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The unbeaten Cuban faces Silyagin for the vacant IBF title in Montreal, a fight that has landed without much buzz despite matching two undefeated contenders. Iglesias has been installed at #1 by the IBF, yet he has arrived at this point with little of the usual build that follows a knockout-heavy record.

Osleys Iglesias is currently the most avoided man at 168 pounds, a southpaw powerhouse with a 93% knockout rate and a style that offers zero “easy” rounds. Until now, the risk-to-reward ratio for guys like Canelo or Munguia to face him has been completely lopsided.

Thursday’s fight against Pavel Silyagin in Montreal is exactly the leverage he needs to change that.

Iglesias has ended 13 of his 14 wins inside the distance, and the power is the part that tends to travel. He fights out of the southpaw stance, applies steady pressure, and throws with intent on every exchange. His right hook, unusual for a left-hander, has been a consistent finishing weapon, and his style forces opponents into decisions rather than allowing them to settle into rhythm or range.

If he delivers another clinical demolition of an undefeated fighter like Silyagin, he fits the Riyadh Season brand perfectly.

Silyagin comes in unbeaten as well, though with a different profile. He has gone the distance more often and has built his record through control and positioning rather than damage. That contrast gives the fight its structure. Iglesias looks to close the distance and force exchanges. Silyagin will need to manage space and avoid being drawn into sustained trading.

There has been little push around Iglesias heading into this fight, and that absence has left him outside most discussions at 168 despite his ranking. A title win changes that immediately. The division already has established names at the top, but a pressure fighter with power in both hands does not need a long introduction if the result is decisive.

Up to this point, critics could point to his level of opposition to justify the silence. Silyagin is a legitimate, high-IQ amateur pedigree fighter. If Iglesias walks through him, the “he hasn’t fought anybody” excuse disappears instantly.

The risk for Iglesias is that even with a belt, he remains in “high-risk, low-pay” purgatory. We’ve seen this with David Benavidez, who eventually had to move up to 175 because he couldn’t get the big names to bite.

If Iglesias wins but doesn’t get the Alalshikh nod, he might find himself defending that IBF title against obscure mandatories while the big-money fights happen elsewhere.

I think this is his breakout moment. He’s 28, in his prime, and has the backing of Eye of the Tiger, who have been masterful at building him in Montreal. Silyagin is tough, but he lacks the equalizer to keep “El Tornado” off him.

If Iglesias wins by a devastating knockout, he won’t just be an avoided contender anymore; he’ll be a champion with a claim to being the best in the world not named Saul Alvarez.

“He’s definitely a little bit on the downward spiral. He’s definitely a shot fighter,” McGuigan said to Boxing King Media.

McGuigan noted that Wilder’s power remains intact, but the ability to deliver it has eroded. He described a fighter struggling to find range, missing opportunities, and failing to finish moments that once would have ended fights quickly.

“The last thing you lose is your punch, but his timing was terrible. He just could not hit Derek,” Barry said about Deontay.

What McGuigan is failing to mention is Wilder’s two shoulder surgeries as a factor in his failure to finish off opponents. In baseball, once the shoulder’s labrum or rotator cuff is compromised, the explosive internal rotation required to hit 98 mph often vanishes, forcing the player to become a pitcher rather than a thrower. Wilder is currently undergoing that exact, painful transformation.

The physical evidence from his recent outings, specifically against Tyrrell Herndon and Derek Chisora, supports this theory that this is a structural mechanical failure rather than just a “timing” issue.

Wilder has moved away from the laser straight right hand. A straight punch requires full extension and a stable shoulder socket to transfer force from the legs through the fist.

If the shoulder is unstable due to multiple surgeries, the body instinctively protects the joint. Clubbing or looping the punch, using the shoulder as a hinge rather than a piston, is a subconscious way to avoid the sharp pain or instability of a full, snapping extension.

His hesitation to let the right hand go against Herndon was a massive red flag. For a man whose entire career was built on “Fear the Right Hand,” a reluctance to throw it suggests he no longer trusts the hardware to hold up under the torque of a maximum-effort shot.

While Barry McGuigan pointed to timing, timing is often a byproduct of physical capability. If the hand speed drops by even 10% because of shoulder stiffness, the “timing” looks off because the opponent has those extra milliseconds to slip the shot.

To compensate for lost explosive power, Wilder is loading up more. This makes him predictable. He’s trying to manufacture power through effort rather than snap, which is the boxing equivalent of a pitcher telegraphing a curveball.

