Janibek Alimkhanuly
Janibek Alimkhanuly is a Kazakh professional boxer and unified middleweight world champion. Born on April 1, 1993 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he fights southpaw and has built a 17-0 professional record with 12 knockouts. He earned fame as an amateur, winning gold at the 2013 World Championships, the 2013 Asian Championships, and the 2014 Asian Games, and he represented Kazakhstan at the 2016 Olympics.
Alimkhanuly turned professional in 2016, debuting in Almaty with a first-round knockout. He rose through the ranks, eventually winning the WBO Interim middleweight title on May 21, 2022 by stopping Danny Dignum. When Demetrius Andrade vacated the middleweight title, Alimkhanuly was promoted to full WBO champion on August 30, 2022.
He defended the WBO belt on November 12, 2022 against Denzel Bentley, winning by unanimous decision, and then defeated Steven Butler by knockout in the second round on May 13, 2023. On October 14, 2023, he unified the division by defeating IBF middleweight champion Vincenzo Gualtieri in a fifth-round TKO, becoming a unified world champion.
In 2024 he continued to fight, including a scheduled bout in July that was postponed due to weight-cutting issues and later rescheduled to October 4, 2024 in Sydney, where he won by ninth-round TKO. He defended both titles on April 5, 2025 in Astana, stopping Anauel Ngamissengue in the fifth round.
A planned unification bout with WBA champion Erislandy Lara was set for December 6, 2025, but it was canceled after Alimkhanuly failed a VADA anti-doping test, and he was replaced in the fight.
Off the ring, Alimkhanuly is known for his love of reading—especially nutrition books—learning English, and tending to his plants and pottery. He comes from a boxing-loving family and began boxing at age six.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:43 (CET).