An undefeated world champion has targeted a showdown with pound-for-pound star Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez.
The Mexican icon is 66 fights in to a glittering professional career, where he has won world titles in four weight divisions as well as the undisputed super middleweight championship, becoming the first fighter to do so within the ‘four belt era’.
With victories over the likes of Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto and Sergey Kovalev, the 34-year-old has cemented his place high in the pound-for-pound ranks over the last decade, facing all-comers from 154lbs right up to 175lbs where he fell short to newly crowned undisputed champion Dmitry Bivol in 2022.
As he begins preparations to lock horns with another modern great in Terence Crawford, Canelo has been on the receiving end of a call-out from an unbeaten world middleweight champion who has demanded a showdown with the Mexican icon.
WBO and IBF middleweight king Janibek Alimkhanuly, who often brands himself as the most avoided fighter on the planet, has thrown his name into the hat for a bout against Canelo at some point in the near future.
Speaking to Boxing Scene, Janibek revealed he is actually more interested in a move up to 168lbs to face Canelo, rather than becoming the undisputed champion at 160.
“I’m not looking for number twos. I’m trying to get number ones, like ‘Canelo’ and the other guys. Since 160 is not a problem I can go up, but I can go back down, I see no problems in terms of the period and in terms of capacities. I have enough capacity”
The 31-year-old Kazakh is gearing up to face France’s Anauel Ngamissengue in Astana on April 5, in what will be the first defence of his unified middleweight titles since he captured the IBF crown from German-Italian Vincenzo Gualtieri in October 2023.
Unfortunately for Janibek, Canelo’s diary for 2025 is full. He faces William Scull in May in a bid to become undisputed once more before moving straight in to a September fight with ‘Bud’ Crawford should everything go to plan.
