Canelo ordered for immediate world title shot against undefeated KO artist
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez could find himself back in the world title picture should he choose to accept the IBF’s recent order.
The Mexican superstar lost his undisputed super-middleweight championship to Terence Crawford in September 2025, ending his dominant five-year reign in the division with his third defeat in 68 contests.
Though he initially desired a rematch with Crawford, the American pound-for-pound star scrapped any chance of that by officially announcing his retirement from the sport last month.
Still highly ranked in the 168lbs weight class, it was always clear that Canelo would never struggle to land himself another shot at one of the belts once they were relinquished by Crawford.
The first opportunity to do so has now been made available by the IBF, who, according to Canadian promoter Camille Estephan, have ordered a fight between the former four-weight champion and rising Cuban star Osleys Iglesias, who is also the reigning IBO champion at the weight.
Southpaw stylist Iglesias, promoted by Estephan’s Eye of the Tiger Management, is 14-0 with 13 knockouts, having most recently stopped Vladimir Shishkin inside eight rounds in September.
Official word from the IBF, as well as a timeline for negotiations, is yet to come. It also remains to be seen whether or not Canelo’s team decide to participate, as they may be in the market for a bigger name.
Who is Osleys Iglesias?
Osleys Iglesias was born December 12, 1997, in Havana, Cuba, and is currently 28-years-old.
As an amateur, he won four silver medals at middleweight in the Cuban National Championships between 2015 to 2018.
He became the IBO world super-middleweight champion in December 2022 and has made three successful defences over three years.
He has also won WBA Inter-Continental, IBO International, IBO Youth titles at super-middleweight.
Osleys has a 92.86% KO ratio after stopping 14 of his 15 foes. He has only boxed in 51 rounds, averaging a knockout every 3.64 rounds.
He stands at 6’2″ tall (1.89m).
