HOUSTON — On Saturday night at the Fort Bend Community Center in Rosenberg, Texas, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly defeated Vincenzo Gualtieri through superior skill and effort to earn a mercy stoppage in the sixth round.
“This is my style of fighting,” Alimkhanuly said in media reports through translator and manager Egis Klimas. “This is ‘Qazaq Style’ and I am here to stay.”
The Ring’s No. 2-rated middleweight, Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs), successfully defended his WBO crown and won the IBF belt Gualtieri (21-1-1, 7 KOs) had only held since July.
The 30-year-old Kazakh native now stands among the elite group of unified champions, but owing to the unheralded Gualtieri’s lack of effort, he will need to keep looking for big fights to gain the respect he seeks.
“We knew from the beginning that he would never fight back,” said Alimkhanuly in media reports.
“His plan was to wait for us to get tired but that was never going to happen,” said Alimkhanuly in media reports.
The 30-year-old German was competent enough to defeat Esquiva Falcao in his homeland and claim the vacant IBF belt, but Alimkhanuly put him on the back foot from the first round.
Gualtieri was kept handcuffed by Alimkhanuly’s razor-sharp jab and one-two combos, which also steadily wore down the valiant but terribly outmatched German.
Gualtieri was knocked backwards in Round 5 with a well-timed left uppercut, and in Round 6, the underdog was driven into the ropes by a succession of one-two combinations before referee David Fields stopped the beating at 1:25 of Round 6.
At the time of the interruption, Alimkhanuly led Gualtieri 82–22 in landing percentage.
“Congratulations to Janibek,” said Gualtieri after the defeat in media reports after the fight.
“He was the better fighter. I think it was a little early to end the fight but congratulations to him. He had a good punch, you can see that in my face. I think it was a little bit early but he won and I have respect for him,” said Gualtieri in media reports.
Gualtieri’s three-month reign as IBF champion came to an end after the one-sided defeat.
