Kazakh boxer Zhanibek Alimkhanuly has been stripped of one of his two middleweight world championship titles following a doping case but has retained his second belt. The athlete will be eligible to return to the ring at the end of 2026 after serving a one-year suspension.
As previously reported by The Times of Central Asia, in December last year Alimkhanuly found himself at the center of a doping controversy less than a week before one of the most important fights of his career, a unification bout for three middleweight (up to 72.6 kg) titles against Cuban boxer Erislandi Lara. At that time, he tested positive for the banned substance meldonium.
Following several months of proceedings, it was determined that the drug containing meldonium had been taken unintentionally. This finding allowed the potential period of disqualification to be reduced to one year.
The suspension period began on December 2, 2025, the date of the boxer’s provisional suspension from competition. Accordingly, Alimkhanuly will be eligible to return to the ring on December 3, 2026.
At the time of the ruling, the 29-year-old Kazakhstani held two world middleweight titles, under the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) versions.
The WBO decided not to strip the Kazakh boxer of his championship belt.
“Although the WBO has the authority to strip the champion of his title, we have concluded that, given all the circumstances and his status as a first-time offender, declaring the title vacant would not be proportionate to the punishment,” the organization said in a statement.
In contrast, the IBF ultimately decided to strip the Kazakh boxer of his title.
However, the decision was not taken directly because of the positive doping test. Rather, due to the suspension, the boxer will be unable to defend his title within the time frame stipulated by IBF regulations.
Under the organization’s rules, a champion is required to defend his belt at least once every nine months. Alimkhanuly had been scheduled to defend his title on July 4, 2026, a date that is no longer feasible because of his suspension.
As a result, the IBF Board of Directors declared the title vacant.
The president of the Kazakhstan Professional Boxing Federation, Rakhimzhan Yerdenbekov, said the situation should serve as a serious lesson for the athlete’s team.
“I believe that this situation has been a major lesson for Zhanibek’s team. He will return to the ring even stronger and win all four world belts,” Yerdenbekov wrote on Instagram.
The Alimkhanuly case is the second high-profile doping controversy in Central Asian boxing in a short period. Olympic champion Lazizbek Mullujonov of Uzbekistan was recently banned for three years for violating anti-doping rules.
