Eye of the Tiger Management and Y12 Boxing are back in each other’s sights. 

BoxingScene has learned that the IBF has issued to the promoters for Osleys Iglesias and Kevin Lele Sadjo, respectively, an invitation to participate in a super middleweight title eliminator. The fight itself was not yet ordered by the sanctioning body. Both parties have until Friday, April 4 to accept, at which point the IBF would formally assign a negotiation period to reach terms. 

EOTTM head Camille Estephan confirmed to BoxingScene that Iglesias, 13-0 (12 KOs) has already accepted. Sadjo and Y12 Boxing have yet to respond; failure to do so will remove the unbeaten contender from a fight for which he was previously in line with another EOTTM boxer.

Sadjo, 24-0 (21 KOs) had been due to face Christian Mbill, 28-0 (23 KOs) under the same terms. The matter went to a purse bid hearing won by Y12, who planned to stage the bout on May 8 in Paris.

EOTTM pulled Mbilli from the fight, under the contention that the purse bid was secured under false terms. The winning bidder was to have staged the fight 90 days from the January 30 purse bid hearing. 

Mbilli was since ordered to next face Diego Pacheco for the interim WBC super middleweight title fight. That assigned contest awaits the result of a scheduled April 8 purse bid hearing. 

BoxingScene has learned that Sadjo’s team instead sought to face Vladimir Shishkin, 16-1 (10 KOs). The IBF rejected the request, citing that Shishkin is unavailable for an eliminator since he is due a title shot.

William Scull, 23-0 (9 KOs) is the current IBF super middleweight titlist. The unbeaten Cuban is due to next face Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, 62-2-2 (39 KOs) in a full unification bout on May 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The winner will be mandated to next face Shishkin, with negotiations due to begin on June 17. The mandatory title defense must take place by no later than August 17. 

However, it was widely reported – and all but confirmed by Riyadh Season head Turki Alalshikh – that the plan is for Alvarez, with a win, to next face Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford, 41-0 (31 KOs) in a September superfight in Las Vegas. 

Scull previously defeated Shishkin by unanimous decision for the vacant IBF title last October 19 in Falkensee, Germany. 

Shishkin’s team gained a victory of sorts when it was ruled in the aftermath that he would be due a title shot by this summer, in lieu of an immediate rematch with Scull. The importance of the ordered Iglesias-Sadjo eliminator is that the winner could wind up facing Shishkin should the title become vacant. 

However, it would further complicate the terms for Alvarez-Crawford – again, with an Alvarez win in May.

The idea in part behind Alvarez-Scull was to present Crawford with the opportunity to fight for his third undisputed championship. The four-division titlist fully unified the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions, in addition to claiming the lineal and WBO championship at lightweight and the WBA and interim WBO titles at junior middleweight. 

Regardless of the politics, Iglesias and his team are fully on board for the IBF’s latest requested assignment. It is now up to Sadjo to accept in order to remain in the mix, or move on and afford the next available ranked contender the opportunity to participate.

Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.