Middleweight contender Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KOs) obliterated the hopefully overmatched Danny Dignum (14-1-1, 8 KOs0 by a second-round knockout on Saturday night to capture the vacant interim WBO 160-lb title at the Resorts World Las Vegas.
The 2016 Olympian Janibek, 29, knocked Dignum out cold with a right uppercut in the second round. The time of the stoppage was at 2:11 of the second.
It wasn’t a shock that Dignum folded so easily, as he was out of his depth in this fight. That much was apparent in the first 30 seconds of the fight when Janibek repeatedly nailed Dignum with straight lefts to the head, catching him clean each time.
In the opening round, Janibek hurt the 30-year-old British fighter Dignum with a left to the head and then pulled him to the canvas. The referee Tony Weeks ruled it a knockdown, but it was clear pull down by the Kazakhstan fighter Janibek.
The victory for the southpaw Janibek puts him in a position to either be elevated to the full WBO middleweight champion or face the current champ Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade if he elects to return to the division to face him.
“I haven’t shown my best punches yet,” said Janibek after the fight. “Maybe in my next fights. I am in the ring right now, and I want to tell every champion in this weight class I am here waiting for you. I am asking every champion to come and fight me!”
You can argue that Janibek is a too high-risk low reward for any of the quality middleweights like Gennadiy Golovkin, Jermall Charlo, or Chris Eubank Jr to fight him.
Even if they fought Janibek and beat him, the casuals wouldn’t give them any credit because he’s a complete unknown at this point. At 29, Janibek is going to need to fight frequently if he wants to become a star, as Golovkin did.
What we saw tonight from Janibek is a fighter that mostly throws single shots with his left hand. He doesn’t throw combinations like WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, and he rarely uses his jab.
For the most part, Janibek threw only left hands, and didn’t use his right other than for occasional jabs. To become a huge star, Janibek will need to incorporate combination punching instead of throwing single left hands because he’s too one-dimensional.
“Janibek is the next middleweight superstar. There is no doubt that he is the future of the division,” said promoter Bob Arum. “What a sensational performance from a great young man and fighter.”