Osleys Iglesias scores seventh successive stoppage against Petro Ivanov
IBO World super-middleweight champion Osleys Iglesias (13-0, 12KO) continued his stunning winning streak with a fifth-round TKO over unbeaten Ukrainian Petro Ivanov (18-1-2, 13KO) in Montreal on Thursday, November 7.
The Cuban southpaw headlined the midweek Eye of the Tiger show at the Montreal Casino in Canada, live on ESPN, with all five home fighters winning early in what was an explosive event.
The taller, rangier, Iglesias was busier and more active than Ivanov, who was quite static compared to the champion, who was light on his feet and dipping in and out of range from the outside.
Osleys had won every round, then landed landed a big backhand left in the fifth as the challenger was launching an attack of his own. At first, it seemed that Ivanov was just caught unbalanced, but he took his time getting up and referee Albert Padulo Jr obviously saw something when asking if he would like to continue that caused him to wave off the contest at 40 seconds into the fifth round.
The 26-year-old “Tornado” was defending his green and gold IBO belt for a third time since winning it December 2022. Over his trio of defences, he has stopped all three foes before the sixth round, needing just 10 from a scheduled 36 to retain his title.
His IBO World super-middleweight strap is steeped in prestige, previously held by the likes of Vinny Pazienza, Mads Larsen, Brian Magee, Jeff Lacy, Thomas Oosthuizen, Chris Eubank Jr, George Groves.
The other champions at 168lbs include Saul Canelo Alvarez, who holds the WBC, WBA and WBO, and William Scull, who is also an unbeaten Cuban like Iglesias, who has the IBF bauble.
Heavy-handed Montreal man Steven Butler (35-5-1, 29KO) scored a quick first-round KO against Argentinian Fernando Ezequiel Farias (12-3-3, 4KO).
Quebec’s undefeated light-heavyweight prospect Wilkens Mathieu (12-0, 8KO) stopped Marcos Nicolas Karalitzky (8-10-2, 2KO) in the fourth of a scheduled eight.
The Belarusian “Wasp” Dzmitry Asanau (9-0, 4KO) stung experienced opponent Matias Rueda (38-3, 32KO) in the fifth round of a scheduled 10.
Heavy-handed Colombian Jhon Orobio (12-0, 11KO), 21 from Montreal, stopped unbeaten Italian Jacopo Colli (9-1-1, 4KO) in just 72 seconds.