The Boxing Truth®

In a follow-up to a previous story we have been following here on The Boxing Truth ®, it has been announced per Ring Magazine that WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara will now defend his title against Johan Gonzalez .  As previously reported here on the website , Lara was to face unbeaten unified WBO/IBF World Middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly in a unification bout, but Alimkhanuly ha been pulled from the fight due to testing positive for a banned substance. As of this writing, it remains unclear as to Alimkhanuly’s status with regard to both the WBO and IBF as each respective organization’s current World Middleweight champion.  Lara, (31-3-3, with 19 Knockouts) will now defend his title against Gonzalez, (36-4, with 34 Knockouts) who is stepping in in a little less than four days notice to challenge Lara, and who is not currently rated in the top ten in the World Boxing Association’s Middleweight ratings. Lara vs. Gonzalez will take place on the under...

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) has released an official statement through its website and social media channels following it's World Middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly testing positive for a banned substance ahead of his scheduled unification bout with WBA World Middleweight champion Erislandy Lara on the undercard of the Isaac Cruz-Lamont Roach pay-per-view card scheduled for Saturday night in San Antonio, TX . As of this writing, the International Boxing Federation (IBF), whose World Middleweight championship Janibek Alimkhanuly also holds, has not released a statement regarding the situation. The WBO’s official statement can be read below. Credit: WBO As of this writing, the scheduled bout where the WBO, IBF, and WBA World Middleweight championships would be on the line, remains on as scheduled. We will keep readers updated on developments as they become available. Stay tuned. “And That's The Boxing Truth."  The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered...

Saturday, December 7th saw two interesting bouts take place that shined the spotlight on Boxing’s European scene. In the long term, each outcome could also lead to something significant for the winners in terms of the world rankings in 2025. The first of these two bouts took place in Sofia, Bulgaria where top Heavyweight contenders Manuel Charr and former two-time world title challenger and hometown favorite Kubrat Pulev met in a scheduled twelve round bout where an Interim/Regular championship designation in the WBA Heavyweight ratings was at stake. Outside of the designation, what looked over this fight in reality was an opportunity to become a mandatory challenger in the WBA ratings, which could lead to an opportunity to face the winner of the upcoming rematch between Unified World Heavyweight championship Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury, which will take place in Saudi Arabia on December 21st.  While this fight was fought in relatively close quarters as both fighters were content...

The 160lb. Middleweight division has been one that has gradually moved on from an era largely dominated by former two-time Middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and towards a period of ongoing transition. A transition that to date has no finish date as no fighter has yet emerged as the division’s next central figure. One fighter that has been making a strong case for himself, however, is current unified WBO/IBF Middleweight world champion Janibek Alimkhanuly. Alimkhanuly, a native of Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, is in many ways viewed as Golovkin’s unofficial successor. Not only are both Golovkin and Alimkhanuly, Kazakhstan natives, but like Golovkin, Alimkhanuly established himself off of an ability to score quick and often devastating knockouts. Unbeaten in fifteen professional fights, Alimkhanuly has scored knockouts in ten of those bouts registering a current career knockout percentage of nearly 67%. While not quite at the same degree as what this observer often called “A Path Of D...