Dmitry Salita pushes for ‘justice’ for Vladimir Shishkin

Dmitry Salita is standing firmly behind his fighter, the super middleweight Vladimir Shishkin, after the 33 year old suffered a controversial unanimous decision loss to William Scull in Germany.

Salita, a retired fighter turned promoter, has filed an appeal with the IBF questioning the fairness of the scoring in the bout for the vacant title, which took place in Germany on October 19.

Shishkin, 16-1 (10 KOs), faced a tough challenge against Scull, 32 years old and 23-0 (9 KOs), who has been based in Germany since 2018. Despite Shishkin’s strong performance — including a near-knockdown in the 12th round — the scorecards heavily favored the Cuban-born fighter, which Salita strongly disputes.

“We filed an appeal with the IBF, and I’m very grateful they took it seriously and are reviewing it,” Salita told BoxingScene. “According to CompuBox, Vladimir threw and landed almost twice as many punches. In the 12th round, he almost dropped William Scull, yet the German judge gave Scull the round. It shows what we were up against and how unfair the decision was.”

Salita stressed that inconsistent judging damages the sport as a whole.

“People say, ‘Well, you’re fighting in someone’s hometown; these things happen’,” he said. “But for boxing to grow — especially now, when it’s looking for a new home on platforms like DAZN — there cannot be a different definition of winning based on the country you’re in. It has to be consistent, and decisions have to be fair.”

The promoter also noted that the questionable decision sparked reactions from unexpected sources.

“Even Jake Paul, who has no connection to Vladimir, tweeted about how wrong the decision was,” Salita said. “For the sport to grow, these injustices cannot continue.”

The stakes of the fight were high. The loss cost Shishkin potential marquee match-ups in the super-middleweight division – a talent-rich weight class.

“The super middleweight division is one of the most competitive in boxing,” Salita said. “‘Canelo’ Alvarez is looking for a dancing partner. Fights with Chris Eubank Jnr, Caleb Plant — those are all big opportunities Vladimir could’ve been in line for.”

Shishkin’s path to this point has been anything but ordinary. Having immigrated to Detroit in 2018, with no family or friends, he pursued his dream of becoming a champion.

“Vladimir sacrificed everything for this and deserved to be a champion,” Salita said. “As his promoter, we have to do what we can to ensure justice is delivered, and we’re grateful the IBF is taking our appeal seriously.”