After the victory of the WBO world middleweight champion (up to 72.6 kg) Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8 KOs) from Kazakhstan in a duel against Briton Denzel Bentley (17-2-1, 14 KOs), the former owner of titles in two weight categories and fight commentator Timothy Bradley.
The boxing expert doubted that Zhanibek is an intimidating fighter in the division, but is confident that he will improve. Bradley outlined the direction for the fighter’s improvements and chose likely opponents for the Kazakhstani’s future defenses.
“In the last rounds he pulled the fight. I think the fight was very close, maybe two points away. But he took the hits. This is what we expected. He went into places where he had not been before. although, in fact, the belt was handed to him. He did not fight for the title. He was promoted to the rank of champion. This is the champion by mail, after all.”
“Here’s the thing. If you haven’t been tested, if you haven’t been under pressure, then this happens. eventually you start believing you’re a bigot, and then someone says, “No, you’re not a bigot,” puts pressure on you and forces you to answer questions inside the ring. And tonight it was a Bentley. I think it was good performance from Bentley Zhanibek won, but is he a babay? [смеётся и вертит головой] No no”.
- Zhanibek Alimkhanuly – Denzel Bentley: shot statistics
“All the other champs and contenders should have taken him. They should have beaten him sooner because he’s going to be better now. After a performance like this, you have to understand it this way. He wants big fights. It’s hard to get them for these guys. He thought this guy will be like the previous one. He thought he would go through him. It didn’t happen, but he got to the top, which is great. Moving forward, I don’t think this fighter should be taken lightly. I think that Zhanibek is still he’s a threat in this division he’s got great skills, he’s got punching power he didn’t show it today but let me tell you something I’m telling you iron sharpens iron he’ll be better after this and the better the opposition will be the better his game will be.”
“What activated him was to deliver this perfect blow. When he saw that Bentley lost control of his legs a little, he began to back off, it activated him, and he went forward. In fact, he went for a knockout, but it didn’t work out. it came out because Bentley braced himself like a real fighter should and fought back.”
- Alimkhanuly – Bentley. Results from Las Vegas
“I realized that Zhanibek needs to plow, mature. The point now is this – 13 professional fights, 6 years as a pro, and he is a champion at the same time. But he still needs to grow. 29 years old, but he still needs to grow. “He needs to learn how to work up close. Changing his combinations is another thing he needs to work on. These little things that he needs to do, even controlling his opponent up close is very important at this level. These little things that I saw would definitely help him move forward in his career.”
“Falcao is the fight of the future. Top 10 fighter. Why not? Falcao is unbeaten, Olympian. Why not make this fight? He’s Top Rank, easy to organize. And then if he wins, I think “The next fight will be against Eubank. It would be a fantastic fight across the ocean.”