The WBO has ordered their defending middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) to begin negotiations with their no. 1 contender Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs). The two sides have 15 days to reach an agreement before the fight is sent to purse bid, although both parties are allowed to toss the fight to a bid at any point in the talks.
Alimkhanuly is also the IBF champ and defended that belt last Friday with a one-sided nine-round annihilation of IBF mandatory challenger Andrei Mikhailovich.
In that bout, the decision was made for Alimkhanuly to only defend his IBF belt, per request from Team Mikhailovich in an effort to benefit from the organization’s rehydration policy. Alimkhanuly and his people agreeing to that condition reportedly rankled the higher-ups in the WBO, thereby leading to this latest decree.
Sheeraz, a 25-year-old native of London, has assumed the position of top middleweight contender, almost by default, in a very thin 160 lb. division lacking in young talent with star potential. The tall, lanky Brit has already risen to no. 1 contender status in both the WBO and WBC, as well as some media-assembled fantasy ranking lists. His one true win of world stage note, thus far, came in June when he stopped fellow prospect Austin Williams in eleven rounds.
Sheeraz is promoted by Queensberry Promotions, which has presided over the young fighter’s quick rise in prominence via showcase bouts during Saudi Riyadh Season shows, as an appointed favored “ambassador” of the festival by chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh.
Alimkhanuly, meanwhile, is promoted by Top Rank, which also has a business “partnership’ with Alalshikh and the Saudis. The native of Kazakhstan has made four successful defenses of his WBO middleweight title, picking up the IBF strap in October of 2023, in what will probably go down as the weakest of all unification clashes, against defending IBF middleweight champ Vincenzo Gualtieri.
Top Rank, which lost the rights to Alimkhanuly’s most recent defense via purse bid, may also find themselves losing out on this upcoming purse bid as well. Some have speculated that the Bob Arum-founded promotional company may be alright with finding a convenient exit when it comes to the Alimkhanuly business, as the reigning two-belt champ has proven to be a commercial flop and a tough sell to the American boxing audience.
A slice of a big-money Saudi-funded payout may be the ideal farewell to the Kazakh or, if Alimkhanuly should win, an ideal entrance into the lucrative Saudi boxing market.
Paul Magno has over forty years of experience in and around the sport of boxing and has had his hand in everything from officiating to training. As a writer, his work has appeared on Yahoo Sports, Fox Sports, Fight Hype, Max Boxing, Boxing.com, Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules, Overtime Heroics, Bleacher Report, and Premier Boxing Champions. He is currently the owner and managing editor or The Boxing Tribune. You can follow his Twitter/X account, @boxing_tribune, for breaking boxing news, analysis, and sometimes NSFW commentary. For Advertising, Inquiries, etc., send him an email here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com