A year later, on 23 September 2011, Shafikov won his first major regional championship—the European light-welterweight title—by forcing veteran contender Giuseppe Lauri to retire in his corner.

[6] The following year, on 18 December, Shafikov received another opportunity to fight for the vacant IBF lightweight title, this time against Rances Barthelemy, but lost again via unanimous decision.

[7] Shafikov returned on 2 July 2016 in emphatic style, beating down and stopping undefeated lightweight prospect Jamel Herring in the tenth and final round.

[8] On 30 June 2017, in his third world title challenge, Shafikov lost a competitive unanimous decision against IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr., in a hard-hitting slugfest.

[9] The scorecards read 120-108, 120-108 and 116-112 in favour of Easter Jr.[10] In his next bout, Shafikov faced Rene Alvarado, who was ranked #10 by the WBA at super featherweight.