IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs) fought a close-range war with #7-IBF and #13-WBO-ranked Anauel Ngamissengue (14-1, 9 KOs), stopping him in the fifth round in their headliner on Saturday night at the Barys Arena, Astana, in Kazakhstan.

Inside warfare

The 2016 Olympian Janibek abandoned his normal medium to long-range fighting style to trade with the heavy-handed Congo-born Ngamissengue at close range, trading bombs with him throughout the contest.

In the fifth round, Ngamissengue landed some big shots on Janibek, cutting his eye and igniting some fire in him. Janibek retaliated connecting with two huge left hands to the head of the France-based Ngamissengue, putting him on the canvas. Although he beat the count, the fight was halted by the referee. Ngamissengu looked like he wouldn’t have been able to hold up for more than a few more punches if the fight had been allowed to continue.

It was an interesting change of style for the unified middleweight champion Janibek, as he’s normally fought medium to long range, picking off his opponents with left-hand power shots. According to commentator Ray Mancini, Janibek wants to change his style to make it more the Mexican style of fighting to get the bigger fights. Indeed, the middleweight division is pretty empty of names right now.

For Janibek to get the big-money fights that he wants, he’s going to need to move up to 168 or 175 to get the matches against fighters like Canelo Alvarez and David Benavidez. Staying at 160 is a dead-end for Janibek. He’s not going to make big money fighting the lesser guys in that barren weight class that is empty of talent.

It is a good sign that Janibek is making tweaks in his fighting approach to become more fan-friendly, and to help him compete when he does move up to 168 and 175. He’s going to need to be able to fight on the inside if he’s going to fight in those divisions.