If you can’t fully extend the arm without discomfort, your effective range shrinks. Wilder is missing shots he used to land because he is pulling the punch short to protect the shoulder.

When a fighter is labeled “shot,” it usually implies a chin that can no longer take a punch or legs that have gone heavy. In Wilder’s case, it’s a weapon failure. He is a sniper whose scope is cracked and whose barrel is warped.

He can still club a journeyman into submission with his sheer size and remaining strength, but against the elite, who operate in the inches and milliseconds, that lost 90 mph fastball is the difference between a knockout and a lopsided decision loss.

Wilder has become a veteran pitcher relying on grit and junk, but in the heavyweight division, you eventually run into a hitter who can sit on the slow stuff.

Frampton views this as an “unfair” fight, pointing out that it creates a no-win scenario for Benn’s reputation due to him fighting a smaller fighter.

If Benn wins, the narrative will be that he beat a 37-year-old career 140-pounder who was forced up to a 150 lb catchweight and was already showing signs of a heavy decline. If Benn struggles or, in a massive upset, loses, his status as a top-tier contender effectively disappears.

“I think Conor’s youth and size is probably going to be enough,” Frampton said to Pro Boxing Fans. “But it’s unfair, especially considering the noise that was made about the rehydration clause in the Eubank fight. How do you bring a career 140 guy up to 150? I don’t like it.”

Frampton’s point about the rehydration clause is the evidence for why this fight feels like a mismatch. He’s highlighting a glaring double standard in how Benn’s team handles weight depending on whether they are the smaller or larger fighter.

When Benn was the smaller man moving up to face Eubank, his team insisted on a strict 10 lb rehydration limit of 170 lb maximum on fight morning. This was a safety measure to ensure Eubank didn’t balloon up and use his natural size to overwhelm Benn.

Now that Conor is the naturally larger man, those safety concerns have seemingly vanished. Prograis revealed that his team actually requested a weight stipulation or rehydration clause, but Benn’s side denied every request.

Frampton’s frustration stems from the fact that Prograis is being pulled up to a catchweight of 150 lbs, a career high for him, while Benn is free to rehydrate as much as he wants.

“I’ve seen Regis up close and personal, and I was surprised at how small he looked,” Frampton said. “If I’m being honest.”

As Carl noted, Prograis looked small even at 140. Bringing him up to 150-lb without a rehydration clause makes him vulnerable to a naturally larger, more explosive welterweight.

If the result is predictable because of these manufactured advantages, the win becomes an empty statistic rather than a statement of skill.

From a promotional standpoint, it’s a calculated move. Get Benn a win over a former two-time World Champion on a massive platform, Netflix, co-main to Fury vs. Makhmudov, to rebuild his brand.

Mason, 22, won the belt in November with a high-tempo victory over Sam Noakes and now returns home for his first defense. The Cleveland native has been moved quickly, and this booking continues that trend with a recognizable opponent brought in early in his reign.

Cordina (19-1, 9 KOs), 34, enters on a two-fight win streak since losing his IBF super featherweight title to Anthony Cacace by eighth-round knockout in May 2024. Since moving up to 135 pounds in 2025, he has beaten Jaret Gonzalez Quiroz and Gabriel Flores Jr.,

Cordina’s #1 spot with the WBO is generous, especially when you look at how he’s performed since the Cacace disaster.

The reality is that Cordina hasn’t looked like the same guy who knocked out Ogawa. The Cacace fight seemed to take a bit of his invincibility away. Scrapping past Gabriel Flores Jr. in a fight that was way too close for comfort isn’t usually the resume of a top-tier contender.

By beating Cordina, Mason adds a former world champion to his record, which looks great on a poster, even if that former champion is moving up in weight and potentially past his prime.

If Cordina struggled with the physicality of Flores, Mason is going to be a nightmare. Mason overwhelms people with a pace and precision that Cordina hasn’t seen since the super featherweight days, and arguably not even then.

It’s hard to see this as anything other than a step-up fight that is actually a step-down in terms of actual risk for the champion, Mason. Cordina has the technical skills to survive for a bit, but he’s fighting a natural lightweight who is faster, younger, and hitting much harder than the guys Cordina has been treading water with lately.

From a business standpoint, the matchup has clear appeal. Cordina is promoted by Eddie Hearn and remains a known name in the UK market, giving the event added reach beyond Mason’s home base.

The fight is scheduled for July 4, with DAZN set to carry the broadcast.

