Janibek Alimkhanuly Tested, Wins Decision Over Denzel Bentley in Tough Fight

The middleweight division’s supposed boogeyman survived somewhat of a scare Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Janibek Alimkhanuly was listed by most sportsbooks as a 20-1 favorite over British underdog Denzel Bentley, but Bentley withstood Alimkhanuly’s power early and made their 12-round middleweight title fight very competitive over the final eight rounds at Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas. Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (13-0, 8 KOs) still won a unanimous decision, as judges Tim Cheatham (116-112), Dave Moretti (116-112) and Steve Weisfeld (118-110) all favored the WBO 160-pound champion’s work.

“[Bentley] came prepared in the ring,” Alimkhanuly told ESPN’s Mark Kriegel, according to his translator. “I respect my opponent. He was really prepared. He was a hundred percent, but I am a champion and I was fighting. We fought all 12 rounds like champions.”

Bentley (17-2-1, 14 KOs) got off to a slow start, but the underestimated challenger gained confidence and began landing right hands in the fifth round that started to make their fight much more interesting than most people expected. Bentley became braver once the challenger realized he could take Alimkhanuly’s power and started to let his hands go.

“The plan was to see what he has in the first couple rounds,” Bentley said. “See what I can take, take a couple shots on the gloves. Don’t rush into your work because he’s waiting for me to rush in to counter me. And then pick up the pace in the, you know, middle to late rounds, and I think that’s what I done.”

CompuBox counted 29 more connections overall for Alimkhanuly, who unofficially landed 187-of-535 punches to 159-of-615 for Bentley. Alimkhanuly landed more power punches (137-of-289 to 125-of-435) and more jabs (50-of-246 to 34-of-180), according to CompuBox.

Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly, 29, made the first defense of the WBO middleweight title he won May 21 and went 12 rounds for the first time. Alimkhanuly knocked out another huge underdog from England, Danny Dignum (14-1-1, 8 KOs), in the second round to win the WBO’s interim championship at Resorts World Las Vegas.

The WBO elevated Alimkhanuly from interim champion to its full titleholder once Demetrius Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) decided to fight in the super middleweight division rather than defending his WBO middleweight title against Alimkhanuly.

London’s Bentley, 27, delivered the best performance of his five-year pro career even in defeat. Bentley, the WBO’s ninth-ranked contender, was a huge underdog in large part because he lost by third-round technical knockout to another British middleweight, undefeated Felix Cash (15-0, 10 KOs), in April 2021 at York Hall in London.

Alimkhanuly appeared to be ahead on the scorecards entering the 12th round, when he hurt his opponent.

Alimkhanuly’s left hand made Bentley take an awkward step 22 seconds into the 12th and final round. Alimkhanuly went for the knockout, but Bentley held him to stop his momentum.

Another straight left by Alimkhanuly staggered Bentley 59 seconds into the 12th round. He blasted Bentley with a right hook and then a left uppercut with just under 30 seconds to go in their fight.

Bentley blasted Alimkhanuly with a right hand, but Alimkhanuly came right back with a straight left at the midway mark of the 11th round. Two more left hands by Alimkhanuly got Bentley’s attention with under 25 seconds remaining in the 11th round.

Alimkhanuly’s left stunned Bentley with 30 seconds to go in the 10th round.

Alimkhanuly connected with back-to-back left uppercuts just before the midway mark of the 10th round. Alimkhanuly blasted Bentley with a left to the body 1:05 into the 10th round.

A left uppercut by Bentley caught Alimkhanuly clean with just over 50 seconds remaining in the ninth round. Bentley was more active than Alimkhanuly during that ninth round and kept the champion from landing many flush punches.

Alimkhanuly landed a straight left in response to Bentley’s flush right with just over 30 seconds to go in the eighth round. Bentley blasted Alimkhanuly with a right hand that snapped back his head about 45 seconds into the eighth round.

Bentley belted Alimkhanuly with a right hand with about 1:20 to go in the seventh round. Alimkhanuly came back less than 10 seconds later, though, with a straight left that got Bentley’s attention.

Bentley was the more active, accurate fighter over the final minute of what was a successful sixth round for the challenger.

Bentley landed a right hand with just over 2:25 on the clock in the sixth round. Approximately 30 seconds later, Bentley landed a right to Alimkhanuly’s body.

Alimkhanuly’s left uppercut connected with under 25 seconds on the clock in the fifth round, but Bentley let his hands go in response and kept Alimkhanuly from capitalizing on that shot. A left uppercut and a straight right by Bentley backed up Alimkhanuly a little less than a minute into the fifth round.

Bentley landed a right hand with just under 1:20 to go in the fourth round. Less than 10 seconds later, Alimkhanuly drilled Bentley with a straight left that knocked him off balance.

A short right hook by Alimkhanuly turned Bentley around just before the third round ended.

Alimkhanuly’s left hand knocked Bentley backward and into the ropes a few seconds after the halfway point of the third round. A straight left by Alimkhanuly knocked Bentley off balance barely 30 seconds into the third round.

A right-left combination by Alimkhanuly landed with just over 1:20 to go in the second round. Ruiz warned Alimkhanuly for a low blow with a little over a minute remaining in the second round.

Alimkhanuly’s straight left caught Bentley with just over a minute to go in the first round. Another left by Alimkhanuly stung Bentley about 15 seconds later.

Alimkhanuly landed a right hook to the side of Bentley’s head with just under 1:50 on the clock in the opening round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.