By Mark Eisner: In a complete mismatch, WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten IBF champion Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-1-1, 7 KOs) in the sixth round on Saturday night in their unification clash at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. Referee Tony Fields stopped the fight at 1:25 of round six.
The 30-year-old Janibek hurt Gualtieri with a huge uppercut in the sixth round that staggered him. Gualtieri fled to the other side of the ring with Janibek hot on his heels. Janibek then unloaded with several hard shots to the head, resulting in the referee stopping the fight.
Gualtieri had been hurt by a left uppercut from Janibek in the fifth round as well. Somehow, he made it out of the round.
Janibek was too big & too powerful for Gualtieri, as it looked like a middleweight fighting a guy from the 154-lb division.
“This is my side of fighting; this is the Kazakh style,” said Janibek after the fight. “He was waiting for me to get tired. I didn’t get tired.”
The live boxing results will be provided below of tonight’s action on this ESPN card.
- In the chief support fight, lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) put in a Mayweather-esque performance, beating Nahir Albright (16-3, 7 KOs) by a 10-round majority decision in a chess match from start to finish. It was a very, very boring fight, very similar to Floyd Mayweather’s contest with Carlos Baldomir in 2006. Floyd was booed at the end of that fight. Tonight, Keyshawn didn’t get booed, but the crowd was deathly quiet when the results were announced. It was clear that they weren’t impressed with Keyshawn’s performance. The scores were 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93. The 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn mostly played it safe, throwing potshots and holding whenever Albright got near. In the championship rounds, Keyshawn got on his bike after being hurt by a right hand at the end of the eighth. The shot seemed to sap the courage out of Keyshaw, as moved frequently from that point forward, not wanting to mix it up with Albright. After the fight, Keyshawn called out Jose Pedraza, which was interesting, given that ‘The Sniper’ hasn’t won a fight since 2021, and his record is 0-2-1 in his last three fights. Surely, Keyshawn can do better than Pedraza, but it could be that his self-confidence isn’t high enough for him to aspire for more.
- Heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. (7-0, 7 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a second-round knockout win over Tyrell Anthony Herndon (21-5, 14 KOs). The 2020 U.S Olypian heavyweight silver medalist Torrez Jr. knocked the 36-year-old Herndon down with a right-left to the head in the second round. Moments later, the referee Alejandro Leon stopped the fight after Herndon turned his back on Torrez Jr. while under fire. The time of the stoppage was at 1:26 of the second round. In the first round, Hernandez grabbed Torrez’s right arm and hammered repeatedly with left hands to the head with six straight shots. Herndon stayed on his feet but showed what kind of mismatch it was. Top Rank needs to step up the competition for the 24-year-old Torrez Jr. because he’s not getting much from these mismatches. It appears that they don’t want to throw Torrez Jr. in deep after watching how he was destroyed in the amateur ranks by Bakodir Jalolov.
- 2016 Olympian Italian heavyweight Guido Vianello (11-1-1, 9 KOs) defeated journeyman Curtis Harper (14-10, 9 KOs) by a tougher-than-expected eight-round unanimous decision. Vianello, 29, started well, dominating the first five rounds with nice right hands to the head. However, in the sixth round, Harper hurt Vianello with a left hook to the head that had him staggering as the round ended. Vianello moved around the ring, playing it safe in the seventh and eighth rounds to keep from getting hurt again. The scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73. It was not a performance from Vianello. This is another fighter on the card who doesn’t look destined to win a world title or be a viable contender.
- Giovanni Marquez (7-0, 5 KOs) destroyed an overmatched Donte Strayhorn (12-5-1, 4 KOs) by a second-round knockout in welterweight action. The 22-year-old Marquez knocked Strayhorn down twice in the second round. After the second knockdown, Marquez trapped Strayhorn against the ropes and machine-gunned him with rapid-fire shots, causing the referee, Alejandro Leon, to step in and wave it off. The time of the stoppage was at 2:47 of round two. The first knockdown came from a right uppercut to the head. Marquez threw three straight uppercuts that put Strayhorn down. The second knockdown came when Marquez flurried on Strayhorn to put him down.
- Featherweight Duke Ragan (9-0, 1 KOs) had to get off the deck to win an eight-round split decision over Jose Perez (11-2-2, 5 KOs). The scores were 76-75, 76-75 for Ragan, and 76-75 for Perez. In the fifth round, the tall 5’9″ Perez dropped the 2020 U.S. Olympian Ragan with a left hook to the head. Ragan threw a jab at the same time and never saw the left hook coming from the 28-year-old Perez. Ragan spit out his mouthpiece, which bought him time, as the referee had to stop the action to have Duke’s mouthpiece put back in. In the seventh, Perez suffered a cut on the side of his right eye from a clash of heads. The referee failed to see the headclash. Ragan was warned for throwing rabbit punches in the eighth round after hitting Perez twice with shots behind the head. There were three rabbit punches from Ragan in the round. This was not a good performance from Ragan. Top Rank is going to need to think of what they’re going to do with him and Kelvin Davis because both guys lack the power to advance against top contenders. If they’re struggling against second-tier competition, what’s going to happen when they start fighting top-level opponents?
