By: Hans Themistode
Overall, Jaime Munguia is considered a good candidate at 160 pounds. The Mexican product and former £154 belt holder made things incredibly easy over the weekend, stopping driver D’Mitrius Ballard from his track in the third lap.
Just days after the aforementioned win, Munguia was informed about who his next opponent would be. The WBO sanctioning body has officially ordered both Munguia and the highly ranked candidate, Janibek Alimkhanuly, to begin negotiations for an interim title fight.
Although Munguia is a former title holder and undefeated through 39 professional matches, Alimkhanuly views their possible clash as a walk in the park.
“Munguia? Easy work!” Alimkhanuly said on his social media account.
The 28-year-old wrecker from Kazakhstan left the body after the middleweight body sprawled on the tarp as he walked up the 160-pound ladder. Most recently, Alimkhanuly punished former world champion Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, on his way to winning the round of 16.
A match earlier, Alimkhanu brutally stopped another 160-pound ex-player at Rob Brant. The victory for Alimkhanuly was somewhat prophetic. Considering how loud he was back then, the strong nampaw wasn’t surprised with the way their match played out. With Munguia looking set to appear next, Alimkhanuly wants to make it clear that the 25-year-old’s fate will follow a similar pattern.
“Guys, I don’t like jokes. If I said easy work, it would be easy work. I beat two former world champions. Before defeating them, I said that I would take them down. And I did. I know myself well.”
The overall picture at 160 pounds is a cloudy one. The current WBO player, Demetrius Andrade, is in talks to compete for the interim super-middleweight title against Zach Parker. However, it is currently unclear whether Andrade will defend his 160-pound title against the winner of the Alimkhanuly vs. Munguia often chooses to go up against bigger men at 168 pounds.
Whatever happens in the end, whether it’s a date with Andrade, a match against Munguia, or a matchup with whoever goes up and down the middle, Alimkhanuly is not worried.
“I am very confident in myself. I will beat anyone.”
