Ex-unified middleweight titlist\u00a0Janibek Alimkhanuly\u00a0and his team have taken formal action in an effort to expedite his return to the ring, filing a direct appeal to the\u00a0World Boxing Organization\u00a0seeking either a reduction or full removal of his current suspension.<\/p>\n
Alimkhanuly, who still holds the WBO middleweight title, is currently serving a suspension that runs through December following a positive test for a banned substance that emerged just days before his scheduled unification bout against WBA world champion\u00a0Erislandy Lara\u00a0last December.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanibek and his team have filed an appeal against the suspension, and it is currently being reviewed. They are not satisfied with the suspension and they have the legal right to appeal it,\u201d said\u00a0Gustavo Olivieri\u00a0to Cesar Seda \u201c Boxeo Urbano Network\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That development led to the cancellation of the fight and ultimately resulted in him being stripped of his\u00a0International Boxing Federation\u00a0world title, ending his status as unified champion despite retaining recognition under the WBO.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an internal administrative appeal process, a panel composed of lawyers and licensed professionals who act as judges and determine the final resolution,\u201d explained Olivier<\/p>\n
Now operating under that complex backdrop, Alimkhanuly\u2019s camp is pushing for a review that could significantly alter the landscape of the 160-pound division. According to WBO president Gustavo Olivieri on the \u201cBoxeo Urbano Network Podcast,\u201d the complaints and grievances committee is actively reviewing the appeal while maintaining its interim championship structure to keep the division in motion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to wait to see what the final determination will be. It could be to uphold the suspension, modify it, or dismiss it entirely,\u201d Olivieri added.<\/p>\n
In response to that development, the WBO instituted an interim title to ensure the division remained active.\u00a0Denzel Bentley\u00a0seized that opportunity in emphatic fashion, stopping\u00a0Endry Saavedra\u00a0to capture the interim WBO middleweight championship and insert himself firmly into the title picture.<\/p>\n
The sanctioning body is now prepared to order a bout between Bentley and highly ranked Cuban contender\u00a0Yoenlis Hern\u00e1ndez, currently No. 2 in the WBO rankings. However, before that mandatory assignment is enforced, Bentley is expected to be granted a voluntary defense an option requested by his promoter and now under consideration.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the other hand, I am going to recommend to the organization\u2019s Championship Committee that Hern\u00e1ndez be designated as Bentley\u2019s mandatory challenger. Since there has not been a mandatory defense in more than two years while the suspension is being served, Bentley would have to fulfill this mandatory obligation,\u201d Olivieri argued.<\/p>\n
Should Alimkhanuly succeed in his appeal either reducing or overturning his suspension the WBO could quickly pivot toward a direct showdown between the Kazakh champion and Bentley. In that scenario, Hern\u00e1ndez would remain firmly positioned as the next mandatory level challenger, awaiting the outcome of the championship picture.<\/p>\n
For now, the appeal represents the key variable in a division carefully structured to remain active, competitive, and aligned despite the ongoing regulatory uncertainty surrounding its reigning champion.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ex-unified middleweight titlist\u00a0Janibek Alimkhanuly\u00a0and his team have taken formal action in an effort to expedite his return to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620601,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620600"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620600\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}