Alimkhanuly and Bank agree terms for the WBO title Hamzah Sheeraz gave up
Sheeraz vacated the belt rather than face Alimkhanuly, calling the WBO's decision to make him mandatory challenger "corrupt". Victory over Bank would make the Kazakh a two-weight world champion; no date or venue has been announced.
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Jacob Bank have reached terms to fight for the WBO super-middleweight title that Hamzah Sheeraz gave up last month, WBO president Gustavo Olivieri announced.
"The WBO is pleased to confirm receipt of formal written notification from Team Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Team Jacob Bank that the parties have reached terms to contest the vacant WBO Super Middleweight World Championship," Olivieri said. "Further details will be announced in due course."
Sheeraz, 27, vacated on 18 September rather than make a mandatory defence against Alimkhanuly, shortly after his promoter Queensberry won the purse bid to stage the fight. The British fighter had objected to Alimkhanuly being installed as his mandatory challenger, because the Kazakh had never boxed at super-middleweight and had been out of action for a year. Sheeraz called the WBO's decision to make Alimkhanuly his mandatory challenger "corrupt".
Queensberry boss Frank Warren has since said Sheeraz was wrongly advised to give up the belt. Sheeraz won it in May by stopping Alem Begic in the second round. An announcement on his next fight is expected soon, and Boxing News understands it will be the last under his current Queensberry contract.
Alimkhanuly, 33, is a former unified middleweight champion and is unbeaten in 17 fights, 12 of them won by knockout. The IBF stripped him of its middleweight title in March.
Bank, a 25-year-old Dane, is 20-0 with 11 knockouts and was ranked No 3 by the WBO. He has fought mostly in Europe, and earlier this year he stopped William Scull. When the WBO ordered the pair to negotiate, it gave them 15 days to agree terms before the fight would go to a purse bid.
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