Kazakhstan’s Zhanibek Alimkhanuly is focused for Rio

Kazakhstan’s AIBA World Champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly returned to international competitions in top shape this year and after his great performances he proved he is among the favourites in the boxing tournament of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The Middleweight class (75 kg) boxer is on the final preparation for Rio and will be travelling to Brazil with the Kazakh team next week.
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly competed for Kazakhstan in the youth competitions in 2010 and in 2011 before his elite medals. He had a great success in the National Championships of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2012 which he won at the age of 19 and that success determined his further medals in the current Olympic era.
Alimkhanuly won the gold medal at the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan and at the 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan which year was the most successful in his career. The Middleweight class (75 kg) received several awards after these titles and as the youngest team member of the Kazakh team he surprised the world.
The strong Kazakh boxer arrived to the venue of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games as the top favourite of the Middleweight class (75 kg) and after his key semi-final contest against India’s Vikas Krishan Yadav he was able to win another title. Alimkhanuly was not enough shape in 2015, advanced only to the quarter-finals in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Bangkok, Thailand and also in the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships in Qatar.
Kazakhstan’s Zhanibek Alimkhanuly returned to the main international competitions in perfect form this year. He overwhelmed Kyrgyzstan’s Ilyar Akhmetov in the quarter-final of the AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event in Qian’an where he stopped also Mongolia’s Narmandakh Shinebayar in the last four and did not give any chance to China’s Zhao Minggang in the final of the Middleweight class (75 kg).
“We had a great training camp in Almaty before heading to Rio de Janeiro to my most important competition. I do not have any injuries and all of my teammates are also in top shape without any problems. At the Olympic Games there are not any weak boxers so I am expecting only big battles in Rio. I fully agree with head coach Myrzagali Aitzhanov that all of our boxers can win at least medals in Brazil. If you work hard and believe in the success you can reach your goals,” said Kazakhstan’s Zhanibek Alimkhanuly who is one of the main gold medal contender of the Middleweight class (75 kg).