Donovan goes in-depth with the ruling; effectively, the IBF’s mandatory one-year suspension would push Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) past his July 4th deadline to defend against a mandatory challenger. He had fought just twice in the prior two years, stopping Andrei Mikhailovich and Anauel Ngamissengue in his lone bouts of ‘24 and ‘25.
Alimkhanuly failed the test just prior to a long-awaited unification bout against Erislandy Lara, then saw his B-sample come up positive as well. Per a Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation report acquired by Donovan, Alimkhanuly unknowingly “ingested the substance in question from an emergency medical visit” the previous May.
The IBF does not currently have a top contender at 160. Etinosa Oliha sits at no. 2, followed by Shakiel Thompson, Aaron McKenna, and Amari Jones. Oliha does not presently have an opponent, while Thompson is slated to face Brad Pauls later this month; we’ll let you know how the situation plays out.