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By David A. Avila
Looking to catch the big fish, WBO middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly demolished small fish Steven Butler with three knockdowns on his way to retaining the title by knockout on Saturday.
Now for the big fish.
Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) demonstrated with a quick stoppage of Canada’s Butler (32-4-1) that he’s ready for elite fighters and proved it in front of a packed crowd at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.
Butler never really had a chance.
Alimkhanuly used the first round to find the proper distance against Butler who looked to counter with every move the Kazakh tried. A sharp left down the middle from Alimkhanuly pierced Butler’s guard and was the only major scoring blow.
The second round was the blast off.
In his prior fight, Alimkhanuly had problems tracking Great Britain’s Denzel Bentley in a fight that went 12 rounds. In this match he only needed one round to gauge the distance and used a five-punch combination including two riveting uppercuts to send Butler to the floor early in the second round.
Butler got up.
The fight resumed and Alimkhanuly was patient in the hunting down the Canadian and fired a four-punch combination to deliver Butler to the canvas again. Again, he got up by wobbling visibly.
Alimkhanuly stalked Butler who couldn’t find his legs and fired a three-punch combination that blasted the Canadian to the ground. Referee Jack Reiss did not bother to count and the fight was over at 2:35 of the second round
“Champions and boxing superstars, where are you? I’m the middleweight king. Let’s fight,” said Alimkhanuly. “Canelo and Charlo I am coming.”
Bantamweight Title
Australia’s Jason Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs) used a hit and move style to win a majority decision over Filipino hard-punching Vincent Astrolabio (18-4, 13 KOs) and capture the vacant WBO bantamweight title after 12 rounds.
It was a tepid fight with little action during the first half as Astrolabio found it difficult to corral the side-to-side movements of Moloney. Meanwhile the Aussie jabbed and delivered pot shots that earned him easy rounds in the first half of the fight.
Moloney slowed slightly in the last five rounds and that allowed Astrolabio to connect with hard blows. Though they were single shots, Moloney was more content to hold anytime the Filipino fighter got close. That allowed Astrolabio to gain some rounds.
The referee never warned Moloney about excessive holding and basically gave the fight to the Aussie. Still, he was the more skilled fighter and won the WBO bantamweight world title by majority decision 114-114, 115-113, 116-112.
Fans booed throughout.
Other Bouts
Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (20-1, 7 KOs) knocked out Maickol Lopez (16-5) in the fifth round.
Super featherweight prospect Amado Vargas (7-0) remained undefeated with a decision victory over Bernardo Manzano (2-5) after six rounds.
Gabriel Flores Jr. scored a first-round knockout over Derrick Murray (17-9-1) with a check left hook in a lightweight bout.
Super middleweights Javier Martinez (8-0-1) and Joeshon James (7-0-1) fought to a split draw after eight rounds.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images
Looking to catch the big fish, WBO middleweight titlist Janibek Alimkhanuly demolished small fish Steven Butler with three knockdowns on his way to retaining the title by knockout on Saturday.
Now for the big fish.
Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) demonstrated with a quick stoppage of Canada’s Butler (32-4-1) that he’s ready for elite fighters and proved it in front of a packed crowd at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.
Butler never really had a chance.
Alimkhanuly used the first round to find the proper distance against Butler who looked to counter with every move the Kazakh tried. A sharp left down the middle from Alimkhanuly pierced Butler’s guard and was the only major scoring blow.
The second round was the blast off.
In his prior fight, Alimkhanuly had problems tracking Great Britain’s Denzel Bentley in a fight that went 12 rounds. In this match he only needed one round to gauge the distance and used a five-punch combination including two riveting uppercuts to send Butler to the floor early in the second round.
Butler got up.
The fight resumed and Alimkhanuly was patient in the hunting down the Canadian and fired a four-punch combination to deliver Butler to the canvas again. Again, he got up by wobbling visibly.
Alimkhanuly stalked Butler who couldn’t find his legs and fired a three-punch combination that blasted the Canadian to the ground. Referee Jack Reiss did not bother to count and the fight was over at 2:35 of the second round
“Champions and boxing superstars, where are you? I’m the middleweight king. Let’s fight,” said Alimkhanuly. “Canelo and Charlo I am coming.”
Bantamweight Title
Australia’s Jason Moloney (26-2, 19 KOs) used a hit and move style to win a majority decision over Filipino hard-punching Vincent Astrolabio (18-4, 13 KOs) and capture the vacant WBO bantamweight title after 12 rounds.
It was a tepid fight with little action during the first half as Astrolabio found it difficult to corral the side-to-side movements of Moloney. Meanwhile the Aussie jabbed and delivered pot shots that earned him easy rounds in the first half of the fight.
Moloney slowed slightly in the last five rounds and that allowed Astrolabio to connect with hard blows. Though they were single shots, Moloney was more content to hold anytime the Filipino fighter got close. That allowed Astrolabio to gain some rounds.
The referee never warned Moloney about excessive holding and basically gave the fight to the Aussie. Still, he was the more skilled fighter and won the WBO bantamweight world title by majority decision 114-114, 115-113, 116-112.
Fans booed throughout.
Other Bouts
Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (20-1, 7 KOs) knocked out Maickol Lopez (16-5) in the fifth round.
Super featherweight prospect Amado Vargas (7-0) remained undefeated with a decision victory over Bernardo Manzano (2-5) after six rounds.
Gabriel Flores Jr. scored a first-round knockout over Derrick Murray (17-9-1) with a check left hook in a lightweight bout.
Super middleweights Javier Martinez (8-0-1) and Joeshon James (7-0-1) fought to a split draw after eight rounds.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images