The news long awaited by Italian fans has finally arrived! One of our compatriots will have the great opportunity to fight for a world title, the IBF middleweight belt. The International Boxing Federation, after stripping Kazakh fighter Janibek Alimkhanuly of the title for having taken the banned substance meldonium, has ruled that the vacant belt must be contested in a fight between Italy’s Etinosa Oliha and Britain’s Shakiel Thompson, inviting the teams of the two fighters to begin negotiations.
For Oliha, this represents the classic light at the end of the tunnel. Our standard-bearer is coming off a tumultuous year, having been forced to withdraw at the last minute from a world title eliminator last summer due to a retinal problem that required surgery.
The eliminator in question, initially postponed to a later date, was eventually cancelled altogether when his opponent, American Austin “Ammo” Williams, chose instead to pursue the path toward the WBC title, which he will try to win next week when he faces Dominican Carlos Adames.
Oliha fought his last bout in September 2025, when he knocked out Croatian trial horse Ivan Njegac in three rounds in a fight arranged to shake off some ring rust and stay active while waiting for an important opportunity — which has now finally arrived.
The only potential obstacle to the realization of the bout between our fighter and Shakiel Thompson is the fact that the British boxer already has a fight scheduled for March 28. On that date, Thompson is expected to face fellow Brit Brad Pauls on the undercard of the European featherweight title bout between Liam Davies and Francesco Grandelli.
However, IBF regulations allow a fighter additional time to negotiate a world title fight if the belt becomes vacant unexpectedly less than thirty days before a previously scheduled bout. Therefore, it is likely that we will have to wait until the end of this month before the promotional teams of Oliha and Thompson — AGON Sports and Queensberry Promotions — can sit down at the negotiating table.
Regardless of how the situation will ultimately be handled by the British fighter and his team, one thing is certain: our Etinosa has officially been selected to fight for a world title belt — news that fills us with joy and that will surely be greeted with great enthusiasm by boxing fans in our country.
Oliha has made enormous strides throughout his professional career, steadily refining his technical skills, facing increasingly valuable opposition that allowed him to make gradual progress, and reaching the level of maturity necessary to make the most of the opportunity that now lies ahead.
All that remains now is to wait for the date of the big day and get ready to cheer loudly!