Janibek Alimkhanuly And Flores Get Stoppages; Jason Moloney Decisions Astrolabio
WBO middleweight champion Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9KO) made quick work of challenger Steven Butler (32-4-1, 26KO) with a statement-making knockout.
Alimkhanuly, dubbed the boogeyman of the division, came under heavy criticism with an unimpressive performance against Denzel Bentley on November 2022. Looking to erase that performance from the minds of the boxing community, he came out fighting well off the front foot by establishing the jab.
In the second round, the Kazakhstani landed a left uppercut that took that badly wobbled his opponent. He then followed up with a barrage of punishing left hooks that finally dropped Butler. Qazaq Style dropped his opponent two more times with brutal headshots before the referee called a halt to the fight.
This was the Alimkhanuly that the other top fighters are not in a hurry to step in the ring with. In the post-fight interview, he continued to call out the top guys.
JASON MOLONEY WINS WORLD TITLE BOUT OVER VINCENT ASTROLABIO
Newly crowned WBO bantamweight champion Jason Moloney (26-2, 19KO) gave a boxing lesson to Vincent Astrolabio (18-4, 13KO) en route to a majority decision victory.
Astrolabio started out the gate hot, landing thudding uppercuts and body shots. Yet, he was quickly cooled off by the an effective jab. Moloney instantly adjusted to the pressure of the Filipino by boxing and easily won the four criteria of boxing: clean punching, defense, ring generalship, and, at times, effective aggression.
The Aussie kept the fight in the center of the ring and never allowed Astrolabio’s power to become a factor. Furthermore, he was laser focused and would respond with a flurry of punches anytime Astrolabio tried to press the action.
Judges’ scorecards causing drama is starting to become a trend. One judge had it a draw (114-114), overruled by scorecards reading 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Moloney, who won the world title on the third attempt. 3King Boxing scored 117-111 for the Australian.
GABRIEL FLORES JR MAKES QUICK WORK OF DERRICK MURRAY
Lightweight Gabriel Flores Jr (22-2 18KO) scored a potential Knockout of the Year against Derrick Murray (17-9-1, 6KO). If you blinked, you missed one hell of a knockout by Flores in the first round.
Motivated by the hometown crowd, Flores Jr was ready to get back into the winning column. The Californian was running red hot early in his career before suffering two defeats at the hands of IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez and Giovanni Cabrera.
Murray came out aggressive looking to pressure the young fighter. However, he got caught by a counter left hook that flatlined him. The referee instantly waved off the fight in the opening seconds of the first round. It was the win Flores needed to get things back on track.