Ford lost the title to Nick Ball in a split decision in 2024, then moved up and kept working. Wins over Orlando Gonzalez, Thomas Mattice, and Abraham Nova didn’t bring headlines, but they showed he can handle the weight and keep a steady pace over 10 rounds.

From a legacy and career-momentum standpoint, it’s a lateral move for Foster that highlights his recent frustrations about his fight against Ford.

After Foster dismantled Stephen Fulton, the path to a Shakur Stevenson fight at 135 seemed clear. By vacating that interim belt, Foster effectively signaled he wasn’t ready to force that issue yet, and Shakur has since moved on to larger unification talks.

Raymond Ford is a respected name, but he’s essentially a featherweight who is still acclimating to 130. For Foster, this fight serves a few specific, albeit non-ambitious, purposes.

By holding onto the WBC 130lb belt, he keeps his champion status. If he had stayed at 135 and lost to a mandatory or a shark like Stevenson, he’d be a contender again. At 130, he’s still the king of his mountain.

The Ford fight in Houston is clearly an attempt to build his hometown hero status, but if he struggles with Ford, who, as we discussed, is a relentless finisher, the decision to avoid WBC interim lightweight champion Jadier Herrera will look even worse. If you’re going to avoid a knockout artist, you’d better dominate the “safer” option.

Outboxing Stephen Fulton last December should have been his springboard to the massive fights at Lightweight against the likes of Shakur Stevenson or Gervonta Davis. Instead, he’s back to defending a belt he’s already lost and regained.

Boxing fans have long memories. Giving up a belt specifically to avoid a mandatory like Herrera is a tag that sticks, regardless of how “smart” the business move is.

Foster-Ford is a good matchup if you want to see high-level technical boxing, but it’s a disappointing matchup for fans who wanted to see Foster build on the Fulton masterclass. He’s essentially treading water at junior lightweight while the massive opportunities at lightweight pass him by.

If he doesn’t dominate Ford, the narrative that he “shot himself in the foot” by leaving 135 will only get louder.

Matchroom Boxing confirmed the change, removing Smith from the WBO interim light heavyweight title fight at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena. The card will go ahead with Ben Whittaker now headlining against Braian Nahuel Suarez, with the event still scheduled to air on DAZN.

The withdrawal also leaves David Morrell without a fight after an extended wait to secure the matchup.

The bout had been ordered by the WBO, with the basic deal taking 136 days to reach agreement, followed by further delays before a date was finalized. Smith’s exit on April 6 adds to the time Morrell spent inactive while the fight was being put together.

For a veteran like Smith, who is likely looking for one last major payday or a path back to a belt at 175, Morrell is a nightmare assignment.

The timing is what really hurts. Waiting 136 days just to get a signature, only for the fight to fall apart twelve days before the opening bell, is a massive blow to a young fighter’s momentum. Morrell has been stuck in waiting room mode for months, and in boxing, inactivity can be just as damaging as a loss for a rising star’s career.

At this stage of his career, Morrell needs rounds and exposure. Being sidelined while the WBO figures out Smith’s recovery timeline keeps him in limbo.

At 35, Smith’s body might simply be reaching a breaking point, but fans are rarely that sympathetic. The “he didn’t want it” narrative is hard to shake when the negotiation was already such a crawl.

Reaction online was immediate and largely negative. Some questioned the decision to proceed with the revised main event, while others turned their attention toward Smith.

“Just call the show off,” one fan posted. “Callum Smith being protected again.”

Another wrote, “You can’t headline that come on,” referring to the replacement main event involving Whittaker. Some of the reactions went further, with one fan writing that the 35-year-old Smith “should retire already.”

There was also frustration with the overall card following the change. “Now it’s a weak main event with an atrocious card,” one comment read, while another added, “Who in right mind going to want to see that fight.”

Not all responses were critical. Some pointed to the loss of the original matchup itself, with one fan writing, “Shame, would have been a good fight.”

The event remains in place, but the reaction reflects a shift in how the April 18 card is now being viewed.

Morrell is now at the mercy of a medical report. If Smith is out for a significant amount of time, the WBO has a responsibility to move on. You can’t hold a mandatory or interim slot hostage indefinitely, especially when the contender has already been as patient as Morrell has.

It’s a huge letdown for the Liverpool fans, too. Ben Whittaker is flashy and fun to watch, but he’s in the “prospect” phase. Moving him to the main event doesn’t replace the world-class tactical battle people paid to see.