Janibek vs. Butler – Tonight’s Live Results From Stockton

By Boxing News - 05/13/2023 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Janibek Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) successfully defended his WBO middleweight titles with a second round knockout victory over #6 Steven Butler (32-4-1, 26 KOs) on Saturday night at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

Janibek hurt Butler with a big left uppercut that caused his knees to go to jelly. The 30-year-old Janibek then dropped Butler three times before referee Jerry Reiss stepped in and halted the fight.

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Undercard results

  • Jason Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs) put on a boxing clinic tonight, defeating Vincent Astrolabio (18-4, 13 KOs) by a one-sided 12 round majority decision to capture the vacant WBO bantamweight title in the chief support bout. The scores were 115-113, and 116-112 for Moloney, and 114-114. Boxing News 24 scored it 11-1 for Moloney. It was a beautiful performance from the Australian fighter. Moloney, 32, was too skilled, dodging the shots from Astrolabio. The 114-114 score was troubling, as was the 115-113 score, because Moloney totally dominated the fight. It’s unclear what the judges were thinking in turning in the scores. Granted, the crowd was booing Moloney because of all the movement he was using, but he controlled the fight, making Astrolabio miss all night.
  • Super featherweight Gabriel Flores Jr (22-2, 8 KOs) revived his career with a one-punch first round knockout victory over journeyman Derrick Murray (17-9-1, 6 KOs). Referee Gerard White stopped the fight at 0:27 of round one. Flores Jr took a left hook to the head but then nailed the 34-year-old Murray with a check-hook left of his own that flattened his own, sending him down back first on the canvas. The referee immediately halted the fight, much to Murray’s disappointment. Murray’s loss was his second consecutive first round knockout loss. Last March, Murray was knocked out in the first round by Alejandro Paulino. For the 23-year-old Stockton, California native Flores Jr, it was a much-needed confidence booster, as he came into the fight having lost two out of his last three fights in one-sided decision defeats against Giovanni Cabrera and Luis Alberto Lopez. Flores Jr was completely out of his class in both of those losses. While tonight’s fight was great for Flores Jr, you can’t get too excited because he was facing an older journeyman guy that was brought in to give him a boost. We won’t know whether Flores Jr is back until he gets inside the ring with one of the top fighters at featherweight or 130 to show that he’s back from his losses. Obviously, it’s not a good sign that Murray landed a lead left hook a split decision moments before he fired back his own left to score a knockout.
  • Featherweight Ruben Villa (20-1, 7 KOs) put on a masterclass performance, stopping Maickol Lopez Villagrana (16-5, 8 KOs) by a fifth round knockout. The fight was halted by the referee after Villa landed a right hand that knocked the 27-year-old Villagrana into the ropes. In the seventh, Villa dropped Villagrana with a left hook to the jaw that caused him to take a knee. The time of the stoppage was at 1:55 of round five.
  • Middleweights Javier Martinez (8-0-1, 2 KOs) and Joeshon James (7-0-1, 4 KOs) fought to an eight round split draw. The scores were 79-73 for Martinez, 77-75 for James and 76-76. James fought well in the first half, but then gassed out badly in the second part of the fight.
  • Featherweight prospect Amado Fernando Vargas (7-0, 2 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a four round unanimous decision over Bernardo Manzano (2-5). The 22-year-old Vargas knocked Manzano down in round two. The long-armed, wiry Vargas put constant pressure on his weaker opponent, hitting at will with shots. In the fourth, Vargas hurt Manzano with a hard right hand to the body. Manzano landed some big shots in the closing moments of the fourth. The scores were 40-35, 40-35, and 40-35.
  • Welterweight prospect Brian Norman Jr (24-0, 19 KOs) defeated Jesus Perez (24-5, 19 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 77-75, 78-74, and 77-75. Perez was cut over his right eye from a clash of heads in the seventh. Normal had problems with the pressure from Perez. His work was made harder because he failed to stand his ground.

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Preview: The 2016 Olympian Janibek had been compared to a young Gennadiy Golovkin until his recent fight against Denzel Bentley last November. However, that less-than-impressive showing has caused the 30-year-old Kazakhstan native’s stock to plummet.

For Janibek to regain the interest boxing fans had in him, he will need no less than an early knockout of Butler, preferably within five rounds tonight. Janibek needs to make a statement tonight in a huge way to get back to where he was.

In the chief support bout on the Janibek-Butler card, bantamweight contenders Jason Moloney (25-2, 19 KO) and Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KO) will fight for the vacant WBO 118-lb title.

Janibek’s most notable career victories have come against these fighters: Hassan Ndam, Denzel Bentley, Rob Brant, and Danny Dignum. There’s not much on Janibek’s resume to get excited about yet, but hopefully, Top Rank can get him better fights moving forward.

In Janibek’s contest against Bentley last November in Las Vegas, it appeared early on that it would be another easy blowout victory for the hard-hitting Kazakh.

Janibek teed off on the easy-to-hit Bentley, landing his left at will with scorching shots that would typically KO an average fighter. Bentley wanted to win, and he took Janibek’s best punches and began nailing him with his hard punches.

As such, the two warriors went back & forth, dropping bombs on one another. Ultimately, the judges gave it to Janibek because his shots were harder and cleaner-landing, but it was less than an emphatic victory for the WBO champion. The scores were 116-112, 116-112, and 118-110.

What was troubling was how tired Janibek looked in the second half of the fight, as he was sweating profusely and lost a lot of the zip he’d had on his punches. If Bentley had more power, there’s a good chance he would have scored a knockout against the exhausted Janibek.

WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8 KOs) makes his second defense against Steven Butler (32-3-1, 26 KOs) tonight at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. Last November, the WBO ordered Janibek to defend against Jaime Munguia. He rejected the fight. Thankfully, Butler accepted the offer to face the dangerous puncher Janibek.