Janibek Tests Positive, Lara Unification In Jeopardy

IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhnuly has tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance ahead of a three-belt unification fight against WBA champion Erislandy Lara this Saturday.

Lara Fight on the Brink

With the positive test by the 32-year-old Janibek (17-0, 12 KOs), his fight against Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) is on shaky ground and could be canceled.

The two were scheduled to fight in the co-feature slot on the Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Lamont Roach card on Amazon Prime Video PPV at the Frost Bank Center, San Antonio, Texas.

Mike Coppinger broke the story of Alimkhnuly testing positive. The 42-year-old Lara could still stay on the card, provided an opponent is found fast enough to replace Janibek. That’s iffy because there’s not much time.

PPV Card Takes a Major Hit

For the fans who were thinking of ordering or have already ordered the expensive $74.99 event on Amazon Prime PPV, they can’t be happy about it. It was one of the better fights on the card. The main event between interim WBC 140-lb champion ‘Pitbull’ Cruz and Roach isn’t good enough without a strong supporting cast to make it worth paying that amount.

Janibek posted his reaction on X to his positive PED test, saying he was “surprised” by the result. He says he’s requested a “retest.”

Retest Request Raises Questions

If his second test turns up positive, it’s possible he’ll be off the card. That puts Lara in a spot. He was hoping to defeat Janibek and potentially get chosen by Terence Crawford to fight if he moves down to 160.

“I have always supported clean sport, you know this well. I was surprised when I read the news. VADA took the first test and said everything was clean. I have not made any changes to my vitamins. I don’t know what happened with the second test, so I requested a retest,” said Janibek Alimkhnuly on X, reacting to the news of him testing positive for a banned PED ahead of what was supposed to be a unification against Erislandy Lara.