Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank - January 23, 2026

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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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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.

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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.

[MPW]

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.

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Jacob Bank and Janibek Alimkhanuly have agreed to terms to meet for the vacant WBO super middleweight title in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, Bank’s manager Spencer Brown tells @ringmagazine. Bank is developing a following in Copenhagen, following in the footsteps of Mikkel Kessler.

[Eolaithe]

Janibek Alimkhanuly by unanimous decision.

Janibek is simply the more accomplished and technically sophisticated boxer.

However, I expect the fight to go the distance.

Janibek will be 33, coming off roughly 20 months of inactivity, fighting in his opponent’s own back yard, and competing at super-middleweight for the first time.

The Kazakh will be facing a younger, naturally bigger and active opponent, and we don't yet know whether Janibek's middleweight power will be as effective at 168lbs.

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ALIMKHANULY, BANK STRIKE DEAL FOR WBO 168-POUND TITLE FIGHT

Jacob Bank and Janibek Alimkhanuly have agreed to a deal to fight for the vacant WBO super middleweight title.

WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced Wednesday that he received written notification that their representatives reached an agreement. According to The Ring’s Mike Coppinger, Alimkhanuly and Bank will square off sometime in December at a venue to be determined in Bank’s home country of Denmark.

Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) was the mandatory challenger for former titleholder Hamzah Sheeraz. After Queensberry Promotions bid $1,001,809 to win the right to promote their fight, Sheeraz (24-0-1, 19 KOs), The Ring’s No. 9-ranked super middleweight, vacated his title on September 18 rather than face the former unified middleweight champion.

With Bank (20-0, 11 KOs) next in the WBO’s rankings, the San Juan, Puerto Rico-based sanctioning body ordered him to face Alimkhanuly for the vacant title.

Bank, The Ring’s No. 8 contender at 168 pounds, also petitioned the WBO to be the mandatory challenger for Sheeraz before it placed Alimkhanuly in that position.

Alimkhanuly, 33, hasn’t fought since his fifth-round stoppage of Anauel Ngamissengue in April 2025.

The southpaw previously held the IBF and WBO middleweight titles and was scheduled to face WBA champion Erislandy Lara in a unification fight December 6 in San Antonio. Alimkhanuly tested positive for meldonium, a banned substance, which forced his late removal from that bout during fight week.

He was stripped by the IBF and suspended for one year by the WBO, though the WBO allowed him to hold onto its title. The suspension was lifted after he vacated its middleweight title to move up to 168 pounds.

Bank, 25, is coming off a unanimous-decision victory over Pawel Augustynik in an eight-round bout on July 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

[MPW]

This is almost refreshing - two boxers who actually seem to want to fight for the WBO belt. Now get that date set and let them settle it in the ring without all the insipid social media posturing and inane pretending.

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Janibek Alimkhanuly to face Jacob Bank for vacant WBO super middleweight belt, January 23 in Denmark

Details have been finalized and a date is now set for former unified WBO and IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly to face Jacob Bank for the vacant WBO super middleweight championship, live on DAZN from Bank's homeland of Denmark on January 23, 2027.

WBO No. 1-ranked Alimkhanuly, 17-0 (12 KOs), of Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, and No. 3-ranked Bank, 20-0 (11 KOs), of Kolding, Denmark will meet at the Forum in Horsens, Denmark, for the belt left vacant by former champion Hamzah Sheeraz.

In late September, the WBO ordered negotiations to begin for the two undefeated contenders to meet and Bank’s promoters, Kasper Holgersen of Primetime Boxing and Spencer Brown’ Goldstar Promotions, were able to forego a purse bid by reaching an agreement with Alimkhanuly’s promoter, Bob Arum of Top Rank, earlier this month.

Alimkhanuly, who was given a one-year suspension by the WBO for a positive PED test last December, has been inactive for over 10 months. The announced January date comes after the 33-year-old’s suspension is scheduled to officially expire on December 2.

While away from the ring, southpaw Alimkhanuly was stripped of his IBF title and decided to vacate the WBO title and move up to super middleweight where he was installed as mandatory contender by the organization.

Younger at 25 years old and less experienced, Bank’s most significant victory thus far is a 12-round stoppage win over former super middleweight champion William Scull in January.

Bank, however, has been much more active having fought three times this year.

Sheeraz chose to vacate his title rather than face Alimkhanuly over reported dissatisfaction with Alimkhanuly’s appointment as his mandatory challenger and the money being offered to take the dangerous test.

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JANIBEK ALIMKHANULY VS. JACOB BANK SET FOR JANUARY 23 IN DENMARK

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Jacob Bank officially has a date, time and location for their WBO super middleweight title fight.

On January 23 at The Forum in Horsens, Denmark, the two will meet. If Bank wins, Denmark would have its first world champion since Mikkel Kessler in 2013.

Alimkhanuly would begin his second title reign in as many weight classes with a victory. He previously held the IBF and WBO middleweight titles. That reign, however, came to an end abruptly.

Heading into his December 2025 middleweight unification against WBA champion Erislandy Lara, Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) failed a pre-fight drug test, leading to a one-year suspension and the IBF stripping him. The WBO allowed the Kazakhstan native to remain champion while he served his suspension.

Alimkhanuly would eventually drop his WBO title in early July after announcing that he was moving up in weight. The sanctioning body declared that his suspension was cut short due to being a first-time offender and “fulfilling all of the necessary requirements,” including random drug tests.

The hard-hitting southpaw was then inserted as the No. 1 contender for now former WBO super middleweight beltholder Hamzah Sheeraz. The Ring’s No. 9 super middleweight was initially acrimonious but later warmed up to facing Alimkhanuly pending the purse.

However, Queensberry, his promoter, submitted a winning bid of $1,001,809. Sheeraz was entitled to 75% of that, totaling $751,357. Unsatisfied with his cut, Sheeraz vacated his title.

Bank, ranked No. 8 by The Ring and No. 3 by the WBO, is happy for his first chance at a major world title. Originally, Bank (20-0, 11 KOs) petitioned the WBO for a shot at Sheeraz. It was considered, but the shot went to Alimkhuanly instead.

Bank has been active in 2026. He's 3-0, with two stoppages. He secured the biggest win of his career against former IBF super middleweight champion William Scull on January 31. Bank dominated before stopping him in the 12th round.

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