The one void left at super middleweight will soon be filled.
The Ring has learned that a date has been set for the William Scull-Vladimir Shishkin vacant IBF 168-pound title fight. Their scheduled clash will take place on October 19 in Falkansee, Germany. The event will be a co-promotion between Agon Sports and Kuc Boxing.
Scull and Shishkin previously agreed to terms for a fight to claim the belt vacated by Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 knockouts). The title was dropped by Alvarez—The RING/WBA/WBC/WBO champion—for refusing to honor his obligations to Scull.
Heavyweight Dusan Veletic (8-1-1, 5 KOs) and Sanel Hasanovic (7-1-1, 6 KOs) will appear in separate bouts on the undercard.
Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) became the IBF mandatory challenger following a July 2022 unanimous decision victory over Evgeny Shvedenko. He’s only been three times since then, including a slot on the Alvarez-Jaime Munguia undercard in May.
The posting was intentional, as the expectation was that Alvarez would honor his obligations shortly thereafter. The IBF ordered the fight, but talks never progressed. A turn offer hearing was canceled when the sanctioning body was informed that an agreement had been reached.
That deal appears to be Alvarez moving to a September 14 date with WBA mandatory Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) and relinquishing the IBF title.
Scull and Shishkin (16-0, 10 KOs) were then ordered to hold talks. The threat of a wallet came up. However, AGON Sports and Salita Promotions—representing Scull and Shishkin, respectively—were able to reach an agreement.
Shishkin, The Ring’s No. 5-rated super middleweight, became a contender following a December 2022 decision over former IBF titlist Jose Uzcategui (UD 12).
