The WBO-mandated bout between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Hamzah Sheeraz appears to be facing some turbulence after the WBO revealed yesterday it had extended negotiations between the two teams to Monday, November 4, after the WBO’s deadline of October 23 had not been met.
The WBO officially ordered the fight on October 4 following Janibek Alimkhanuly’s (16-0, 11 KO’s) victory over IBF mandatory challenger Andrei Mikhailovich (21-1, 13 KO’s). While Alimkhanuly still holds the WBO and IBF middleweight (160 lbs) titles, he notably neglected to defend his WBO title against Mikhailovich due to a slew of questionable circumstances that have not yet been cleared up.
The WBO’s subsequent order for Janibek Alimkhanuly and Hamzah Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KO’s) to face each other followed just days after Alimkhanuly’s victory over Mikhailovich, but was expected to go smoothly given Top Rank, Alimkhanuly’s promoter, has an active partnership with Sheeraz’ promotion of Queensberry Promotions.
According to the WBO, both promotions have jointly requested an extension to negotiations, for which a deadline has been set on Monday, November 4:
“Official: WBO Middleweight Division Zhanibek/Sheeraz. Be advised, [Queensberry Promotions] and [Top Rank] jointly petitioned an extension of the negotiation period,” The WBO announced yesterday. “[WBO] Committee granted the extension. Therefore, agreement must be reached no later than Monday, Nov. 4 @ 4:00 PM (AST).“
With roughly 10 days left until the new deadline of November 4, the two promotions have been given plenty of time to reach an agreement, which would prevent a purse bid from occurring. Purse bid proceedings would be a heavy detriment to both promotions who would then be forced to spend money to bid for a fight that, due to the two promotions being broadcasting partners, would be more conducive to being negotiated.
Complicating these proceedings, however, would likely by the quality of both fighters with Kazakhstani unified champion Janibek Alimkhanuly currently considered the best fighter in the 160 lbs division, while British fighter Hamzah Sheeraz is largely considered the best middleweight contender in the world. This would make purse bids unfeasible, as Queensberry Promotions, would likely seek a higher purse for Sheeraz than the WBO’s rules surrounding purse bids would allow. As a general rule, a WBO champion receives 75% split of the total purse if they fight in their country of residence or nation, while 80% would be afforded to the champion if they were to fight in the challenger’s country of residence or nation.
Alimkhanuly had previously expressed some frustration at the negotiations after posting several Tweets last week where he continually asked about the progress of the negotiations for his WBO-ordered fight against Sheeraz.
Alimkhanuly’s Tweets appear to be directed at Queensberry Promotions, suggesting there is some hesitation on the promotion’s part to see Sheeraz meet with Alimkhanuly in the boxing ring. Sheeraz, 25, is currently unbeaten like Alimkhanuly himself.
Like the previous deadline, if the current deadline of November 4 does not result in an agreement the WBO will endeavor to schedule a purse bid ceremony in the weeks following November 4.
