Middleweight champion, Janibek Alimkhanuly has reportedly failed a VADA test days out from his next fight.
Janibek, the WBO and IBF champion, is scheduled to face WBA titlist, Erislandy Lara in a unification clash on Saturday in Texas on the undercard of Isaac Cruz vs Lamont Roach.
However, the showdown has been thrown into doubt after Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger reported that Janibek has delivered an adverse analytical finding for a performance-enhancing substance in a Voluntary Anti-Doping Test [VADA].
Details remain unclear over when the test was taken and which banned substance is in question.
As this article goes to publish, members of Janibek’s team did not reply to proboxing-fans.com seeking comment on the situation.
The Kazakh southpaw is undefeated in 17 professional fights and retained his two belts with a fifth round stoppage of Anauel Nganmissengue in April, but has struggled to lure the major names into a ring with him.
Lara, 42, forced Danny Garcia to retire in the ninth round last September to defend his WBA crown.
The winner of the bout was linked with a potential against undisputed super middleweight champion, Terence Crawford, who is likely to move down to middleweight following his sensational upset over Canelo Alvarez in September.
Alimkhanuly had expressed interest in a possible clash with the five-weight world champion.
“The motivation for me is to get all four titles and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said
“Of course if there’s a possibility to fight a fighter like Crawford, that would be a big, big, huge opportunity and it would bring a lot of motivation.”
According to Ring Magazine, a new opponent for Lara could be brought in if Janibek is pulled out.
At the top of the bill at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Cruz defends his WBC interim super lightweight title against Lamont Roach Jr and elsewhere, Stephen Fulton Jr defends his WBC super featherweight crown against O’Shaquie Foster
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