Who will fight Ismayl Sillakh?

By Przemek Garczarczyk
Photo: Stoyanvassev

Ismayl Sillakh (17-0, 14 KO), a young, 26-year old Ukrainian making his home in Los Angeles, California just wants to fight. The negotiations for the second World Boxing Council ordered fight with Jean Pascal ended the same way that the first one did – with Pascal’s promoters deciding that they are not interested in fighting the most talked about contender in the light heavyweight division. It was a surprise, because it looked like both sides were close to making a deal and puts Pascal in an uncomfortable position because there are reports that his preferred option – fighting the 37- year old Zsolt Erdei – has been rejected by Showtime.

“There’s something about Sillakh that just plain scares other fighters from fighting him – they see that he is just too young, too good, too fast and too dangerous” – said Ismayl’s promoter, John Wirt, CEO of Square Ring. “We reached out today for WBC number 4 ranked Eduard Gutknecht from Germany but his promoters advised they didn’t think we could ‘come together’ for a WBC final eliminator and were only interested in him defending his EBU title. Now I’m in the preliminary stages of talks with Andrew Wasilewski, promoter of WBC number 5 ranked, undefeated Polish fighter Pawel Glazewski (17-0, 4 KO) for a possible title eliminator. Hopefully somebody will be brave enough to fight Ismayl.” Another of top-ranked Polish light heavyweights, #5 WBC ranked David Kostecki (38-1, 25 KO) is also a possibility for Sillakh. “It all depends when the fight would be made” – said Wasilewski. “Kostecki just had a shoulder surgery and needs some time to get healthy enough for fight of this magnitude” – said Polish promoter.

Sillakh, who is 17-0 as a professional with 14 KOs, was one of the fastest rising stars in amateur boxing, with record of 302-16, winning the Silver Medal in middleweight division at the 2006 World Championships as only a 19 year old and a year later bringing home the Silver Medal from the European Championships in the light heavyweight division. Currently ranked number 2 by World Boxing Council, Sillakh, is one of the most talented prospects in the light heavyweight division in recent years.

February 22nd, 2012

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