The roof at the Barys Arena in Astana will come flying off when Kazakh boxing legend, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, makes his ring walk on April 5. The current WBO & IBF middleweight champ is fighting in his backyard for the first time since September 2017 and in doing so, is making Kazakh boxing history, as no fighter from the country has ever defended their world belts on home soil. Alimkhanuly, who is aiming to extend his record to 17-0 will square off against another unbeaten fighter, Anauel Ngamissengue, who fights out of the Val-d'Oise in France.
Since claiming a points win and making the first defence of his WBO belt against Britain’s Denzel Bentley in Las Vegas at the back end of 2022, Alimkhanuly has gone from strength to strength. He knocked out or stopped each of his next three opponents and added the IBF crown to his list of achievements when beating Vincenzo Gualtieri.
Alimkhanuly’s latest success against Andrei Mikhailovich in Sydney last October took his ‘wins by KO/TKO’ to an impressive 69%. The man they call ‘Qazaq Style’ will be aiming to produce a headline-grabbing performance in front of his adoring home fans, as he looks to set up further world title bouts shortly with Erislandy Lara and Carlos Adames, who hold the current WBA and WBC middleweight belts respectively.
Getty ImagesNgamissengue also has a top-notch stoppage percentage, but he hasn’t been mixing in the same circles as the champ. He has been slowly climbing the ladder, but this is a massive step up and test for the Congolese-born challenger, who has never fought in a 12-round scheduled contest before.
The Astana event, which has been dubbed ‘Battle of the Brave’, is being backed by Nomad Promotions, in association with Top Rank. Supporting the main feature there is a stacked undercard featuring several rising stars from Kazakhstan. The co-main event sees Sultan Zaurbek taking on former world title challenger, Azinga Fuzile, in an intriguing super featherweight clash. Zaurbek is one of Kazakhstan’s brightest talents who could be on the verge of a world title shot.
Let GOAL bring you all the information you need ahead of a huge night of boxing from Kazakhstan, including the full card details and how you can watch or stream all the action live.
When is Alimkhanuly vs Ngamissengue?
Date | Saturday, April 5 |
Location | Barys Arena, Astana, Kazakhstan |
Time | The ESPN+ show starts at 2 pm ET (6 pm UTC) |
Main event ring walks (approx) | 5 pm ET (9 pm UTC) |
The Barys Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Kazakhstan capital of Astana. It serves as a home arena for the ice hockey team, Barys Astana, in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The arena seats 11,578 spectators in its ice hockey set-up. Opened in 2015, the arena is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to host a variety of events, including concerts, exhibitions, and other sporting events. The venue is staging its first boxing card since Nordine Oubaali defended his WBC world bantamweight title against Arthur Villanueva in July 2019.
How to watch or stream Alimkhanuly vs Ngamissengue
In the United States, Alimkhanuly vs Ngamissengue and undercard bouts will be shown live and exclusively on ESPN+, with streaming available via the ESPN+ app. This is a standalone service from regular ESPN, so you don’t need to be an existing TV subscriber. You can download the app for PC, Apple, Android, Fire TV, Roku, your Smart TV and many others. 1 month of ESPN+ is $11.99 (1 month (disney+/hulu) of ESPN+ is $16.99, 1 month (disney+/hulu no ads) of ESPN+ is $26.99) and 1 year costs $119.99.
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Zhanibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue Fight Card
Weight class | Fight |
|---|---|
Middleweight (IBF & WBO titles) | Zhanibek Alimkhanuly vs Anauel Ngamissengue |
Super featherweight | Sultan Zaurbek vs Azinga Fuzile |
Super lightweight | Batyrzhan Jukembayev vs Kane Gardner |
Featherweight | Otabek Kholmatov vs Jason Canoy Manigos |
Bantamweight | Balaussa Muzdiman vs Maria Theresa Pinili |
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly professional boxing stats
- Age: 32
- Height: 6' 0" / 182 cm
- Reach: 71.7" / 182 cm
- Total fights: 16
- Record: 16-0-0
- % wins by KO/TKO: 69
Anauel Ngamissengue professional boxing stats
- Age: 29
- Height: 5' 9" / 176 cm
- Reach: N/A
- Total fights: 14
- Record: 14-0-0
- % wins by KO/TKO: 64