MONTREAL – As statements go, this was quite emphatic.

Osleys Iglesias entered Thursday night as The Ring No. 3-rated super middleweight. His opponent, Vladimir Shishkin, was ranked No. 9.

And while Shishkin was tough, he was widely dominated by Iglesias through seven rounds. Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs) won every round on the official judges’ scorecards before the Cuban-born fighter hurt him and didn’t let Russia’s Shishkin (16-2, 10 KOs) off the hook until referee Michael Griffin called a well-timed stoppage in the eighth round.

“I was hungry,” Iglesias told The Ring. “[As] a matter of fact, I’m still hungry. When I see a guy making mistakes, ‘The Tornado’ is passing by.

“I noticed my combinations were going in. I saw they were landing. Sooner or later he was going to break, and I got him in the eighth round – he broke.”

What Eye of The Tiger, Iglesias’ promoter, did is give the strong southpaw the platform for his talents.

Last year, he scored four knockouts against former world title challenger Marcelo Coceres, Evgeny Shvedenko, Sena Agbeko and Petro Ivanov – solid competition.

They lasted a total of nine rounds as he vaulted up the ratings. Activity is a fighter’s best friend, while inactivity is the bane of their lives.

This year, things slowed down while the Montreal-based promotional outfit was forced to wait on the IBF to arrange this fight with Shishkin in the eliminator. It appears the rest and time off were well served.

Camille Estephan, president of Eye of The Tiger, feels the sky is the limit for his fighter.

“What we just saw is we have a generational talent,” Estephan said. “Osleys Iglesias needed an opponent to prove how real he is, and he just did. He sent a statement and message to the whole division that he’s going to beat them all.”

Eye of The Tiger general manager Antonin Décarie said earlier in the week that Iglesias was even better than what we had seen and doubled down on that assertation after another impressive display.

“I stand by that, 100 percent,” Décarie said. “But he can box when he puts his hands together. He’s got a lot of speed, angles and if ever we get a fight where we can’t knock [the opponent] out, I’m not worried at all.

“I don’t think he lost one round [Thursday night], and Shishkin is a very decent opponent. [Shishkin] looked average [Thursday night], but that’s how good Iglesias is. The first round [Shishkin] got caught by the right hook. I was impressed how Shishkin could handle the punches.”

Meanwhile, Shishkin’s promoter, Dmitriy Salita, offered high praise for what he had just seen, “My guy is world class, that guy is elite.”

Quickly, talk will jump to what is next and it seems the cogs are already turning.

"We already know if Canelo wins, who his next opponent is,” Décarie said. “If Crawford wins, I don't see him fighting a guy the size of Iglesias, it wouldn’t be a very smart decision. So, we’re going to have to create a plan, but I think we’ve done pretty great the past few years, so I’m worried. We just have to be smart and keep him active.”

The win was perfect timing because in the next few days Estephan and Décarie will fly to Las Vegas, where they’ll join up with their other top-rated super middleweight, Christian Mbilli. Montreal’s Mbilli, ranked No. 1 by The Ring, holds the WBC interim title and will defend it against the dangerous Lester Martinez.

That fight, of course, will take place on the Alvarez-Crawford undercard September 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“We’ve had talks with Turki [Alalshikh] about Osleys,” Estephan said, “and ‘His Excellency’ mentioned to me he’d like to see him on one of their shows. So, now we will see when that will be.

“The most important thing to me is Osleys is going to keep fighting, keep winning and he’s going to keep the pressure on until he has the world title.”

Iglesias was happy with how things went and felt his message was sent.

“I know they saw, I know they know me,” he said. “I think it's time. I think [Alalshikh] knows it’s time to give me my opportunity. He knows I give a good show and it’s time for me to take over the 168 category.”