Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler Fight Card, Odds, & Predictions

The first WBO Middleweight world title defense of Janibek Alimkhanuly (13-0) goes down this Saturday, May 13, against the latest challenger Steven Butler (32-3-1), as they headline the event inside Stockton Arena. Because of his immaculate record of 13 wins with no losses, Alimkhanuly is the heavy betting favorite in boxing odds at -3000 against Butler, who is the overwhelming underdog at +2500 and has already sustained three defeats in 36 professional bouts.

That time again 🏆

Welcome to #JanibekButler fight week! pic.twitter.com/Q5lARPDdOl

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 8, 2023

Aside from the perfect record, the Kazakh is also the heavily favored boxer in boxing betting lines due to his championship experience, backed up by his high TKO/KO finishing rate of 61%. Although Butler has a higher stoppage rate of 72%, he hasn’t fought in a major world title bout just yet. This will be the Canadian’s first major shot at a major boxing world title.

Janibek Alimkhanuly Recent Fight Results

Janibek Alimkhanuly was a perennial name in boxing amateur ranks from 2013 to 2015, as he participated in various amateur tournaments worldwide. His amateur career highlight is when he qualified for the 2016 Olympics and reached the quarterfinals phase. “Qazaq Style” transitioned to becoming a professional in October 2016 and won his debut against Milton Nunez via first-round TKO.

Alimkhanuly recorded four more wins against Gilberto Pereira dos Santos, Carlos Galvan, Vaughn Alexander, and Steven Martinez to earn his way for a title shot in April 2019 against Christian Olivas for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Middleweight and WBO Global Middleweight titles. The 30-year-old won his first title fight by unanimously beating Olivas to collect his first set of boxing belts.

Following this title triumph, Alimkhanuly has defended these two belts five times against Stuart McLellan (fifth-round knockout in August 2019), Albert Onolunose (sixth-round knockout in November 2019), Gonzalo Gaston Coria (second-round knockout in October 2020), Rob Brant (eighth-round corner stoppage in June 2021), and Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (eighth-round TKO in November 2021).

Because of this impeccable run, the former Olympian earned a WBO Interim World Middleweight title fight with Danny Dignum in May 2022, and “Qazaq Style” maximized the opportunity by knocking out Dignum in the second round of their title clash. Things got more interesting for the now California native as former WBO Middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade vacated the title, which opened another chance for him.

In November 2022, Alimkhanuly faced Denzel Bentley for the WBO World Middleweight title in Las Vegas, and the Kazakh boxing star outpointed Bentley en route to a unanimous decision victory to capture the coveted belt and officially call himself to be a boxing world champion. Alimkhanuly hopes to extend his unbeaten run to 14 and keep his title against Butler this Saturday.

KO power on another level 🚀🇰🇿@QazaqStyle | MAY 13 | @ESPN pic.twitter.com/l6morBK0un

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) April 11, 2023

Steven Butler Recent Fight Results

Steven Butler is a Canadian boxer who was a former amateur national champion in 2013. He won his first 12 fights with 10 TKO/KOs before sustaining a majority draw decision with Jamie Herrera in June 2015 in their North American Boxing Federation Junior Super Welterweight title showdown. Following that hiccup in his pro record, Butler went on a six-fight streak.

“Bang Bang” won against Teemu Tuominen (first-round TKO), Antonio Hoffmann (unanimous decision), Sladan Janjanin (third-round TKO), Ferdinand Pilz (ninth-round TKO), Robson Assis (third-round TKO), and Janks Trotter (first-round TKO). These wins have earned Butler the IBF Youth Super Welterweight and IBF North American Super Welterweight titles.

In January 2017, the Montreal, Canada native suffered his first pro career loss at the hands of Brandon Cook via seventh-round TKO. After this maiden defeat, Butler came back with ten successive victories, including nine stoppage finishes, to capture the IBO International Super Welterweight, WBC Francophone Middleweight, and WBC International Middleweight titles.

Because of these incredible consecutive wins, Butler earned his first major title shot in December 2019 against Ryota Murata for the WBA World Middleweight title. Unfortunately, he came up short and was TKO’ed by Murata in the fifth round. Jose de Jesus Macias added to the woes of the Canadian boxing star after giving him his second straight loss in January 2021 via fifth-round TKO.

Butler finally regained his old form from his past four fights after beating Hector Manuel Zepeda (third-round TKO in March 2022), Brandon Brewer (unanimous decision in June 2022), Mark DeLuca (second-round TKO in September 2022), and Joshua Conley (unanimous decision in December 2022) to win the North American Boxing Federation Middleweight title.

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler: Tale of the Tape

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler: Fight Analysis

On paper, the tale of the tape between Alimkhanuly and Butler is almost equal, with Butler having three inches reach advantage against Alimkhanuly. The Canadian has other advantages over the Kazakh: a three-year youth edge and a 19% higher TKO/KO percentage. Meanwhile, the defending champion has the better record of 13 wins with no losses versus the challenger’s three losses and one draw in 36 pro bouts.

Stylistically, this fight benefits Alimkhanuly’s style because he loves to use his one-two punch combination as a counter, with Butler being the more aggressive and active boxer who throws several jabs and body shots. Apart from the one-two combination that the Kazakh throws, he also has the patented hook-uppercut combination that catches his opponents off guard.

This lethal combo from the defending champion is made possible by his impeccable footwork. Meanwhile, Butler’s key to this title fight is to utilize every inch of his reach advantage to score points and set up his combinations perfectly. Additionally, he should be cautious of Alimkhanuly’s counters and immediately put his hands up for defense whenever he retreats.

It was the same mistake he committed when he fought Ryota Murata because the Japanese were able to exploit that hole in his defense to throw counterpunches which eventually resulted in a fifth-round TKO finish. The Canadian challenger should also maximize his slight speed advantage to frustrate the champion if he wants to capture his first major world title and score a massive upset.

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler: Date and Start Time

May 13, 2023, 5 p.m. PT

May 13, 2023, 7 p.m. CT

May 13, 2023, 8 p.m. ET

Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler: Fight Prediction

Official Prediction: Unanimous decision win for Janibek Alimkhanuly.

See the entire Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Steven Butler odds and wagers here.