Vladimir Shishkin has been patiently ready for his flip to face Canelo Alvarez. That chance might come subsequent with a win tonight.
The unbeaten Shishkin will face Jose Uzcategui in a world title tremendous middleweight elimination bout at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 12-round bout will precede the principle occasion bout between light-weight contenders Michael Rivera and Frank Martin.
Each fights will air stay on Showtime (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).
Shishkin (13-0, 8 knockouts), who’s initially from Stepnoe, Russia and now resides in Detroit, Michigan, is at present ranked No. 9 by the IBF. The winner between Shishkin and Uzcategui, who’s ranked No. 7, would earn the No. 2 rating by the IBF.
The 31-year-old needs to be acquainted to battle followers, significantly to those that tune in to battle playing cards on Showtime platforms. Shishkin has appeared on a handful of ShoBox telecasts, together with his newest outing on February 17 of final 12 months, when he defeated Sena Agbeko by unanimous choice.
In his final bout on March 5, a stay-busy battle, Shishkin stopped Jeyson Minda within the sixth spherical.
Shishkin has slowly emerged as a strong contender, however Uzcategui, on paper, would be the hardest take a look at of his professional profession.
Dmitiry Salita, who represents Shishkin, is assured Shishkin can defeat Uzcategui and ship a press release that he belongs amongst the elite within the division.
“I signed Vladimir three years in the past believing that he had the talents to be among the best tremendous middleweights on the planet,” Salita advised BoxingScene Thursday night. “Uzcategui is a critical take a look at to indicate how good he actually is. He had an important camp with (coach) SugarHill (Steward) and I sit up for a defining efficiency from him on Saturday night time.
“Canelo was our purpose, thus (successful) a title eliminator is a step in that route.”
Uzcategui (32-4, 27 KOs), who’s initially from El Vigia, Venezuela and now resides in Las Vegas, knocked out Felipe Romero within the second spherical of his final bout on Could 20. The 31-year-old has received his final 4 of his final 5 bouts since shedding the IBF world tremendous middleweight title to Caleb Plant in January 2019.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has lined boxing in Southern California and overseas since 2000. Francisco additionally covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He may be reached by e mail at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing