Janibek Faces Unknown Ngamissengue On April 5th

IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) will make a defense of his two belts against little-known #7 IBF ranked Anauel Ngamissengue (14-0, 9 KOs) two months from now on April 5th in Astana, Kazakhstan.

This will be a homecoming fight for the 2016 Olympian Janibek, 31, born in Zhilandy, Kazakhstan, and now lives in Oxnard, California.

Why Ngamissengue?

Boxing fans on social media are confused about who the 29-year-old Congo-born, France-based Ngamissengue is because few people have heard of him.

This is likely the only contender that Janibek’s management could get because none of the other champions at 160 or notable contenders want anything to do with him. Due to his power, southpaw stance, and technical skills, he’s one of the fighters to avoid.

The middleweight division lacks talent, and fighters there are very selective about who they fight. Unbeaten contender and highly hyped British fighter Hamzah Sheeraz opted to challenge WBC champion Carlos Adames rather than the unified two-belt champ Janibek. It seems pretty obvious why. Janibek is terrible news for fighters trying to build a future, especially if they’re vulnerable in the chin department.

Ngamissengue’s only decent win on his six-year resume is Ukrainian Fedir Cherkashyn, who he edged by an eight-round majority decision two years ago on August 26, 2023, in Wroclaw, Poland. The two fought on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Daniel Dubois, so they got some attention.

Ngamissengue’s Fights

Sandro Jajanidze (12-32-2)
Fiodor Czerkaszyn
Matteo Hache (9-1)
Martin Owono (8-40-5)
Jean Nestor Nkoulou Mama (4-0)
Kassimou Mouhamadou (7-5)
Predrag Cvetkovic (6-20-3)

It’s still hard to know why the IBF has given Ngamissengue a #7 ranking with their organization because his resume is filled with lower-level opposition from top to bottom. Moreover, none of the other three sanctioning bodies have him ranked in the top 15, which tells you they don’t view him as worthy of making their upper tier.

Janibek Avoided

Again, Janibek’s promoters must be desperate to select Ngamissengue as his opponent. Sadly, he’s reduced to fighting someone that few fans, even the hardcore boxing variety, have heard of. Janibek will eventually be able to get the notable opposition he’s seeking, but it’ll likely be when he’s 100% washed. Until then, expect to continue to see him fight the no-names.

Janibek is coming off a ninth-round knockout victory over Andrei Mikhailovich on October 4th. That’s another no-name that few fans have ever heard or seen.

If he wants to get bigger paydays, Janibek will need to bite the bullet and move up to 168, where he’ll be smaller than his opposition. He’ll get more fights this way, but the knockouts won’t come quite as quickly. Being a highly skilled southpaw, he’ll likely continue to be avoided, even up there.