SPECIAL REPORT IN LIMBO, QAZAQ STYLE
for the interim middleweight title – with Alimkhanuly having to face the winner for the full version of the belt when he returned. Bentley scored a seventh-round TKO (Alimkhanuly scored a unanimous decision over Bentley in a competitive fight back in 2022). This ruling is pretty lenient when compared to the IBF, which just flat-out stripped Alimkhanuly of its title. “Let me give you a little bit of context,” said Gustavo Olivieri, the president of the WBO. “Once he tested positive, we initiated the internal administrative proceeding called a ‘show cause notice’ as to the allegation. We granted him 10 days to respond and to present his defense. He requested that the proceedings be what is called a ‘stay of proceedings’ until the B sample be tested. “We said it wasn’t a problem. He had a right for the B sample to be tested. Once we received that confirmation, we’d determine the next steps. So once we got that confirmation for the B sample ratifying the A-sample, we issued a follow-up ‘show cause notice,’ and we gave him extra time to present his defense. Then he said that the Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation (KPBF) was the license holder based on his last fight.” Olivieri stated that the KPBF filed a letter to both his organization and the IBF asking that they not issue any ruling on the matter, since it had jurisdiction over Alimkhanuly’s last bout. He continued: “Janibek requested that we not rule till the proceedings in Kazakhstan were duly adjudicated. So as a matter of deference to him, we said, ‘Not a problem. We’ll wait until the commission’s ruling.’” The KPBF made their ruling in late February. It was at that point that the WBO mulled its disciplinary options. “We had multiple alternatives,” said Olivieri. “One, we had the discretion to strip him. Number two, we can suspend him, or we can adopt the suspension imposed by the Kazakhstan commission. Or we can rule otherwise.”
The facts that Alimkhanuly was a first-time offender and was collaborative during the investigative process did influence how the WBO dealt with him. “He admitted, ‘Hey, I messed up. I should’ve been more proactive as to the medication that I was being administered,’” said Olivieri, an attorney by trade. He added that their committee ruled unanimously for the one-year ban, but with the opportunity to [defend] the WBO title down the line. And that will be sooner rather than later. Olivieri explained: “One of the conditions we imposed beyond the one-year suspension was number one, you cannot fight anybody in that year period, whether it’s a professional fight or an exhibition. Two, you have to take courses on prohibited substances, and you have to take educational courses. Then you have to be subject to anti- doping tests all-year round, out of competition, at your cost, and you have to report it to the WBO through a WADA-certified lab. “Finally, once the suspension is terminated, he has to immediately fight the mandatory, whoever that is. No intervening bouts.” Also during this stretch, Alimkhanuly was removed from the Ring Magazine middleweight rankings. “Former No. 1-ranked Janibek Alimkhanuly was removed from the rankings after an adverse VADA doping test result received earlier this month,” read a statement. “As a consequence, all other fighters moved up in the standings, with Jesus Ramos Jr. making his debut at No. 10.” While not the champion, Alimkhanuly had been rated first in the division. The top spot is now occupied by Carlos Adames, who took care of Austin Williams over 12 rounds on March 21 in Orlando, Florida. For much of his professional career, which began in 2016 after representing his country in the Olympics, Alimkhanuly has been promoted by Top Rank.
“He’s still under contract,” Carl Moretti, the VP of boxing operations for Top Rank, told The Ring. “But he [is suspended and] doesn’t have his [IBF] title any more, so I’m not sure what the next steps are.” Alimkhanuly was so close to doing something that his countryman Gennadiy Golovkin was unable to do: unify all four sanctioning body belts. “He beats Lara, and he’s fighting Adames next,” said Moretti. “It was all agreed to for a full unification.” As for the rumors of a showdown with Terence Crawford, who had just won the undisputed crown at super middleweight by defeating Canelo Alvarez last September, Klimas explained, “There were some talks, but it was more like joke talks, not real. I met ‘Bud’ [Crawford] in Colombia at the WBO convention.” There is speculation that the scattering of the belts that resulted from Alimkhanuly testing positive was one of the factors in Crawford’s decision to walk away from the sport when he did. While some say that the sanctioning body belts are irrelevant, tell that to boxers like Alimkhanuly, whose only real bait for marquee fighters was having those trinkets around his waist. But one of the issues he faced was that the middleweight division had really become devoid of blue-chip talent once the likes of Canelo moved up in weight or, in the case of Golovkin, retired. “I think that’s a big part of the problem,” agreed Moretti. “I mean, it was kind of like Golovkin, he never really had anybody great to fight. But he had better names. We had to fight Vincenzo Gualtieri – Uncle Paulie’s nephew, if you knew The Sopranos – for the IBF title.” The clash with Gualtieri was one of the more nondescript unification bouts in recent memory. Gualtieri, despite holding a major title belt, was actually unranked by Ring Magazine when the two met in October 2023. Alimkhanuly stopped him in six rounds, but it didn’t do much to burnish his reputation or expand his profile.
As a prospect, Alimkhanuly was highly touted but largely ignored.
The Ring Magazine rankings at 160 read like this at the time of writing: 1) Adames, 2) Yoenli Hernandez, 3) Lara, 4) Troy Isley, 5) Etinosa Oliha, 6) Aaron McKenna, 7) Chris Eubank Jr., 8) Jesus Ramos, 9) Denzel Bentley and 10) Amari Jones. Yeah, where have you gone, Mustafa Hamsho, Wilfred Scypion and Antwun Echols? Currently, this truly is the “mediocreweight” division – to the point that Adames has openly discussed moving up to super middleweight. As for Alimkhanuly possibly moving up in weight, well, there is a certain reality that he faces. Moretti says it bluntly: “It’s fine, but I don’t know who’s fighting him at 168. I mean, nobody was clamoring to fight him at ’60 with two belts. I don’t know if the phone will be ringing off the hook at ’68 with no belts.” There is a natural inclination to compare Alimkhanuly to Golovkin, given their common roots. But while
Golovkin came up just short of his quest to become the undisputed middleweight champion of the world, he acquired more than just a cult following during his run in the States under the direction of Tom Loeffler, who made him the centerpiece of his promotional company. Alimkhanuly was more or less just a spoke on the wheel of the Top Rank machine. Golovkin was able to find box-office success in Los Angeles and New York. His events became the place to be, a bona fide hot ticket at places like The Forum and Madison Square Garden. But another key factor is that during his ascension, Golovkin was kept active. In the first few years of his run in America, he wasn’t content to just fight twice a year, like most world-class fighters. At age 33, Alimkhanuly still has just 17 bouts to his credit. He’s a solid, hard-punching southpaw with the requisite boxing skills, but he has never truly resonated with the public at large.
There is more to being a star than being an elite practitioner inside the ring. Chances are, he’ll never become the crossover star that his predecessor became, but he can still earn a decent living as a world titleholder. And the first order of business will be to ensure that he keeps the WBO belt. “I would think [Bentley] would be hungry to fight before the year is out. So I assume we will do that fight before 2027,” Klimas stated. In the meantime, Alimkhanuly waits and bides his time until his WBO suspension expires. He really has no other choice. “We’re all grown men. We understand completely,” said Klimas. “I just told him, ‘The year is going to fly by like no tomorrow.’ So he’ll be back.”
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