Janibek: Andrade ran away, Charlo would be easy work for me
Newly-elevated WBO titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly is setting his sights on big fights at 160.
Janibek Alimkhanuly was recently elevated from interim to full titleholder status at 160 lbs by the WBO, following Demetrius Andrade’s overdue decision to vacate and move up to 168, and the Kazakh fighter says he wants big fights.
“Demetrius Andrade had no interest in fighting me. I wanted to fight him because I know I would knock him out,” he said. “He ran away to super middleweight to avoid fighting me. But don’t worry, Demetrius. After I unify the belts at middleweight, we can fight.”
Alimkhanuly (12-0, 8 KO) picked up the interim belt on May 21 by destroying a way over-matched Danny Dignum inside of two rounds, and had been waiting on his proper order for a fight with Andrade. He got the order, but Andrade chose to vacate instead.
Now, Janibek is throwing out the name of someone else Andrade didn’t fight.
“I’d have no issue fighting Jermall Charlo for his WBC title. We are both champions, so let’s unify the belts. Charlo would be easy work for me, and he knows that. Champions should fight other champions. It’s too bad the other so-called ‘champions’ do not feel that way.”
As far as further unification goes, the other two belts at 160 — WBA and IBF — are currently held by Janibek’s countryman, Gennadiy Golovkin, who moves to 168 on Sept. 17 for a trilogy bout with Canelo Alvarez, who is undisputed champion at super middle.