Osleys Iglesias Breaks Down Oliver Zaren for Seventh-Round Stoppage in IBF Title Defense
The unbeaten Cuban retained his IBF and IBO super middleweight titles with a methodical breakdown in Quebec City.
Osleys Iglesias retained his IBF and IBO super middleweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Oliver Zaren on Thursday night at Theatre Capitole in Quebec City, per Boxing News 24.
Iglesias, known as "El Tornado," broke the Danish challenger down over six rounds of sustained pressure before Zaren's corner, led by former champion Mikkel Kessler, threw in the towel in the seventh. Zaren absorbed heavy punishment throughout without landing enough in return as Iglesias steadily increased his output.
The victory improved Iglesias to 16-0 with 15 knockouts. The 28-year-old Cuban has now stopped Vladimir Shishkin, Pavel Silyagin, and Zaren in consecutive fights since winning the vacant IBF title against Silyagin in April.
Zaren, 26, fell to 19-1-1 with 8 KOs. He was ranked fifth by the IBF and was making his first challenge for a world title. Despite his size advantage, he had no answer for the champion's volume and precision.
After the fight, Iglesias called for a unification bout, expressing interest in the winner of the October 31 showdown between WBC champion Christian Mbilli and Canelo Alvarez in Riyadh.
Iglesias is the super middleweight nobody is talking about, and that needs to change. The guy is 16-0 with 15 stoppages. He just ran through the IBF's No. 5 contender like it was a Tuesday night sparring session. Kessler, who knows a thing or two about taking punishment at 168, had seen enough by the seventh.
Three straight stoppages of legit opponents. Shishkin was supposed to be a tough test. Silyagin had never been stopped. Zaren was bigger and unbeaten. It did not matter.
Iglesias calling for the Canelo-Mbilli winner is the right play. Whether he gets that fight is another story, but the 168-pound division is wide open and this kid from Cuba is knocking on the door louder than anyone.
