Janibek Alimkhanuly

Name: Zhanibek Alimkhanuly
Alias: Qazaq Style
Hometown: Oxnard, California, USA
Birthplace: Zhilandy, Kazakhstan
Stance: Southpaw
Height: 182cm
Reach: 182cm
Pro Boxer: Record
Amateur Boxer: Record

Trainer: James (Buddy) McGirt (2018-present)
Manager: Egis Klimas
Promoter: Top Rank

Amateur Highlights

• 2010 World Youth Championships quarter-finalist in Baku, Azerbaijan (69kg):
  • Defeated Alexandru Vanta (Romania) 13-2
  • Defeated Petru Ciobanu (Moldova) 10-2
  • Defeated Huang Yanhui (China) 12-8
  • Lost to Ahmad Mamadjanov (Uzbekistan) 6-14

• 2013 Asian Championships Gold medalist in Amman, Jordan (75kg):
  • Defeated Shukhrat Abdullayev (Uzbekistan) 2-1
  • Defeated Wen Yinhang (China) TKO 1
  • Defeated Sajad Mehrabi (Iran) 2-1
  • Defeated Navruz Jafoev (Tajikistan)

• 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships Gold medalist in Almaty, Kazakhstan (75kg):
  • Defeated Soltan Migitinov (Azerbaijan) 3-0
  • Defeated Juan Antonio Mercado (Mexico) TKOI 3
  • Defeated Bogdan Juratoni (Romania) 3-0
  • Defeated Anthony Fowler (England) WO
  • Defeated Jason Quigley (Ireland) 3-0

• 2014 Asian Games Gold medalist in Incheon, South Korea (75kg):
  • Defeated Yang Yu Ting (Chinese Taipei) KO 2
  • Defeated Sajad Mehrabi (Iran) 3-0
  • Defeated Vikas Krishan (India) 2-1
  • Defeated Odai Riad Al-Hindawi (Jordan) 3-0

• 2015 Asian Championships quarter-finalist in Bangkok, Thailand (75kg):
  • Defeated Zhou Di (China) 3-0
  • Defeated Bektemir Melikuziev (Uzbekistan) 1-2

• 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships quarter-finalist in Doha, Qatar (75 kg):
  • Defeated Misael Rodriguez (Mexico) 3-0
  • Lost to Michael O'Reilly (Ireland) 1-2

• 2016 Olympics Games quarter-finalist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (75kg):
  • Defeated Anthony Fowler (United Kingdom) 3-0
  • Defeated Ilyas Abbadi (Algeria) 3-0
  • Lost to Kamran Shakhsuvarly (Azerbaijan) 1-2

World Series of Boxing

• 2015 Season boxing for Astana Arlans (75kg):
  • Defeated Jeffrey Flaz (Puerto Rico) TKO 1
  • Defeated Christian Zarate (Argentina) 3-0

Regional & Minor Titles

• WBO Global middleweight title (April 2019; 1 defence), (Oct 2020; 1 defence)
• WBC Continental Americas middleweight title (April 2019; 4 defences)
• interim WBO World middleweight title (May 2022; 0 defences)

Professional Record

Championship Record

• 5-0-0 (4 KO's) in world championship bouts
• 3-0-0 (2 KO's) against former or current world champions (secondary/regular belts excluded):
  • Won against Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam, Vincenzo Gualtieri & Denzel Bentley.

Variant Record

• Defeated 4 undefeated opponents with ten or more bouts: Danny Dignum, Vincenzo Gualtieri, Andrei Mikhailovich & Anauel Ngamissengue

Notes

• On December 2nd, 2025, Janibek Alimkhanuly tested positive for a banned substance and was pulled from his scheduled December 6th unification fight with WBA champion Erislandy Lara.
• Janibek moved up to the 168-pound super middleweight division. Using its policy that gives priority to moving champions, the WBO immediately made him the mandatory challenger for newly crowned champion Hamzah Sheeraz. The decision faced heavy criticism from boxing fans and Sheeraz’s team, who called it “absurd” to reward a fighter who had previously tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and hadn’t fought since April 2025. Sheeraz vacated his title on September 18th, 2026.

Preceded by: Demetrius Andrade Vacated	WBO Middleweight Champion Elevated 2022 August 30 – 2026 Jul 20 Vacated	Succeeded by: Denzel Bentley
Preceded by: Vincenzo Gualtieri	IBF Middleweight Champion 2023 Oct 14 – 2026 Mar 10 Stripped	Succeeded by: Aaron McKenna