By Dan Ambrose: IBF middleweight champion Vincenzo Gualtieri & WBO champ Janibek Alimkhanuly meet on October 14th in a two-belt 160-lb unification contest live on ESPN from Rosenberg, Texas.
This is a showcase fight for the 30-year-old southpaw Janibek (14-0, 9 KOs) to look impressive in a very winnable fight against the German fighter, the 30-year-old Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs).
ESPN is reporting the news of the Alikhanuly vs. Gualtieri fight on October 14th.
Janibek cannot afford to run out of gas against Gualtieri as he did in his grueling clash with Denzel Bentley last November.
Gualtieri is a pure 100% runner, and he won’t be easy to catch by Janibek (14-0, 9 KOs) on October 14th. Hopefully, this isn’t a bore-fest because the boxing fans that tune in to watch it on ESPN won’t be pleased.
If Janibek isn’t ready for the running that Gualtieri will be doing on October 14th, he could struggle to try and land his powerful left hand shots because this guy will be a moving target all night.
Last month, Gualtieri won the vacant IBF middleweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision win over Esquiva Falcão on July 1st.
Gualtieri moved around the ring for two+ minutes of every round, and when h wasn’t doing that, he was mugging Falcao on the inside.
Although not a puncher, Gualtieri dropped the 30-year-old Falcao twice, knocking him down in rounds two and ten with sneaky shots that the Brazilian didn’t see coming.
Aside from his victory over Falcao, these are Gualtieri’s best wins on his eight-year resume:
– Vincenzo Bevilacqua
– Khalil El Harraz
– Billi Facundo Godoy
– Vincenzo Bevilacqua
– Alexander Pavlov
You’d have to be an ultra-hardcore boxing fan to know who those guys are. To say that Gualtieri’s resume is padded from top to bottom is an understatement, as he’s literally fought no one, yet here is holding the IBF title, which is a statement about how poor the middleweight division is now.
The 160-lb division has gone downhill dramatically in the last couple of years, and it’s now occupied at the top by fighters that would have been mere contenders when Canelo Alvarez & Gennaadiy Golovkin were in the zenith of their careers fighting at middleweight.
It’s tough for Janibek & his promoters at Top Rank because there’s no one in the division for him to fight to take his career to the next level. WBC champion Jermall Charlo hasn’t fought in over two years, and he’ll never likely entertain a fight with Janibek if he does return to the 160-lb division.
