Former world champion and current commentator / boxing columnist American Sean Porter discussed whether it is worth considering the WBO middleweight champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8 KOs) of Kazakhstan as the “baby” of the division.
At the weekend, Zhanibek made his debut defense of the title and did not impress – not without problems passed the European middle peasant from Britain Denzel Bentley (17-2-1, 14 KOs).
Porter
explains, what’s the matter: “Here everything is simple. The dude has arrived in America. It began to be served as “Kazakh style”. And his promoter and ESPN turned on their promotion machine at full speed, pushing him through as the new “baby” of the division. They stated that Demetrius Endred refused to fight him. But the truth is, he just wanted a bigger, more financially profitable fight. And the fans quickly picked up on the fact that he was supposedly just scared.
“Andred had a fight with Zach Parker on his hands. But at first it did not take place due to the injury of Demetrius, and then did not take place due to the fact that his fate was decided at the promotional auction. And the winning amount (300 thousand USD), or rather its part of this amount, was really very modest. As a result, Andred was left with a nose – and without a title, and without a fight. And after Jaime Mungia refused to fight Zhanibek, the nickname “babay” was firmly fixed for Alimkhanuly. And let me tell you, things like this really help sell the event,” Porter explained.
According to the expert, “Zhanibek didn’t look like a wimp in the ring. And all for the reason that the Bentley is a terribly uncomfortable fighter. He is one of those who himself does not know what will kick off the next minute. And then he completely changed his stance, caught his rhythm, imposed his picture, or, more precisely, imposed a fight without any picture. And by this he leveled everything that Alimkhanuly is good at. In the course of the fight, I immediately said: “Zhanibek needs to double the jab, feint and combine.” That’s all there was. And if you really consider yourself a “woman”, then you should have a little more in the stash. Only then will everyone believe that you are a real “babay””.
Another expert-ex-champion agrees with Porter: “No, you are not a woman.”
