Janibek Alimkhanuly doesn’t look like the future of middleweight but he got the job done Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The highly hyped WBO title winner received a mental challenge from underweight Denzel Bentley but came out with a unanimous decision win, his belt and impeccable track record.
The official scores are 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112. Boxing Junkie also scored 116-112 for the 29-year-old Kazakh player, eight fourth rounds.
Alimkhanuly (13-0.9 KOs) had a strong start, edging out Bentley (17-2-1, 14 KOs) in the first four innings. It looks like Alimkhanuly could be on track to win a seventh straight knockout.
Bentley had different ideas. The Londoner picked up his pace in the 5th round and did not give up the rest of the way, which turned the one-sided fight into a competition.
Boxers played give and take from Round 5 to Round 10, with both eye-catching landings and no serious injuries in the process even though Alimkhanuly’s prowess was made public.
Then, in the final two rounds, the champion claimed he was far ahead of Bentley. He landed some of his toughest punches in those rounds, though the challenger was still standing.
In the end, Alimkhanuly survived the toughest test of his career and gained valuable experience that will help him move forward. However, he certainly doesn’t scare off other 160-pound athletes.
WBO’s #1 challenger, Jaime Munguia, could be Alimkhanuly’s next. The sanctioning authority ordered that fight.
Are the Kazakhs ready for that challenge? That question cannot be answered based on his overly casual performance on Saturday night.
In the preliminary matches, WBA strawweight boxer Seniesa Estrada of Los Angeles defeated Jazmin Gala Villarina (6-2-2, 1 KO) of Argentina to win the decisive 10 rounds. All three judges gave it a score of 100-90.
Estrada (23-0.9 KOs) hadn’t fought 11 months before Saturday.
Lightweight prospect Raymond Muratalla (16-0, 13 KOs) of Fontana, California, blocked Miguel Contreras (12-2-1, 6 KOs) of Bakersfield, California, at 2:23 of Round 6 of an eighth round Scheduled.
And lightweight prospect Emiliano Vargas of Oxnard, California, stopped Julio Martinez (1-1, 1 KO) of South Bend, Indiana, with a single 47-second left hook into the second round of the lightweight four-round content. Scheduled.
Vargas (2-0, 2 KOs) is the 18-year-old son of former two-team champion Fernando Vargas.
