The WBO has ordered Janibek Alimkhanuly and Jacob Bank to fight for the vacant super middleweight title following Hamzah Sheeraz's decision to relinquish the belt earlier this month.The two sides have 15 days to reach a deal.
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - WBO Ordered
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Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - WBO Ordered
The WBO has ordered Janibek Alimkhanuly and Jacob Bank to fight for the vacant super middleweight title following Hamzah Sheeraz's decision to relinquish the belt earlier this month.The two sides have 15 days to reach a deal.
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Re: Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - WBO Ordered
WBO instructs Alimkhanuly, Bank to negotiate title fight
The WBO is ready to crown a new super middleweight champion.
The sanctioning body ordered Janibek Alimkhanuly, its No. 1 contender, and Jacob Bank, rated No. 3, to begin negotiations Tuesday for a fight for its vacant 168-pound title. Discussions will have to progress quickly, as both sides have just 15 days to come to an agreement. If not, a purse bid will be called.
Diego Pacheco, ranked No. 2 by the WBO, is unavailable. The 25-year-old Pacheco is scheduled to headline a Matchroom Boxing card against Darius Fulghum on November 14 in his hometown of Los Angeles.
Former WBO champ Hamzah Sheeraz was previously ordered to defend his title against Alimkhanuly. However, The Ring’s No. 9-ranked super middleweight was noncommittal and eventually gave up his belt.
England’s Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs) was apoplectic following the WBO’s mandate due to Alimkhanuly’s past. The powerful southpaw from Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, failed a pre-fight drug test heading into his middleweight title unification bout against WBA champion Erislandy Lara on December 6 in San Antonio.
Alimkhanuly, who held the IBF and WBO 160-pound belts, was stripped of his IBF title. The WBO, however, allowed him to remain champion, but enforced a one-year ban.
Nevertheless, Alimkhanuly revealed July 20 that he was moving up in weight. Shortly after, the WBO announced that Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) was Sheeraz’s mandatory challenger.
The WBO also stated that Alimkhanuly was no longer suspended because he met all of the “necessary requirements” for reinstatement.
Sheeraz, 27, eventually moved past Alimkhanuly’s transgressions and appeared on board with fighting his new mandatory challenger. He made it clear, though, that he needed to be financially rewarded for what he described as the “biggest” fight in his career.
Sheeraz was left disappointed by the result of a purse bid September 16, which Queensberry Promotions, his promoter, won by submitting a winning bid of just $1,001,809. Sheeraz was entitled to 75 percent of that purse, a total of just $751,356. Alimkhanuly was set to receive the remaining 25 percent, $250,452.
Alimkhanuly quickly accepted the offer. Sheeraz, on the other hand, opted to vacate the then-vacant belt he won via second-round stoppage against Alem Begic on May 23 at Pyramids of Giza in Giza, Egypt.
Sheeraz made just one defense of that belt, scoring a lackluster majority-decision victory over heavy underdog Simon Zachenhuber on July 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Denmark’s Bank (20-0, 11 KOs), ranked No. 8 by The Ring, has three victories under his belt in 2026. He beat Pawel Augustynik on points July 25 after knocking out former IBF champ William Scull and Paulinus Ndjolonimu in his first two fights of this year.
The WBO is ready to crown a new super middleweight champion.
The sanctioning body ordered Janibek Alimkhanuly, its No. 1 contender, and Jacob Bank, rated No. 3, to begin negotiations Tuesday for a fight for its vacant 168-pound title. Discussions will have to progress quickly, as both sides have just 15 days to come to an agreement. If not, a purse bid will be called.
Diego Pacheco, ranked No. 2 by the WBO, is unavailable. The 25-year-old Pacheco is scheduled to headline a Matchroom Boxing card against Darius Fulghum on November 14 in his hometown of Los Angeles.
Former WBO champ Hamzah Sheeraz was previously ordered to defend his title against Alimkhanuly. However, The Ring’s No. 9-ranked super middleweight was noncommittal and eventually gave up his belt.
England’s Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs) was apoplectic following the WBO’s mandate due to Alimkhanuly’s past. The powerful southpaw from Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, failed a pre-fight drug test heading into his middleweight title unification bout against WBA champion Erislandy Lara on December 6 in San Antonio.
Alimkhanuly, who held the IBF and WBO 160-pound belts, was stripped of his IBF title. The WBO, however, allowed him to remain champion, but enforced a one-year ban.
