Janibek Alimkhanuly Outclasses Vincenzo Gualtieri

Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs) became unified middleweight champion with a sixth round technical knockout win over Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-1-1, 7 KOs). The middleweight unification bout headlined an event at the Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas. Their clash aired live on ESPN, ESPN+, and ESPN Deportes in the USA.

Gualtieri maintained his distance throughout the fight, but Alimkhanuly was able to use his reach to land clean. Alimkhanuly remained patient and carefully picked his shots. By the end of round three, there was visible swelling under the left eye of Gualtieri. In round four, Alimkhanuly picked up the pace and began landing even more against Gualtieri, who threw little throughout the fight. A left uppercut visibly stunned Gualtieri in the fifth. Despite Alimkhanuly letting his hands go, Gualtieri was able to cover from the blow.

Alimkhanuly stunned Gualtieri once again in round six with a left uppercut. He eventually backed Gualtieri into a corner and unleashed a barrage of left lands. Referee David Fields then stepped in to halt the contest. The time of stoppage was 1:25. In addition to his WBO middleweight title, Alimkhanuly now also holds the IBF belt.

“My style of fighting, this is the ‘Qazaq style,'” said Alimkhanuly through an interpreter after the fight. “This is what I’m gonna be continuing doing.”

“We knew from the beginning he was not going to fight back. He was waiting, thinking I was going to get tired, but I didn’t get tired.”

“We would like to add the other two belts to this collection. We hope our promoter Top Rank can organize that.”

“First of all, congratulations to Janibek,” said Gualtieri. “He was the better [fighter] today. But I think it was a little bit early to break the fight. But, sure, he was better today.”

JANIBEK IS TOO MUCH.

Crown that man, @QazaqStyle 👑👑 pic.twitter.com/hi0B6LEoYo

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 15, 2023

Davis vs. Albright recap

Just before the main event, Keyshawn Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) won a majority decision over Nahir Albright (16-3, 7 KOs) in a ten-round lightweight bout. Despite it being a majority decision, the fight itself was anything but competitive save for a few moments.

The fight began with both staying at range and landing from a distance. Davis began to land his right hand with increasing frequency in round two. Albright was shaken in the final 30 seconds of the fourth, but was able to stay standing until the end of the round. As the rounds went on, Davis continued to break down Albright with shots to the body and right hands over the top. Although Albright was throwing a higher number of punches, he landed significantly fewer shots than Davis who was simply more accurate.

In the final 20 seconds of round eight, Davis landed a shot that wobbled Albright. As he proceeded to come forward, Albright landed a looping right hand and briefly stunned Davis just before the bell rang. Both fighters swung for the fences in the tenth and final round, with Albright having greater success. However, Davis had already done enough by then to earn the decision on the scorecards.

Keyshawn is breaking him down. pic.twitter.com/Lr5psF4M0o

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 15, 2023

Alimkhanuly vs. Gualtieri undercard results

Richard Torrez Jr. (7-0, 7 KOs) claimed a second round technical knockout over Tyrrell Herndon (21-5, 14 KOs). Referee Alejandro Leon stopped the fight at the 1:26 mark after Herndon turned his back to Torrez.

Guido Vianello (11-1-1, 9 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Curtis Harper (14-10, 9 KOs, 1 NC) in an eight-round heavyweight bout. Scores were 80-72 and 79-73 (x2).

Giovanni Márquez (7-0, 5 KOs) won via technical knockout against Donte Strayhorn (12-5-1, 4 KOs) in a six-round super lightweight clash. Márquez dropped Strayhorn twice in round two before unleashing a barrage of punches. This caused referee Leon to stop the fight at 2:47 of the second round.

In an eight-round featherweight bout, Duke Ragan (9-0, 1 KO) won via split decision against Jose Perez (11-2-2, 5 KOs). While one judge saw the fight 76-75 for Perez, the other two had it 76-75 for Ragan. Ragan went to the canvas in round five.

Kelvin Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Narciso Carmona (11-2-1, 6 KOs). Scores for this eight-round super lightweight clash were 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75.

In a six-round super lightweight fight, Alan Garcia (10-0, 8 KOs) defeated Nelson Hampton (10-8, 6 KOs) via unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54 (x3).

Humberto Galindo (14-3-2, 11 KOs) and Oscar Bravo (25-13-1, 11 KOs) fought to a majority draw. Scores for this eight-round super featherweight bout 76-74 for Galindo and 75-75 on the other two cards. Bravo lost a point in round three for low blows and a point in round four for excessive holding.

In a four-round heavyweight clash, Jakhongir Zokirov (1-0, 1 KO) won via technical knockout against Guillermo Del Rio (4-5-1, 2 KOs). The time of stoppage was 0:39 of the fourth round. Zokirov had also dropped Del Rio earlier in the fight.