and little incentive to enter a risky fight against a mandatory opponent widely regarded as the most dangerous man in the class. Neither scenario suggests resolution.
Callum Simpson, ranked #5, might have been a throwback name only weeks ago. That door closed on December 20 when he was knocked out by Troy Williamson. With Simpson removed, the rankings under Iglesias thin out sharply.
The names that follow are real, but the lever is not. Fighters such as Pavel Silyagin, Simon Zachenhuber and William Scull are lined up, but none bring commercial seriousness or institutional urgency. Bruno Surace, Kevin Lele Sadjo and Aslambek Idigov fill out the list without changing the underlying problem.
Even fighters with higher profiles elsewhere, such as Diego Pacheco or Bektemir Melikuziev, are not positioned as obvious solutions. Some are linked to other sanctioning pathways. Others are not yet at a place where the risk matches the reward. At the bottom, Oliver Zaren rounds out a list that feels more procedural than practical.
This is the bond. Iglesias did what the system asked. He earned his rank, accepted immediately and made himself available. The title is vacant. The slot is open. But the incentives are skewed.
Being the boogeyman comes with a cost. Everyone knows what Iglesias represents. Until someone decides the belt is worth walking through that door, the vacancy remains less about bureaucracy and more about avoidance.
