Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Andrei Mikhailovich on ESPN+ this Saturday, July 13, with lightweights Raymond Muratalla and Tevin Farmer meeting in the main event at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Saturday's event begins at 6:50 pm ET, live on ESPN+.
Top Rank Aims to Raise Janibek's Star
IBF and WBC middleweight champion Janibek (15-0, 10 KOs) defends his two belts against little-known #3 IBF Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) in a twelve-round contest.
Janibek-Mikhailovich is a fight that is arguably better suited to this player than the top player because it is not one to hold the fans.
It's understandable why it's in the top spot. Top Rank wants to turn Janibek into a star, but it's difficult when his opponents aren't household names. Bob Arum is set for his career trying to make Janibek's name without any of the bold, ambitious, famous guys stepping up to face him.
The problem for the 31-year-old Kazakh Janibek is that no one wants to fight him. There are no famous guys like Chris Eubank Jr. and Jermall Charlo interested in facing hard-hitting southpaw Janibek.
Furthermore, Terence Crawford has no plans to move up to 160 to face Janibek for his IBF/WBO titles after his fight next month with Israel Madrimov.
He will skip the 160-lb division because the powerful southpaw Alimkhanuly will be a tough task for him and not someone he can confuse by turning southpaw often.
Muratalla vs. Farmer: An Important Engagement Event
A ten-round support fight between #2 WBC & #2 WBO lightweight Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs) will face former IBF 130-lb champion Tevin Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs) in the fight. that should be interesting to watch.
Farmer has a smart style that will make sharpshooter Muratalla work to find his shot. However, it is not clear how much money the Farmer has left.
After losing the IBF super featherweight title to Joseph Diaz in 2020, he left the sport for three years. Last year, Farmer resumed his career and hit three unscheduled fights.
Farmer turns 34 on July 30, and that's not young for a finesse player who doesn't have the power to step up to a puncher as young as Muratalla. It may not end well for Farmer if he can't stop Muratalla.
Muratalla's ambitions
“I'm ready for the lightweight champions, but I can't take Tevin Farmer lightly. He is a world champion who once wanted another shot,” said Muratalla.
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