Janibek Alimkhanuly, IBF/WBO middleweight Champion, has pulled out of his title protection towards Andrei Mikhailovich, which had been scheduled for Saturday, on account of dehydration.
Muratalla-Farmer Elevated to Primary Occasion
The cardboard will nonetheless go forward, however the co-feature struggle between unbeaten light-weight contender Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs) and Tevin Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs) will transfer to the headliner place in a ten-round conflict. That’s a superb struggle, worthy of the headliner place.
High Rank stories that the 31-year-old Janibek (15-0, 10 KOs) fainted whereas taking off weight for Friday’s weigh-in and was taken to the hospital. Subsequently, Janibek’s title protection towards the unbeaten Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) is now off.
The 2 had been scheduled to satisfy in the primary occasion on ESPN+ on the Palms On line casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Janibek’s Hospitalization
“Janibek was chopping the ultimate kilos final night time when he fainted,” mentioned Egis Klimas, Janibek’s supervisor. “We instantly took him to Spring Valley Hospital Medical Middle, the place he was placed on an IV. Whereas the scans confirmed no kidney, he was severely dehydrated and in no situation to struggle.”
At Thursday’s remaining press convention, Janibek had appeared significantly bigger than Mikhailovich whereas the 2 had been on stage posing for the face-off, suggesting that he must do plenty of laborious work to take off the water weight within the brief interval he had earlier than Friday’s weigh-in.
This may very well be an indication that Janibek wants to maneuver as much as 168 as a result of he’s getting older, and staying within the 160-lb division could be dangerous. If Janibek strikes as much as 168, he might grow to be Canelo Alvarez’s obligatory with the IBF or WBO to get a fast title shot. There’s some huge cash for Janibek to make combating Canelo, and certain much more than he would make by staying at 160 in a weight he’s struggling to make.
Earlier Warning Indicators
Janibek gassed out in his struggle towards Denzel Bentley in November 2022, and it’s unclear if this was an indication of the hassle that he needed to take chopping all the way down to the 160-lb division.
