Gala at the Montreal Casino | “A promise is a promise, mom,” insists Osleys Iglesias

Osleys Iglesias hasn’t seen his mother in five years. She remained in Cuba when he decided to take his destiny into his own hands. But the 26-year-old boxer is not quite ready to see her in the flesh again. Above all, he has a promise to keep.

“I promised my mother that I would not return to Cuba until I was world champion,” the Cuban explained to us Wednesday morning at the Le Valet bar at the Montreal Casino.

Iglesias (12-0, 11 KOs), a colt from the Eye Of The Tiger Management (EOTTM) stable, had just finished devouring a well-deserved meal when he spoke to The Press and to The Canadian Press. Moments earlier, he had swung the needle at 167 lbs at the weigh-in. Super-middleweight is a maximum of 168 lbs.

On Thursday, he will face the Ukrainian Petro Ivanov (18-0-2, 13 KOs, 167.2 lbs) in a 12-round fight, at the Casino, to defend his world title for the third time. IBO.

It’s a “big fight,” believes promoter Camille Estephan. The two pugilists are undefeated. Estephan is also trying to place his cards with the IBF so that Iglesias, currently ranked 7^e by this organization, quickly passes into the top 3 aspiring world champion William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs). Scull recently won this belt vacated by “Canelo” Álvarez.

Without leading him to the gates of his “dream” of bringing a belt home to Cuba, a victory Thursday evening remains an important step to take so that eventually his mother can be present at all his fights thereafter.

“My slogan is ‘a promise, it’s a promise, mom’,” underlines the Cuban, who speaks in Spanish through an interpreter. Iglesias speaks neither French nor English. For five years he has resided in Germany, where he lives with his wife and child.

Columnist Réjean Tremblay wrote on the subject last August for the BPM Sports website. Wednesday’s weigh-in was a great opportunity to explore it further with the main person concerned.

Especially since Cuba recently had to deal with the aftershocks of the hurricane Oscarincluding severe flooding and massive power outages. How is his family doing?

“There was a lot of rain, hurricanes, cyclones,” he explains, before smiling. But we have a house that is really solid! Thank you God, my mother and family are fine. »

“He talks to his mother every day, with social networks,” confirms Estephan. He’s a very, very nice guy. He is proud of his roots. But he’s so focused on his career, he doesn’t think about anything else in his head. He wants to be world champion. »

“A boxing machine”

Estephan says it bluntly: “In my opinion, Iglesias is the best we have [embauché] Since [Artur] Beterbiev et [Christian] M’Billi. This guy is going to be a super star. »

And Eye Of The Tiger wants to benefit from a “machine” that “runs well”. Thursday’s fight will already be the Cuban’s fourth in 2024, and since his arrival at EOTTM in November 2023. It will also be a fifth clash in a little over a year.

Conversely, his opponent Petro Ivanov has not put on gloves in a professional boxing ring since October 2023. Recently, the Ukrainian was at 11^e step in the rankings, while Osleys Iglesias holds 7^e. Is there a risk that Iglesias will suffer the consequences of overwork against a rested boxer?

Estephan is not overly concerned. To our question, he replied that the Cuban goes through all his training partners in “one or two weeks”. A “phenomenon” which reminds him of Beterbiev, and which makes him reuse the image of the “boxing machine”.

That doesn’t worry Iglesias either.

“I am someone who sacrificed everything in life, I had to leave Cuba,” he responds when asked about the challenge that Petro Ivanov represents. Yes, he has talent. But in the end, I don’t think he’s hungry like me. »