Scull vs Shishkin vacant title fight set for Oct. 19 in Germany

Canelo Alvarez vacated the IBF light heavyweight title earlier this year

The super middleweight division will crown its first new champion since 2021 next month, as AGON Sports confirmed that William Scull will face Vladimir Shishkin for the vacant IBF title on October 19th in Falkansee, Germany.

The press release doesn’t mention a broadcast partner, but their shows tend to end up on DAZN, so that would be my guess.

The Cuban-born, German-based Scull (22-0, 9 KO) handed Evgeny Shvedenko his first defeat in a 2022 eliminator, and when the IBF finally got around to giving him his mandated title shot two years later, Canelo Alvarez elected to ditch the belt in pursuit of Edgar Berlanga.

In the opposite corner stands Shishkin (16-0, 10 KO), who’s spent the last few years racking up mid-level wins over the likes of DeAndre Ware, Sena Agbeko, and a badly faded Jose Uzcategui. At 33 years old, this may be his only chance at a title, and it figures to be a tricky one. Even putting aside Scull’s skills, I don’t envy Shishkin the task of toppling a German fighter in Germany.

Whether this is a championship-level fight is up to your individual standards, but it seems very well-matched and could lay the foundations for the impending post-Canelo era at 168.