Beyond Saturday’s contest between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Anauel Ngamissengue representing the return to the ring of Janibek – the IBF and WBO middleweight champion – their fight has minimal appeal.

There have been times he’s looked very, very good. There have also been times he’s looked very ordinary. When he’s at his best he’s very difficult for opponents; when he’s not, he’s beatable, the world is also still waiting for a breakout star to emerge at 160lbs.

Hamzah Sheeraz looked like he was going to become that breakout star, but when in February he challenged Carlos Adames, the WBC champion, Adames stepped up and again showed how good he is. I’ve always thought a fight between Adames and Janibek would be very appealing, because I’ve always been intrigued about how Janibek would deal with his physicality. 

France’s Ngamissengue appears a suitable opponent both for the occasion of Janibek’s “homecoming” fight, in Astana, Kazakhstan and to again showcase Janibek to followers of boxing after a 2024 in which his struggles to make weight meant he only fought, and beat, the lightly regarded Andrei Mikhailovich of New Zealand, when he didn’t look at his very best. Ngamissengue appears to have been selected to avoid jeopardising Janibek’s future plans.

While he was climbing the middleweight ranks Janibek was very impressive. The performances against Vaughn Alexander and Steven Martinez were promising; later he excelled against Rob Brant, Hassan N’Dam and Steven Butler, but the stoppage of Butler was in May 2023. A lot of the hype and excitement that existed then has gone.

Just because Janibek has two titles doesn’t make him the world’s best middleweight. In April 2025, Adames is. 

It’s also tempting to conclude Top Rank, Janibek’s promoters, appear to think the same. All of the signs suggest they’ve lost faith in him. Bob Arum objects to fighters not making weight – particularly at that level. Top Rank are very good at building prospects, but if fighters don’t perform enough they won’t resist cutting them, and they won’t look backwards. They don’t just consider a fighter’s talent or commercial potential; Top Rank is an old-school promotional organisation that values how a fighter conducts themselves. It won’t matter to them that they are no longer promoting, for example, Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson and that Janibek could be valuable to them because of that; they’re aware that they have the next generation of talent coming through. 

I scored Adames the winner over Sheeraz; he boxed very, very well against such a rangy opponent, and complemented the physicality we’ve always known he’s had with some class. It should be straightforward to make a fight between Adames and Erislandy Lara, the WBA champion. They’re both promoted by Premier Boxing Champions – and I don’t see how Lara will be able to keep Adames off of him if they are matched. If Adames then adds the WBA title to that he already has from the WBC it’ll be easier for an undisputed title fight with Janibek to be made, and will also strengthen his hand in negotiations.

It’s been speculated, off the back of Adames-Sheeraz, that Sheeraz can no longer make 160lbs without a real struggle. His height and reach means he could of course make a success of moving to 168lbs, but if he does move up he’ll be sacrificing some of his advantages against some of the opponents he’d encounter there; Diego Pacheco, for example, offers similar range. If he’s as skilful as we hope, however, that shouldn’t matter.

I’ve previously questioned Janibek’s suitability to move up. Either way, he needs to look impressive and beat Ngamissengue – and as impressive as he hasn’t been for some time. It needs to be a statement that says: “I’m back.” He’s a skilful fighter, with a difficult style for opponents to adjust to; on this occasion a convincing win is what I expect. 

It regardless shouldn’t be forgotten that he’s following in the footsteps of the great Gennady Golovkin, another Kazakh, who never got to have a homecoming fight as a revered world champion. Golovkin paved the way for Janibek by putting Kazakhstan on the map in the way that he did.

Golovkin once made New York and Madison Square Garden his home instead. I can even remember sitting behind Donald Trump at one of those fight nights, and another time when Golovkin was fighting Danny Jacobs, who I was working with, and we met briefly in a narrow hallway for his media obligations. He was extremely humble and respectful, which speaks to his character since he was at the height of his success at that time

The challenge for Janibek is to earn a similar amount of respect. Golovkin is one of the most consistent world champions of the modern era. He always performed, regardless of his opponent, particularly in the eyes of the fans – even if Golovkin thought he underperformed, fight fans didn’t, and that’s often what makes a great fighter. 

Golovkin was a great fighter. For Janibek, the jury’s still out.