William Scull Claims Controversial IBF Super Middleweight Title Victory Over Vladimir Shishkin

Shishkin Dominates the Fight, But Judges' Verdict Sparks Outrage Across the Boxing World

William Scull beats Vladimir Shishkin to claim the vacant IBF super middleweight title / Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images.

On Saturday night in the Falkensee Stadthalle in Germany, William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) was crowned the new IBF super middleweight champion after a controversial decision. Vladimir Shishkin (16-1, 10 KOs) appeared to have won the twelve-round bout with ease until the scorecards from the three judges came back and showed varied results.

The fight was majorly one-sided, with Shishkin dominating every round while Scull resorted to excessive holding. Despite repeatedly throwing rabbit punches and hitting after the bell, the referee did not issue any warnings or penalties to Scull. The decision has sparked a wave of controversy on social media, with fans and fighters alike disputing the outcome. Jake Paul even took to X to share his thoughts, “Insane robbery on Scull vs Shishkin. Shishkin won that fight 7 rounds to 5 (and arguably a 10-8 round in the 12th)

Unanimous decision for Scull is a sham.”

“It’s absolutely horrendous that the referee allowed Scull to spit out his mouthpiece to avoid a knockdown without deducting a point. To make matters worse, the German judge, Rene Fiebig, still gave the round to Scull,” another quote said.

Shishkin, 33, was the more aggressive fighter, consistently landing straight punches and controlling most of the offensive action throughout the fight. In the 12th round, a powerful right hand from Shishkin rocked the Cuban, Scull, who then conveniently lost his mouthpiece, giving him extra time to recover. While Shishkin connected with numerous clean right hands throughout the fight, Scull handled them well, likely due to Shishkin's lack of knockout power.

Reminiscent of the Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley fight, the boxing world was shocked by the split decision awarded to Bradley. The decision left many ringside experts appalled, along with the overwhelmingly pro-Pacquiao crowd. Throughout the bout, Bradley struggled to counter Pacquiao's precise straight lefts, which consistently hit their mark, while Bradley’s lack of power was evident in the close exchanges. When the Compubox stats were released, they confirmed that Pacquiao had comfortably out-thrown and out-landed Bradley, with some of his numbers nearly doubling those of his opponent.

The Sport’s credibility is jeopardized by such decisions from judges whom the fans think are paid to fix fights. Inconsistency of scoring criteria and the lack of transparency can have a backlash even in the most exciting matches.

If Scull's appearance on Saturday night is any indication, he won't be able to hold on to his IBF title for very long.