Nevertheless, Alimkhanuly revealed July 20 that he was moving up in weight. Shortly after, the WBO announced that Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) was Sheeraz’s mandatory challenger.
The WBO also stated that Alimkhanuly was no longer suspended because he met all of the “necessary requirements” for reinstatement.
Sheeraz, 27, eventually moved past Alimkhanuly’s transgressions and appeared on board with fighting his new mandatory challenger. He made it clear, though, that he needed to be financially rewarded for what he described as the “biggest” fight in his career.
Sheeraz was left disappointed by the result of a purse bid September 16, which Queensberry Promotions, his promoter, won by submitting a winning bid of just $1,001,809. Sheeraz was entitled to 75 percent of that purse, a total of just $751,356. Alimkhanuly was set to receive the remaining 25 percent, $250,452.
Alimkhanuly quickly accepted the offer. Sheeraz, on the other hand, opted to vacate the then-vacant belt he won via second-round stoppage against Alem Begic on May 23 at Pyramids of Giza in Giza, Egypt.
Sheeraz made just one defense of that belt, scoring a lackluster majority-decision victory over heavy underdog Simon Zachenhuber on July 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Denmark’s Bank (20-0, 11 KOs), ranked No. 8 by The Ring, has three victories under his belt in 2026. He beat Pawel Augustynik on points July 25 after knocking out former IBF champ William Scull and Paulinus Ndjolonimu in his first two fights of this year.
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Re: Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - WBO Ordered
WBO orders Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Jacob Bank, Denzel Bentley vs Yoenli Hernandez purse bid
The WBO has laid out the next steps for its middleweight and super middleweight titles
The WBA isn’t the only sanctioning body sending out orders today, as the WBO has put forth decrees regarding their super middleweight and middleweight titles.
With 168-pound beltholder Hamzah Sheeraz ditching his hardware in the face of a looming showdown with former middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) and no. 2 Diego Pacheco busying himself with further marination against Darius Fulghum, “Qazaq Style” has 15 days to negotiate with no. 3 Jacob Bank (20-0, 11 KO) for the vacant belt instead. No complaints here; Bank probably should have gotten a shot already, as he held a WBO trinket for a good while and sports a knockout win over William Scull, a knockout of
Paulinus Ndjolonimu, and a shutout UD over Pawel Augustynik this year alone.
Eight pounds south, newly upgraded champ Denzel Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) and mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) are headed to a purse bid next week. Bentley is 4-0 with three finishes since an upset loss to Nathan Heaney, the biggest and most recent a seventh-round stoppage of Endry Saavedra for a subsequently upgraded interim title in April. Hernandez, looking to follow in the footsteps of countryman Osleys Iglesias, beat Francisco Veron last month in a solid win that did demonstrate some potential vulnerability that a puncher of Bentley’s caliber could exploit.
Two good fights if they go through. Here’s hoping.
The WBO has laid out the next steps for its middleweight and super middleweight titles
The WBA isn’t the only sanctioning body sending out orders today, as the WBO has put forth decrees regarding their super middleweight and middleweight titles.
With 168-pound beltholder Hamzah Sheeraz ditching his hardware in the face of a looming showdown with former middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) and no. 2 Diego Pacheco busying himself with further marination against Darius Fulghum, “Qazaq Style” has 15 days to negotiate with no. 3 Jacob Bank (20-0, 11 KO) for the vacant belt instead. No complaints here; Bank probably should have gotten a shot already, as he held a WBO trinket for a good while and sports a knockout win over William Scull, a knockout of
Paulinus Ndjolonimu, and a shutout UD over Pawel Augustynik this year alone.
Eight pounds south, newly upgraded champ Denzel Bentley (22-3-1, 18 KO) and mandatory challenger Yoenli Hernandez (11-0, 9 KO) are headed to a purse bid next week. Bentley is 4-0 with three finishes since an upset loss to Nathan Heaney, the biggest and most recent a seventh-round stoppage of Endry Saavedra for a subsequently upgraded interim title in April. Hernandez, looking to follow in the footsteps of countryman Osleys Iglesias, beat Francisco Veron last month in a solid win that did demonstrate some potential vulnerability that a puncher of Bentley’s caliber could exploit.
Two good fights if they go through. Here’s hoping.
Re: Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - WBO Ordered
There is the potential for a couple of really good title fights in Alimkhanuly vs. Bank at SMW and Bentley vs. Hernandez at MW. I'll be curious to see how everything shakes out over the next few months.