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Mike Coppinger
Janibek Alimkhanuly will defend his IBF and WBO middleweight titles vs. Anauel Ngamissengue on April 5 in Astana, Kazakhstan, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The fight will be a homecoming for Alimkhanuly. He competed in Kazakhstan in his first two bouts, but hasn’t since. Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) is ESPN’s No. 1 middleweight, while Ngamissengue is No. 7. The 31-year-old Alimkhanuly will be making his fifth title defense.
Alimkhanuly is coming off a ninth-round TKO of Andrei Mikhailovich in October. Top Rank promotes Alimkhanuly in the U.S., and the fight will be streamed on ESPN+, while Kazakhstan-based Nomad Promotions will stage the event.
Gennadiy Golovkin, the most famous boxer from Kazakhstan, fought in his homeland only once and that took place before he was a full-fledged world champion.
France’s Ngamissengue, who was born in Congo, will challenge for his first world title and compete in his first scheduled 12-rounder.
Although he is ranked in ESPN’s top 10 at 160 pounds, Ngamissengue is untested at the top level. The 29-year-old’s most recent outing was a third-round TKO of Sandro Jajanidze (12-32-2) in June. Six of his 14 fights came against opponents with losing records.
Now, Ngamissengue will step up to the top level as Alimkhanuly continues to call for a unification bout with Erislandy Lara or the Feb. 22 winner of Carlos Adames vs. Hamzah Sheeraz.