Janibek Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs) weighed in at 160 lbs, and his opponent Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs) scaled in at 159 lbs for their scheduled 12 round fight for the vacant WBO interim middleweight title on Saturday night at the Resorts World Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Janibek vs. Dignum will be shown live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+ at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The winner of the Janibek-Dignum could wind up being elevated to the full WBO middleweight champion status if the current champion Demetrius Andrade chooses not to return to the division to defend against him.
Andrade was supposed to be fighting for the vacant WBO interim super middleweight title against Zach Parker. However, he suffered a training injury, and it’s unclear when he’ll be ready to fight.
#2 WBO Janibek is a 2016 Olympian from Kazakhstan with heavy hands and a lot of talent. He has recent knockout wins over Hassan Ndam and Rob Brant.
Some boxing fans compared the 29-year-year-old Janibek to Gennadiy Golovkin in terms of his punching power and his seek & destroy fighting style. He’s definitely a heavy puncher, and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks a lot of him.
“It’s very exciting for me because I spotted Janibek in a restaurant when Egis Klimas, his manager, brought him in,” said Arum to Fighthype about Janibek.
“He had no professional fights. I just felt with the way he carried himself; he was going to be a tremendous professional boxer,” Arum continued about Janibek.
“It’s great to be proven right, even though I made that determination without seeing him fight. I think he’s going to be a big, big force in the middleweight division.
“I even think his accomplishments are going to exceed fellow Kazahstan fighter Gennadiy Golovkin. Whether it’s smart or not, he made the decision, Andrade,” Arum said about Demetrius Andrade choosing not to defend against Janibek.
“I assume the people advising him felt it was the best decision for Andrade. I’m not going to second guess anybody because I don’t know what the facts were.
“It might have been [a great fight between Janibek and Andrade], but people make decisions in life and in boxing, and they have to live with their decisions,” said Arum.
Undercard weights:
- Jamel Herring 135 lbs vs. Jamaine Ortiz 135 lbs
- Tiger Johnson 142.4 lbs vs. Agustin Kucharski 143.2 lbs
- Adam Lopez 126.8 lbs vs. William Encarnacion 126.2 lbs
- Karlos Balderas 132 lbs vs. Ruben Cervera 130.8 lbs
- Jessie Magdaleno 127.2 lbs vs. Edy Valencia 126.8 lbs
- Duke Ragan 127.6 lbs vs. Victorino Gonzalez 127 lbs
- Giovanni Cabrera 135.4 lbs vs. Elias Araujo 135.4 lbs
- Kasir Goldston 141.6 lbs vs. Yaniel Alvarez 141.8 lbs
- Charlie Sheehy 134.8 lbs vs. Burnell Jenkins 133.6 lbs
“Everything went really well, and training camp went really well, so I’m ready 100%,” said Janibek Alimkhanuly to Fighthype about his fight against Danny Dignum this Saturday night on ESPN.
“I think it’s going to be an easy fight. I’m going to be playing with him, and I’m not going to be fighting with him. I’m going to be playing with him,” said Janibek about his fight on Saturday against Dignum.
“I don’t remember sparring with him, but I’m preparing not just for this fight for him. I’m preparing for a big arena, a big name, and the big matches,” continued Janibek.
“If he’s coming back to 160, he will have to face me,” said Janibek about Demetrius Andrade.
