Alimkhanuly targets the Canelo-Mbilli winner – but Jacob Bank comes first
Former middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly is offering the winner of the Riyadh fight a unification bout in May. First he fights for the vacant WBO title on 23 January.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
Janibek Alimkhanuly has spoken up ahead of the WBC title fight between Christian Mbilli and Saúl 'Canelo' Álvarez. Posting on X on 29 October, he said he wants to face the winner in May to unify the titles, Boxing News reports.
First he has to win a belt of his own: on 23 January 2027 Alimkhanuly meets Jacob Bank in Horsens, Denmark, for the vacant WBO super-middleweight title. Hamzah Sheeraz vacated the belt rather than face Alimkhanuly as mandatory challenger. Alimkhanuly has not fought since April 2025; after a failed drugs test he was suspended and stripped of the IBF middleweight title, and he later gave up the WBO belt to move up to super middleweight.
Mbilli, according to Boxing News, is also eyeing all four titles if he wins – possibly against IBF champion Osleys Iglesias, who like him is promoted by Eye of the Tiger.