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The British middleweight Denzel Bentley famously taunted him as “no Golovkin“, when he challenged the Kazakhstan legend’s countryman Janibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO middleweight title.
Janibek has long been the considered the heir to the “GGG’” throne, not least because of his own deference to the two-time former unified world champion. He started his career against a former Golovkin opponent and once said he wouldn’t fight his idol “because he is my older brother”; once he had vacated his belts, Janibek vowed: “Now I can collect them all.”
It is only now that the veteran middleweight is in the twilight of his career that Janibek, 30, is stepping into the spotlight. Had Liam Smith not been obliged to fight Chris Eubank Jr in a rematch, he would have been fighting Janibek, but instead it is Steven Butler who steps up to challenge the often avoided champion.
Indeed there was not exactly a queue, his punishing second-round knockout of Danny Dignum the latest of his eight KO’s.
Bentley at least went the distance, only to be beaten by unanimous decision. It’s fair to say that fight did not exactly go to plan for Janibek, who had seen Bentley’s vulnerabilities so badly exposed in his knockout by Felix Cash.
Nor had he been convincing against Linus Udofia but Janibek declined to impose himself and only sought to control Bentley via a series of single shots rather than going for the jugular.
It is worth remembering too that while he is considered dangerous, Janibek was only elevated to full champion – having held the “Regular” belt previously – because the previous champion, Demetrius Andrade, chose not to fight him and snubbed him as a mandatory challenger.
Yet the hope is that before long, Janibek will get the chance to unify the division. There are quite a few hurdles before that can happen, as the IBF belt is vacant, Jermall Charlo hasn’t fought in two years and will only return this summer.
Erislandy Lara, the man upgraded to WBA champion after Golovkin’s vacation, is the best prospect but it is unclear whether that match-up will happen.
In the meantime Butler is a worthy opponent, a big puncher with four wins last year, even if his defence is a little shaky. He has spoken poignantly of how the death of his best friend has overshadowed the most recent part of his career.
It feels apt that three-and-a-half years after losing his world title shot to the then WBA king Ryota Murata in Yokohama, he is finally getting another.
Alimkhanuly vs Butler
- Date: Saturday 13 May
- Venue: Stockton Arena, Stockton USA
- Fight time: Ring walks for the main event are expected around 4.30am UK time
- TV/live stream: Sky Sports Action. You can stream on SkyGo or with a NOW 24-hour pass, which costs £11.99. Coverage starts from 2am (early hours of Sunday morning UK time).
- Undercard highlights: Jason Moloney fights Vincent Astrolabio for the vacant WBO bantamweight title
- i predicts: Alimkhanuly to win by KO rounds 6-8
Full card:
- Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Steven Butler
- Jason Moloney vs Vincent Astrolabio
- Robson Conceicao vs Nicolas Polanco
- Javier Martinez vs Joeshon James
- Haven Brady Jr vs D’Angelo Fuentes
- Gabriel Flores Jr vs Derrick Murray
- Brian Norman Jr vs Jesus Campos
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Any other business
- Liam Smith’s rematch against Chris Eubank Jr has been pushed back to 1 July on medical advice following a minor injury sustained by Smith. Ben Whittaker has been added to the card.
- Rolando “Rolly” Romero also fights Ismael Barroso tonight for the WBA super-lightweight interim title tonight. The fight is not televised in the UK.
- Despite talk of Tyson Fury facing Zhilei Zhang that will have to wait, as Joe Joyce has activated his rematch clause after his shock defeat to the Chinese heavyweight.
- Boxxer have confirmed a license has finally been granted for Lawrence Okolie vs Chris Billam-Smith on 27 May. There had been a small number of complaints made by local residents but authorities have now granted a license to take the seating capacity to 15,000.
- Ben Shalom has suggested Frazer Clarke could still fight Fabio Wardley despite Clarke’s team withdrawing from the purse bids.
