Osleys Iglesias vs Pavel Silyagin Preview April 9th, 2026
Unbeaten Southpaw Osleys Iglesias of Cuba will be battling it out with undefeated Pavel Silyagin of Russia for the vacant IBF Super Middleweight Title this Thursday, April 9th. The 12-rounder from the Montreal Casino in Quebec, Canada is also for Iglesias’ IBO World Title. Iglesias last fought in September when he stopped Vladimir Shishkin in the eighth round. Silyagin last saw action in July when he beat Pablo Corzo via a 10-round unanimous decision. Thursday’s fight can be seen live on DAZN in most nations.
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Pavel Silyagin +800
- Osleys Iglesias -1500
My Pick
The 28-year-old southpaw Iglesias resides in Berlin, Germany but fights out of Montreal, Canada and makes the ring walk with a perfect mark of 14-0 with 13 Ko’s and has just 51 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2019. Before that he enjoyed an extensive amateur career and won a silver medal at four straight Cuban National Championships from 2015 to 2018. He also participated in the World Series of Boxing in 2017.
It’s obvious that Iglesias has excellent power in his punches as he boasts a current knockout ratio of 93 per cent and has gone the distance just once as a pro when Isaac Chilemba took him 12 rounds in May 2022 when Iglesias captured the vacant IBO International Super Middleweight Belt. In his previous bout four months earlier, Iglesias won the vacant IBO World Youth Super Middleweight Crown by stopping Robert Racz in just 145 seconds. Iglesias has good size for the 168 lb division as he stands just over 6-feet-2-inches but unfortunately has an unlisted reach.
Like most elite Cuban boxers, he possesses polished skills to go along with his tremendous power. He also has wins over Sena Agbeko, Marcelo Coceres, Arthur Reis, Andrii Velikovskyi, Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna and Rafael Sosa Pintos. He won the IBO world Belt in November, 2024 by halting Pedro Ivanov in five rounds. Iglesias has a fan-friendly style with six first-round knockouts and has recorded three in the second round and was recently ranked fifth in his division by the WBC, number two by Ring Magazine and number one by the IBF.
As for Silyagin, he’s 32 and makes the ring walk with a near-perfect mark of 16-0-1 with 7 Ko’s and has boxed 121 rounds since making his pro debut in 2020 following his extensive amateur career. He reportedly went 260-40 as an amateur and won a World Championship bronze medal in 2015 as a light heavyweight as well as a Russian National Championship in 2012. He also went 10-1 in the World Series of Boxing. He’s known for his technical ability and high punch output and is currently ranked number seven by the IBF and number eight by the WBA.
At 6-feet-1-inch tall with an unlisted reach, like the champion, Silyagin gives up 1.5-inches in height. He also comes in second best where power is concerned as just 43.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. He’s gone the distance in his last two fights and in three of the last four. The lone blemish on his record is a 10-round draw with Evgeny Shvedenko in 2023. He’s never fought outside of Russia as a pro and his most recognizable opponents is Isaac Chilemba, who he beat by 12-round unanimous decision in 2021.
Silyagin captured the WBC Silver Super Middleweight Title in 2021 with a 12-round unanimous nod over Azizbek Abdugofurov and defended it against Chilemba. He then added the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Super Middlweight Belt with a 10-round unanimous decision over Ulugbek Sobirov in September, 2024. He also has wins over Leonard Carrillo, Omar Garcia and Jose de Jesus Macias.
Prediction…
Iglesias has exceptional power while Silyagin is just average in that department. Silyagin will need to try to keep the aggressive Iglesias at bay and earn his respect but like most of the champion’s other opponents I don’t really think he’s going to be able to do it for more than a few rounds. Once again, I definitely give the edge to the quicker Iglesias here and expect him to win the vacant title via a stoppage.
Iglesias should be too slick and powerful for Silyagin.
Play: Iglesias -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Osleys Iglesias betting • Pavel Silyagin betting