William Scull hopes to give Cuba a new title shot against Vladimir Shishkin
Canelo Alvarez has been the premier super middleweight since late 2020 and became the undisputed champion in 2021.
However, while the boxing superstar has no shortage of opponents, he can fight many of them and that includes his goals. In August, the IBF decided that William Scull was responsible for waiting too long and stripped Canelo of the title.
On Saturday, Scull will face Vladimir Shishkin in the vacant IBF title at Stadthalle, Falkensee, near Berlin, Germany.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to fight Vladimir Shishkin for the world title on October 19 after many years of waiting,” Scull (22-0, 9 knockouts) told The Ring. “It means a lot to me because it has been my dream since I was young and I am very happy that I was able to participate in this competition because of the support of my family who participated in all this and my coach Franquis. Aldama, my fitness trainer Raul Moggiano and my promoter Agon Sport (Ingo Volckmann).
The Cuban-born militant group gathered more than 300 youth fighters before defecting to Argentina in 2016.
His first nine fights were there before it became clear that he had the talent to do things on the world stage and he made a deal to head to Germany in 2019.
That put his career in the spotlight and he became an IBF obligation since defeating Evgeny Shvedenko in July 2022. Since then, he has been patiently waiting for a call that never came.
“It was a difficult time in my career because I didn’t know what was going to happen,” he said about waiting for his world title. “Honestly, I was looking forward to facing the champion Canelo Alvarez, but I stayed focused and knew something good was going to happen.”
The 32-year-old hopes to use his novice knowledge and experience to defeat Shishkin.
“From what I have seen so far, he is a strong boxer, but I am ready to beat anything Shishkin will throw at him,” he explained. “I am a striker who can do all three distances and I am well prepared, I have all the skills to beat him.”
For most of his career, Scull has been in the shadow of his famous countryman, David Morrell and more recently Osleys Iglesias. He doesn’t see that as a problem and actually sees it as a great gift.
“It is something very important in Cuban boxing, I am motivated by the success of our people,” he said. “Viva Cuba! They will have their next world champion on the 19th in the IBF.”
Shishkin, ranked No. 6 by The Ring in super middleweight, he became champion in 2016. He was able to show his class by stopping Nadjib Mohammedi (TKO 10), DeAndre Ware (TKO 8) and the undefeated Ulises Sierra (UD 10).
The 33-year-old Russian also hosted then-beaten Sena Agbeko (UD 10) at ShoBox and defeated former IBF champion Jose Uzcategui (UD 12). Since then, he has spent time treading water beating two travelers.
I’d like home fighter Scull to settle matters with a 12-round unanimous decision although I expect Shishkin to have his moments.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].
