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Mike Coppinger, ESPN Boxing Insider
Canelo Alvarez is being stripped of his IBF super middleweight title ahead of his Sept. 14 fight against Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The decision comes with Alvarez’s mandatory title defense against the IBF’s No. 1 contender, William Scull, overdue.
Alvarez, boxing’s top star, will still defend his WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound titles against Berlanga. The IBF is set to order a vacant title fight between Scull and No. 2 contender Vladimir Shiskin, sources said.
“Once we officially notify the involved parties we will issue a statement,” IBF president Daryl Peoples told ESPN on Thursday.
Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) won the undisputed super middleweight championship in November 2021 when he added the IBF title with an 11th-round TKO against Caleb Plant. The 34-year-old Mexican fighter went on to make four successful defenses of all four 168-pound belts.
Alvarez, who is ESPN’s No. 5 pound-for-pound boxer, most recently outpointed Jaime Munguia in May.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) will be challenging for his first world title. The 27-year-old Brooklyn, New York, native is ESPN’s No. 6 super middleweight.
Scull (22-0, 9 KOs) has never competed on the world-class level. The 32-year-old, who fights out of Germany, is coming off an eight-round decision win over Sean Hemphill in May on the Alvarez-Munguia undercard.
Russia’s Shiskin (16-0, 10 KOs) scored a seventh-round TKO victory over Mike Guy in March. The 32-year-old Shiskin, who fights out of South Florida, has a career-best victory in a decision over former titleholder Jose Uzcategui in December 2022.
Neither Scull nor Shiskin is rated by ESPN at super middleweight.
“Vladimir has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and I am thrilled that he is finally going to get his chance to shine,” Shiskin’s promoter, Dmitry Salita, told ESPN. “As a promoter, it’s gratifying to see someone progress to world-champion status, especially after witnessing their growth from the early stages of their career.”
Alvarez is the latest star boxer to lose his undisputed championship after being stripped by the IBF. Oleksandr Usyk was stripped of his IBF heavyweight title after he defeated Tyson Fury in May.