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Mike CoppingerESPN
Janibek Alimkhanuly and Danny Dignum will meet for the WBO’s interim middleweight title on May 21, sources tell ESPN.
No location has been finalized for the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN main event, but the bout will take place in the U.S.
Former 130-pound titleholder Jamel Herring, who lost his belt to Shakur Stevenson in October, will return to 135 pounds in his comeback fight in the chief support bout, sources said.
Janibek (11-0, 7 KOs) was ordered to fight Demetrius Andrade for his middleweight title, but Andrade elected to instead move up to super middleweight for a fight with Zach Parker on May 21 in the U.K. Andrade will have 10 days to decide which weight class he’ll campaign at moving forward, so Janibek-Dignum appears to be the rare interim title fight that could quickly crown a full-fledged champion.
Janibek, a 28-year-old from Kazakhstan, has scored consecutive eighth-round TKOs over Rob Brant and Hassan N’Dam. He’s ranked No. 7 at middleweight by ESPN.
Dignum (14-0-1, 8 KOs) has never competed outside the U.K., nor on the world-class level. In his last outing, the 30-year-old scored a sixth-round stoppage of Grant Dennis in February.
Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) competed at lightweight during most of his career before he moved down and won a title. He’s long been trained by Brian McIntyre but has parted ways with the trainer and will now be led by Manny Robles, who trained him during his amateur days.
The 36-year-old Marine from Long Island, New York, made three successful defenses of his title before the 10th-round TKO loss to Stevenson.
BoxingScene first reported that Janibek-Dignum was targeted for May 21.