Vladimir Shishkin will fight for just the 11th time as a professional Thursday night.

His promoter hopes Shishkin’s 12th pro appearance results in the Russian contender’s shot at a super middleweight world title. Dmitriy Salita wants WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to consider Shishkin for a shot at that sanctioning organization’s suddenly vacant 168-pound championship.

The 29-year-old Shishkin (10-0, 6 KOs) is rated 10th in the WBC’s super middleweight rankings.

David Benavidez was stripped of the WBC’s 168-pound crown Friday morning because he came in 2¾ pounds overweight for what was supposed to be an optional title defense against Alexis Angulo on Saturday night. Colombia’s Angulo (26-1, 22 KOs) could’ve won that title because he made weight, but Phoenix’s Benavidez (23-0, 20 KOs) beat him by technical knockout after 10 one-sided rounds at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The WBC’s board of governors ordered a bout Tuesday between Canelo Alvarez, its “franchise” middleweight champion, and Avni Yildirim, its mandatory challenger at 168 pounds, for that vacant championship. Benavidez would’ve been required to make a mandated defense versus Yildirim next had he kept that title.

If Alvarez-Yildirim doesn’t happen, Salita is confident Shishkin is ready to battle Mexico’s Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs), Yildirim (21-2, 12 KOs) or any other ranked contender for the WBC’s belt.

“Vladimir Shishkin is the best super middleweight contender in the world,” Salita told BoxingScene.com. “Out of all the super middleweights, he has the best chance to beat Canelo Alvarez. I think he’s on his way to being a dominant force in the division. Sometimes things happen for a reason. And with Benavidez vacating that title, we’d love for Vladimir Shishkin to move into position to fight Canelo, Yildirim or whoever’s available for that super middleweight title.”

Shishkin, whose past two fights have been broadcast by Showtime, is scheduled to meet Mexico’s Oscar Rojas (21-13-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round fight Thursday night at Kronk Gym in Detroit. The Shishkin-Rojas fight is the main event of a six-bout show that’ll be streamed by UFC FIGHT PASS (ufcfightpass.com; 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT).

“Vladimir is ranked 10th by the WBC, and hopefully with the win Thursday night, we’re gonna push the WBC to move him up in the rankings,” Salita said. “We’re hoping he has an impressive showing on UFC FIGHT PASS on Thursday. That would be a great opportunity for him.” 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.