- Osleys Iglesias defends his IBF and IBO super middleweight titles against Oliver Zaren at the Theatre Capitole in Quebec City on Thursday, October 8, live on DAZN
- Iglesias is 15-0 with 14 knockouts, while Zaren arrives unbeaten at 19-0-1 with eight stoppages
- I back Iglesias to win and to do it inside the distance, with the power gap deciding the second half of the fight
Iglesias vs Zaren: What Is On The Line
Right then. Osleys Iglesias defends his IBF and IBO super middleweight titles at the Theatre Capitole in Quebec City on Thursday, October 8, live on DAZN. Across from him is Oliver Zaren, the unbeaten Dane who has earned the mandatory slot. Iglesias vs Zaren is a proper title defence, not a showcase, and I like that the champion is taking it.
The Cuban is 15-0 with 14 knockouts, and that ratio tells you almost everything. Zaren is 19-0-1 with eight stoppages, a clean-boxing southpaw who has won plenty of rounds and not as many fights early. If you know, you know: that difference in finishing power is the whole story of Iglesias vs Zaren.
The Case For Zaren
Credit where it is due. Zaren is 26, he is unbeaten, and the southpaw stance gives any champion something to solve. He picked up the vacant IBF Inter-Continental title with a unanimous decision last October, and that kind of controlled, patient win is exactly how he will try to fight here.
How Zaren Wins
He needs to make Iglesias miss, stay off the ropes and turn it into a points fight. If it is still level after six rounds, the pressure shifts. But that is a big if against a man who ends fights this regularly.
The Case For Iglesias
Iglesias announced himself as a genuine force in the division with the way he finishes. Fourteen knockouts in fifteen fights is not luck. He does not need many openings. I touched on this division when Canelo told Sheeraz and Iglesias to fight each other, and a win in Quebec only makes that name louder at 168.
The Prediction
Make no mistake, Zaren will have his moments early and he will not be easy to put away. But Iglesias is levels above him in power, and I make it a stoppage win for the champion somewhere between rounds seven and ten. Let's not beat around the bush: this is a good test, but Iglesias vs Zaren ends with the belts staying in Cuban hands.