The IBF is ready to crown a new super middleweight champion after Terence Crawford recently announced that he was officially retiring following his win over Canelo Alvarez on September 13 in Las Vegas.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) says they received official confirmation on December 23, that Terence Crawford has retired from the ring, thus relinquishing the IBF Super Middleweight title.
The IBF says they will proceed to request availability and order the two leading available contenders in the Super Middleweight rankings to negotiate for the vacant title.
The IBF has informed The Ring that Osleys Iglesias and Alvarez, its No. 1 and No. 3 contenders, will be contacted first.
In the case of Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs), he has looked terrific and he was last spotted in the ring on September 4, dishing out a one-sided beating to Vladimir Shishkin for an eighth-round stoppage win.
Although the 28-year-old has called for big-time fights, it’s unlikely that Alvarez will be his next opponent.
Roughly two weeks after his defeat to Crawford, Alvarez (63-3-2, 39 KOs) announced that he was set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow.
He would be sidelined for a minimum of two months from his October 23 surgery date.
Alvarez's trainer and manager Eddy Reynoso has already ruled out the possibility of Alvarez fighting in the first half of 2026 and will instead look to get him going in September.
Source: theringmagazine
