Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Predictions: Middleweight champ’s homecoming

IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly defends his titles against Anauel Ngamissengue this Saturday, April 5. The bout takes place at the Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhstan. ESPN+ broadcast the bout live in North America on their app.

Here are my Alimkhanuly vs Ngamissengue predictions ahead of this middleweight title scrap.

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Odds

Ngamissengue is the underdog at 5/1 while champion Alimkhanuly is 1/8. If you fancy the honours to be even, that selection is 20/1.

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Fight Preview

This is a true hero’s return for Alimkhanuly, who has not fought in his native Kazakhstan since his second pro fight. He left his nation as a superstar amateur carrying the hopes of the nation. Now Alimkhanuly returns as the consensus best middleweight boxer on the planet.

Alimkhanuly is the second consecutive boxer from the company to be considered the best at this weight. Future Hall of Famer Gennady Golovkin was the king at this weight until 2022, when he moved up to super middleweight to finish his trilogy with Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. 

The loss of ‘GGG’ has hurt what has traditionally been boxing’s second most popular division, after the heavyweights. The long absence and subsequent title-vacation of Jermall Charlo has also hurt the 160lb weight-class. There is still talent there, but no longer does middleweight house the marquee names of the sport.

By rights, Alimkhanuly should be one of those names. He has an impressive resume, beating world champions like Rob Brant and Vincenzo Gualtieri as well as top Brits in Danny Dignum and Denzel Bentley.

What his resume lacks is a big, superstar name. The division lacks those these days. There is not a Golovkin, Canelo or Charlo to scalp and make a statement. WBC champion Carlos Adames is talented and fan-friendly. WBA kingpin Erislandy Lara is a veteran talent who has seen them all come and go. Fights with either would be interesting but are unlikely to ignite the box office.

It is a shame the division does not have the spotlight it deserves because Alimkhanuly is worthy of it. Ngamissengue will certainly be aware what faces him in Kazakhstan this Saturday.

Ngamissengue is 14-0 with nine knockouts but is at a formative stage in his pro journey. Almost all his experience has come on the domestic French scene. But a berth at the Paris 2016 Olympics shows he has the tools. 

The professional sport is very different, though. Ngamissengue does have a reasonable eight-round win over world-ranked Fiodor Czerkaszyn. But that majority decision nod was perhaps not as dominant as you’d like from someone challenged the best in the world.

Ngamissengue has also never been past seven rounds, with only one of his fights even being scheduled to go 10 rounds. Now he walks into a championship 12 with a man who is accustomed to the world title distance.

Alimkhanuly sees these sort of assignments as routine. In his last fight he undid Andrei Mikhailovich in nine rounds. Before that it was Gualtieri’s turn in the big unification fight. Steven Butler, Bentley, Dignum, the veteran Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam. Ex-champ Brant before that. 

It isn’t the sort of resume that unlocks the doors to the Hall of Fame. But it is the sort that gets you through a homecoming against Anauel Ngamissengue.

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Full Card

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Janibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Prediction

I like Alimkhanuly and I like him inside the distance. I think the knockout comes in this one. Ngamissengue has never encountered anyone like the champion. I’ll plump for Alimkhanuly to get the big hometown win by stoppage at 10/11.

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