- Welterweight prospect Kelvin Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) labored to an unimpressive eight-round unanimous decision over Narciso Carmona (11-2-1, 6 KOs). The scores were 80-72, 79-73, and 77-75. Boxing News 24 scored it 77-75 for Kelvin. The fight was a lot closer than the scores handed down by two of the judges, as the Spaniard Carmona came on beginning in the fifth round, and appeared to win the last three rounds with his right hooks to the head. He hurt the lanky, light-hitting 6’1′ Davis with right hands to the head in rounds seven & eight. Interestingly, Kelvin had been fighting effectively from the outside in the first four rounds, but beginning in the fifth, he took to the inside & brawled with Carmona. From that point on, Kelvin was getting hit a lot with uppercuts and hooks from Carmona. In the seventh & eighth, Carmona began roughing up Kelvin, muscling him on the inside, and moving him around at will. All in all, it was not a good performance from Kelvin, who showed none of the talents of his younger brother, lightweight contender Keyshawn Davis. Kelvin is going to need to get a lot better for him to be one of the top contenders at welterweight. He doesn’t possess the power or defense right now to hang with the top 15 welterweights.
WBO 160-lb Janibek Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) will face Vincenzo Gualtieri, the IBF middleweight champion, tonight in a unification fight promoted by Top Rank at Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. The 2020 Olympian Janibek is the favorite due to his power, size, and pedigree, but the German fighter Gualtieri has the skills to pull off an upset.
For many U.S. fans, the co-feature is the one they’re more interested in between highly-ranked lightweight Keyshawn Davis and Nahir Albright in a fight scheduled for ten rounds. Although the contest is considered a woeful mismatch, fans still want to see the talented Keyshawn (9-0, 6 KOs) in action because he’s got superstar written all over him.
The main portion of the Janibek vs. Gualtieri event starts at 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
In the preliminary undercard on ESPN+, which begins at 5:55 p.m. ET/2:55 p.m. PT, heavyweight prospect Richard Torrez Jr. will face Tyrell Anthony Herndon (21-4, 14 KOs) in a fight scheduled for six rounds.
The 24-year-old Torrez Jr. (6-0, 6 KOs) captured a silver medal in the 2020 Olympics for the U.S., and he has a chance of one day capturing a world title if he’s matched against the right guy by Top Rank. What Torrez Jr. has going against him is his lack of size. At 6’2″, he’ll have problems against the taller heavyweights in the division.
Tonight’s Torrez Jr-Herndon fight will likely be another quick blowout win for Torrez, who is a huge puncher.
Other notable fights on tonight’s undercard:
- Giovanni Marquez battles Donte Strayhorn in a six-round light welterweight contest
- Featherweight Duke Ragan faces Jose Perez in an eight-round bout.
- Light welterweight Kelvin Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) takes on Narciso Carmona (11-1-1, 6 KOs) in an eight-round fight.
Needless to say, Rosenberg, Texas strange location for the Janibek-Gualtieri & Keyshawn-Albright card to be staged. It’s unclear what Top Rank was thinking in placing the event in this location; none of those fighters are from that area, and it’s difficult to imagine a large crowd turning up at the Ford Bend Epicenter to watch it.
“They were artists, they were savage, but they were stars. Middleweight was always a glamour division until now,” said Mark Kriegel of ESPN to Top Rank Boxing, talking about how the 160-lb division has fallen off and is no longer filled with popular fighters.
The more popular former middleweights like Canelo Alvarez and Demetrius Andrade have moved up to 168. Gennadiy Golovkin, who had been one of the biggest stars in the middleweight division, has seemingly retired from boxing after his loss to Canelo last year.
“You’ve got reigning champions [WBC 160-lb belt-holder Jermall Charlo], who haven’t fought in years, a 40-year-old [WBA champ Erislandy Lara], and guys you just don’t know [Vincenzo Gualtieri],” said Kriegel.
Most fans would agree that the WBC needs to strip inactive middleweight champion Jermall Charlo and elevate Carlos Adames to the full champ. Jermall hasn’t fought in 2 1/2 years, and he’s been allowed to freeze his title by the World Boxing Council.
“There hasn’t been a unified middleweight champion since Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan,” said Kriegel. “Well, at least that’s about to change. You’ve got the boxer [IBF middleweight champion Gualtieri] and the puncher [WBO 160-lb champ Janibek Alimkhanuly]; another Kazakh, in fact, undefeated big hitter southpaw, which is just how he [Gualtieri] likes it.
“It’s a good fight on paper. Now give us a reason to care,” said Kriegel.
Janibek will likely succeed in becoming the unified middleweight champion tonight by beating Gualtieri, but he’s unlikely to fill the shoes of Golovkin and Canelo by becoming a star in the division.
There’s no one for Janibek to fight to increase his popularity, which is why he should move up to 168 if he’s confident of finding success. If nothing else, Janibek will get some bigger paydays at super middleweight.