Cuban fighter William Scull has become the IBF super middleweight world champion after defeating Russian contender Vladimir Shishkin by unanimous decision, but controversy surrounds the result with Shishkin’s performance in the latter rounds having made the contest much closer and disputable. The two 168-pounders headlined at the Stadthalle in Falkensee, Brandenburg, in Germany on Saturday, October 19.
William Scull (23-0, 9 KO’s) and Vladimir Shishkin (16-1, 10 KO’s) battled the full 12 rounds with the vacant IBF super middleweight (168 lbs) title up for grabs since Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) relinquished the title for refusing to face Scull in a mandatory fight.
The bout was evenly-contested throughout with many rounds appearing to be swing rounds. The contrasting styles between the two fighters, with Shishkin focusing more so on aggression while Scull was the more cautious fighter, made it a difficult fight to call.
However, William Scull seemed to lack the aggression needed to take most of the rounds, and with the fighter’s punch output appearing to be as mild as his punching power, Vladimir Shishkin appeared to be ahead. In the latter 3 rounds, Shishkin dominated at least 2 of those rounds, with the last round triggering controversy after Scull seemingly spit out his mouthpiece amidst what looked to be a knockdown.
By the end of the 12th round, Scull was announced the winner by unanimous decision (UD), a decision that seemed overwhelmingly egregious given Scull’s lack of activity compared to the 33-year old Shishkin. This was also reflected through Compubox’s punch stats:
As the stats indicate, Shishkin threw more than double the amount of punches Scull threw, while Scull was the more accurate fighter. This further emphasizes Scull’s overall lack of activity compared to Shishkin, and taken into account Scull’s lack of punching power, the stats themselves point towards a win in favor of Shishkin.
The judges’ scorecards were perhaps the most notable aspect of this fight aside from the bout itself, with scores of 116-113, 116-112 and 115-113 all going in favor of Scull.
Adding to the controversy is the fact that William Scull has fought in Germany for roughly half his career, and Germany is listed on BoxRec as the country he is based in, indicating that the scorecards might have tilted in favor of Scull due to favoritism.
The 32-year old Scull can still face a rematch depending on how Shishkin’s team decides to take action. Though there was no rematch clause confirmed for the fight, Team Shishkin can petition the IBF for a rematch based on the controversial scorecards.
