WBO President Gustavo Olivieri has officially announced that the teams of Kazakhstani boxer Janibek Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KO) and undefeated Dane Jacob Bank (20-0, 11 KO) have successfully reached an agreement to hold a fight for the vacant WBO world champion title in the super middleweight division (up to 76.2 kg). This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The organization received official written notifications from both sides right before the deadline, which was set for October 7. As a result, the promotional purse bids are cancelled.
The head of the WBO officially confirmed on social media X that the parties have fixed the contract terms, while details of the date and venue will be published later. Janibek Alimkhanuly has already reacted to this post, reposting it with a green checkmark.
According to reputable insiders (in particular, The Ring), the title bout is planned to be held in December 2026 in Denmark (Jacob Bank's homeland).
The previous title holder, Britain's Hamzah Sheeraz, refused to make a mandatory defense against Alimkhanuly and voluntarily vacated the belt. After that, the WBO immediately matched the No. 1 ranked Alimkhanuly and No. 3 ranked Jacob Bank.
For Alimkhanuly, who previously held the WBO and IBF titles at middleweight, this fight is an official chance to become a world champion in two weight categories.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Janibek Alimkhanuly had chosen the venue for the championship fight. He appealed to promoters to organize the fight at the famous Madison Square Garden arena in New York (USA).