ASTANA — The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has stripped Kazakhstan’s Zhanibek Alimkhanuly of his middleweight world title after determining that he could not meet the organization’s mandatory title defense requirements following a doping violation.
Photo credit: sportnews.kz
The Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation received an official letter from the IBF Secretariat on March 10 confirming the decision.
According to federation president Rakhimzhan Yerdenbekov, the IBF cited its strict regulations that require champions in any weight division to defend their titles within nine months. In Alimkhanuly’s case, the defense deadline was set for July 4.
However, the IBF also suspended the boxer from competing until Dec. 2, making it impossible for him to meet the mandatory defense requirement. As a result, the IBF Board of Directors voted on March 5 to declare the middleweight title vacant.
Alimkhanuly still has the option to appeal the ruling, Yerdenbekov wrote on Instagram, adding that the boxer’s team plans to appeal the decision.
Yerdenbekov expressed confidence that the setback would motivate the fighter’s camp. He said Alimkhanuly is expected to return to the ring later this year and aims to compete for all four major world titles in the future.
