Janibek Alimkhanuly adds the IBF belt to his WBO middleweight title with a sixth-round stoppage of Vincenzo Gualtieri, while Keyshawn Davis and Richard Torrez Jr also extended their unbeaten records in Texas
Sunday 15 October 2023 08:08, UK
Janibek Alimkhanuly pounded Vincenzo Gualtieri to a halt in the sixth round as the Kazakh middleweight unified the WBO and IBF titles in Texas.
The unbeaten 30-year-old took a few rounds to find his range, but broke Gualtieri's resistance with a sustained assault before the referee David Fields waved it off.
Gualtieri had avoided Alimkhanuly's power punches in the early rounds, but a counter left uppercut hurt and dropped the German in the fifth round.
Sensing the end was near, Alimkhanuly stepped up his assault in the following round and several unanswered shots forced ring official Fields to halt the fight.
"This is my style of fighting. This is Qazaq style, and this is what I will continue to do," said Alimkhanuly, who added the IBF belt to his WBO title.
"We knew from the beginning that he wasn't going to fight back. He was waiting because he thought I was going to get tired. But I didn't get tired.
"We would like to add another two belts to this collection. We hope that our promoter Top Rank can organise that."
On the undercard, Keyshawn Davis continued his rise up the lightweight rankings with a majority decision win over Nahir Albright.
After a battle of jabs in the opening round, Davis found a home for his right hand, sneaking it over Albright's shoulder throughout the fight.
Davis also caught Albright with right and left hands, which made Albright less eager to throw punches as the fight progressed.
In the final two rounds, Davis went into cruise control, allowing Albright to narrow the scorecards, and one judge scored the fight 95-95, which was overruled by tallies of 96-94 and 97-93.
"I had it as a win for me," said Davis. "That's all that matters. He was a tough fighter and this fight today gave me some good experience. I was feeling good. I was just boxing. I was just having fun and doing what I want to do.
"I just want to show that I belong at the top of the 135-pound division. I'm working my way up there. If Jose Pedraza is willing to take a fight with me, then let's do it."
Heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr sealed his seventh stoppage win in seven fights as he blasted out Tyrrell Anthony Herndon in the second round.
Torrez dropped Herndon with a left hand, which began an onslaught that forced referee Alejandro Leon to stop the fight.
