By Huck Allen: #2 WBO Janibek Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs) and #3 Danny Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs) will battle for the World Boxing Organization interim middleweight strap on May 21st in a Top Rank promoted show on ESPN.
The 2016 Olympian Janibek, from Kazahstan, has recent stoppage wins over these notable fighters: Hassan N’Dam and Rob Brant. Janibek has a lot of punching power, and he’s likely to make easy work of Dignum.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is very impressed with the talent of Janibek, and he’d be pleased if he’s elevated to full WBO middleweight champion should he defeat Dignum.
Is Janibek the next Golovkin?
If Arum can turn Janibek into a star on the level of Gennady Golovkin, he could take over the 160-lb division.
Six-year professional Dignum, 30, best wins have come against Conrad Cummings and Rafal Jackiewicz. Last year, Dignum fought to a 10 round draw against Andrey Sirotkin. Dignum, who is from England, stopped Grant Dennis in the sixth round last month on February 11th.
#1 WBO contender Jaime Munguia has decided not to compete for the interim 160-lb title against Janibek. Instead, Munguia could be fighting Danny Jacobs next on June 11th.
We won’t know until shortly after current WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade faces Zach Parker on May 10th if he’ll be returning to the 160-lb division to resume defending his title.
If Andrade decides not to return to the 160-lb division, the Janibek vs. Dignum fight will be elevated to full WBO middleweight champion.
Andrade needs to decide
According to ESPN, Andrade will have ten days to decide whether to vacate his WBO middleweight title or keep it after he fights Parker for the interim WBO 168-lb title. It’ll obviously depend on how well Andrade looks against Parker.
There’s more for Andrade to gain in staying at 168 than for him to return to the 160-lb division.
Staying at 160 is essentially a dead-end for Andrade because Gennady Golovkin and Jermall Charlo, the two popular champions in the weight class, have shown no desire to fight ‘Boo Boo,’ and that’s not expected to change.
Andrade’s British promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing recently said that he’s not planning on re-signing him.
Hearn was unable to get the fights against the big names for Andrade in the two years that he promoted him. What also has prevented Andrade from getting the important fights is the title defenses he’d had to make for his WBO belt.
Andrade recently defended against mandatory Liam Williams in a fight that failed to attract interest from stateside boxing fans.
Recently, the WBO ordered Andrade to defend against Janibek, 28, but he’s choosing to go up to 168 to fight #1 WBO Zach Parker for the interim title.
It’s a good move for Andrade because he put himself in a position to challenge WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez or at the very least, put pressure on him.
As far as the Andrade vs. Dignum fight goes, all that’s known is the match will take place in the United States. There’s no venue yet, but Top Rank Boxing will arrange a site.
Jamel Herring in the co-feature bout
In the undercard of Andrade-Dignum, the recently beaten former WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) will be fighting in the co-feature spot on the card.
The opponent for the 36-year-old Herring hasn’t been decided yet. In his last fight, Herring was dethroned by Shakur Stevenson by a tenth-round knockout on October 23rd in Atlanta.
Herring is an excellent fighter, but he wasn’t on the level of Stevenson in that fight. In Herring’s previous fight, he’d stopped former two-division world champion Carl Frampton and sent him into retirement.
If Herring moves up to lightweight, he’d have the opportunity to make some good paydays before he hands up his gloves at some point.
