WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) and IBF middleweight champion Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs) will meet in a world title unification on ESPN, according to the network. The bout, which has also been confirmed by Gualtieri’s promoter AGON, will take place on October 14 in Rosenberg, Texas. This bout would unify half the 160lb division with Jermall Charlo holding the WBC belt and Erislandy Lara holding the WBA strap.
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Well that’s a good idea! Kind of surprised to see them get this one together, but… sure, why not. Middleweight isn’t a very good division but you get one guy with two belts, SOMEONE will definitely be interested in fighting him. Alim should take it, but we’ll see.
I heard Eddie Hearn mention for November 11 or 18 a fight between Edgar Berlanga and Jaime Munguia. It was in a recent interview where he was addressing some accusations from Jessica McCaskill about a possible Matchroom involvement in Alycia Baumgardner’s failed drug test.
I heard about that. McCaskill had to issue an apology for that, they sent her a letter. Her brain just wasn’t working right yesterday – and she’s signed to Matchroom.
If Munguia is staying at 168, he and Berlanga SHOULD fight. No reason not to do that imo and I got Munguia.
No doubt Lucie. Some is better than none. I can see Tim Tszyu smiling as he hears the news. This might be a way to collect bargaining chips and get a megafight going. Don’t mean to discredit Janibek and Gualtieri, but their stock isn’t high enough yet to create a splash with their unification bout.
Yeah pretty much no one knows these guys and the winner will be the lowest profile unified champion in the sport. But if you have two belts in a division like middleweight, big fights SHOULD come for you. It’ll be nuts if we have a UNIFIED champion that no one wants to fight lol!
Not sure who Gualitieri is but I’m quite sure he’s about to suffer a crushing defeat. From what I’ve seen, Alimkhanuly is one of those guys that fights on a different level then the rest of the division. The only real challenges for him are guys like Lara and Charlo
Maybe he’s Paulie Gualitieri’s nephew. Hell is hot, that’s never been disputed!
Hadn’t previously seen Gualitieri before today, but just took a look at his title winning effort against Falcao, as well as bits and pieces of other fights of his, and his style looks like a pain in the ass to deal with. Always look forward to seeing Alim in action, but this one looks like it could be a frustrating mess of a fight. Easy to envision both guys with a connect rate somewhere well South of 25%, a lot of clinching, Gualitieri on his bike making Alim miss, but missing a lot of his own punches. Basically Gualitieri just making it a non-crowd pleasing fight, and Alim just not having the style to force him out of it. Still looking forward to seeing how Alim deals with him. I’m guessing Alim by UD. Never opposed to any unification fight.
About the most uninteresting unification fight in history. But middleweight is very thin at the moment, so I guess take what we can get.
Meaningless fight. The hyped this guy as the boogie man…good fighter but needs to step it up. ..Since he can’t sell out a pub, good luck getting big fights
Janibek, this is the guy Andrade was running from. He did not want the fight, vacated and moved up.
The question is why in the boxing mecca of Rosenberg Texas? Might be interesting or it might be real short. Either way it should be good while it lasts.
Janibek better don’t underestimate this guy; Gualtiere is a spoiler like Sandor Martin. He doesn’t have intimidating punching power but moves well in the ring with a more than average defense and fast hands. Janibek will be the heavy favorite, but he is about to have a stern test.
Didnt expect this to happen, Ill watch it as i feel Janibek has been exposed and might lose this one on points.
With all due respect to these two champions, this is probably one of the least interesting unification fights in my 30 years of watching boxing. 160lbs over the last year has quickly dropped in quality across the board. So much so that Sergio Martinez at 46 is lined up for a title shot, at this point I can clearly see Bud moving up to 154lbs and 160lbs and unifying all belts.
Wow. The division that Hagler & other greats have built has turned into the weakest division today. Wow, is this a sad embarrassment. The division needs love. VERY SAD.
This fight is good for the dying middleweight division and even though there aren’t any big names other than Charlo in it, it will be good to resurrect 160 lb with an undisputed champion. My $$ is on Q-style to pull it off.