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The queue to face dangerous Cuban southpaw super middleweight contender Osleys Iglesias for the vacant IBF title is short.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is injured. Jaime Munguia wants to go in another direction.
Step up Troy Williamson, who is enjoying a Cinderella spell in his nine-year career and who has welcomed the opportunity to face Iglesias for the IBF belt.
Although Williamson, of Newcastle, England, lost his first fight of 2025, he rebounded in the most spectacular way with underdog victories over Mark Dickinson and Callum Simpson, both via stoppage.
The Simpson win, in December, saw the popular fighter from Barnsley, England, bludgeoned to the canvas four times in the 10th and decisive round as Williamson improved to 22-4-1 (16 KOs) while acknowledging he is a different fighter since allowing himself to move up two weight classes to 168lbs.
No longer burdened by a brutal weight cut, Williamson has come into his own, and he also welcomes a bout with Iglesias.
“I’ve just seen that he was offered Canelo and Munguia – they haven’t happened for whatever reason,” Williamson told BoxingScene. “I know that Canelo is injured and Munguia is going a different route, but then it was going to the next in the queue, which would have been Hamzah Sheeraz. But I think he’s fighting [Diego] Pacheco, so next in line would be myself.
“That fight could happen next, I believe. I don’t know much about him. I’ve not really seen much of him, but he’s obviously a very good fighter, and it’s one I’m looking forward to if it happens.”
But it is not going to be just down to the IBF to decide whether Williamson and Iglesias can contest the belt left vacant by Terence Crawford.
Simpson was one of Boxxer’s flagship fighters, and the promoter might try to get Williamson back in with its man.
“We’re just waiting to see what’s going to happen with the rematch clause with Callum Simpson,” said Williamson.
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
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