Janibek Alimkhanuly proved he’s above Danny Dignum by knocking out Brit in the second round of their fight in Las Vegas last night.
The undefeated Kazakh player did not compete in a tit-for-tat match in the WBO middleweight title match that temporarily brought the second and third contenders together. And while they may have been close in that ranking, the gap between the men in the ring was evident from the very first moments of the round.
one.
An Alimkhanuly backhand (12-0.8 KOs) hits the ground with a speed and precision that Dignum (14-1-1, 8 KOs) has never faced in his professional career. A short exchange is followed by a heavy favorite move to gain the right to buy short. The 2016 track athlete has already begun to indulge in her digital shoots and the fight has barely begun.
A five-punch combination spells out the beginning of the end with just over a minute left in the first session. Dignum could do nothing about what was looming in front of him as he plunged. He gets up and then gets a triple stab followed by a headbutt. Score 10-8 concluding if any
Is one.
Alimkhanuly feels comfortable and can do what she wants. He let go of his hand knowing full well that Dignum’s return fire would likely cause him less trouble. Dignum then apparently lost its position twice. A few punches of his own made his leg slip out from underneath without the punch landing. Dignum is in the middle of a nightmare in Las Vegas but luckily, it’s not long before it’s over.
As the countdown for the second half neared the final 60 seconds, Alimkhanuly threw his left arms forcing Dignum to bounce off the ropes and as his head bent he was met with an upper cut that left him lying on his back and out. out to count. Referee Tony Weeks immediately waved his hand to beat the defeated boxer. Fans winced as they watched the replay, a highlight reel knockout that will be replayed in late 2022.
To his credit, Dignum didn’t shy away from this fight and moved forward to find out what level he was at. That is a painful outcome and one that the WBO should consider. Too many gladiators climb to the very top of the governing body’s rankings and get badly exposed. The hard truth is that Dignum wasn’t in the ring last night before Alimkhanuly. Just over a year ago, the middleweight Essex game fought a split draw against Andrey Sirotkin.
“I haven’t shown my best punches, they’ll come in the next game,” the winner told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel afterward.
The conversation turned to who the middleweight undefeated wanted next.
“Probably [Jermall] Charlo will be on the field,” he said in a soft call from the WBC champion.
“I’m in a ring right now. I want to tell the champions that I am here waiting for you. I’m asking every champion to come and fight me”.
Yesterday’s interim title bout came after WBO world champion Demetrius Andrade decided to move into the 168lbs to take on Zach Parker in another midfight before having a full title shot. enough. That match is now unlikely after the American suffered an injury in practice and the WBO
end the contest with the time it takes for ‘Boot’ to recover.
Alimkhanuly went on to inform Kriegel why he was not fighting unified middleweight champion and Kazakh teammate Gennadiy Golovkin after being asked about the possibility of facing him in the future. “According to our tradition, when you’re young, you can’t call [out] the guy is up, I hope he gets to 168 because I want to gather all the belts in the 160 division.”
