WIDELY considered as the man to beat at middleweight, unified WBO and IBF champion Janibek Alimkhanuly is yet to meet his match at 160lbs and has somewhat cruised to supremacy in the division.
However, Congo-born Anauel Ngamissengue is aiming to push the Kazakh to the limit and spoil the homecoming party tomorrow night, as Alimkhanuly returns to home soil for the first time since his second professional contest back in 2017.
A 2013 amateur world champion, Alimkhanuly, 16-0 (11 KOs), turned professional in 2016 with a heap of national expectation on his shoulders. He soon relocated to fight in the United States to pursue the biggest possible opportunities and train under the well-respected Buddy McGirt.
Having risen into world title contention, knocking out Danny Dignum inside two rounds for the WBO interim title after 12 fights, Alimkhanuly was upgraded to full world champion in August 2022, before twice defending the title against Denzel Bentley and Steven Butler within 10 months.
In late 2023, Alimkhanuly switched to work under a new trainer in Brian Viloria ahead of a unification showdown with IBF title-holder Vincenzo Gualtieri. He went on to halt the Italian in six rounds, then appeared just once in 2024 in a title defence against Andrei Mikhailovich, after issues making the 160lb weight limit hampered him throughout the calendar.
Nevertheless, Mikhailovich was dominated and stopped after nine rounds of action, but any further issues with the weight ahead of this weekend could prove costly. Ngamissengue is quite possibly the toughest test to date for the undefeated southpaw champion.
Ngamissengue represented Congo at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games but was outpointed by Ilyas Abbadi in the Round of 32, who was then overcome by Alimkhanuly in the following round.
Since turning professional in 2019, the 29-year-old had been quietly building a record for himself in France against journeymen until 2023, when Ngamissengue got the call to appear on the Usyk-Dubois undercard in Wroclaw against well-respected Polish middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn. The latter was expected to win comfortably.
Yet, Ngamissengue was able to spring a major upset to hand Czerkaszyn a first career defeat and flew up the world rankings as a result, assuming position for this patiently awaited world title shot, fighting just three rounds in the 20 months that have followed.
Now the 2017 African amateur champion plans to shake up the middleweight division again. Still, ultimately this could be a case of Janibek vs. the 160lb weight limit – although that event may not sell particularly well – with Alimkhanuly expected to be a level above Ngamissengue if both are at their best.
Another Kazakh world title contender appears in the highlight of the undercard, as Sultan Zaurbek, 19-0 (13 KOs), goes toe-to-toe with former world title challenger Azinga Fuzile, 18-2 (12 KOs), in a well-matched battle that can be expected to go the distance.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic gold medallist and much-assumed future heavyweight world champion Bakhodir Jalolov, 14-0 (14 KOs), attempts to maintain his perfect record in his first professional outing since 2023. Jalolov takes on Ihor ‘Hulk’ Shevadzutskyi, 12-2 (10 KOs), best known for being stopped by Martin Bakole in 2023.
The main card of Alimkhanuly-Ngamissengue will be available to watch live on ESPN in the U.S., with ring walks for the main event in Astana expected to commence at around 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT.
