Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs) and Janibek Alimkhnuly (17-0, 12 KOs) have reportedly agreed to a three-title middleweight unification fight on December 6 on PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Lara vs. Alimkhnuly will be the co-feature on the Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz vs. Lamont Roach card. IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek, 32, will have his two titles on the line, and the 42-year-old Erislandy will put up his WBA belt.
PBC’s High-Value Undercard
With the event priced at $79.99, it makes sense for PBC to stack the undercard with excellent fights to motivate fans to order it on Amazon Video PPV.
The Lara-Janibek fight deserves to be the main event rather than the co-feature, as there will be three titles rather than the interim WBC belt that Cruz holds.
Crawford’s Name Hangs Over the Division
Mike Coppinger reported today that the news of the Lara-Janibek fight has been agreed. It’s a clash that makes sense for both champions because it increases the chances of one of them getting selected by the new Face of Boxing, Terence Crawford, when or if he moves down to middleweight. He’s expected to do that in 2026 after he gets off his victory tour.
For Janibek, he’s finally getting another opportunity to add another middleweight title to his collection. He’d been hounding WBC champion Carlos Adames for a fight for over a year, trying to encourage him to fight him. While it didn’t happen, it doesn’t matter now because he’s got WBA champion Lara to agree to a unification.
Lara’s Long Layoff
Lara will be coming off a 15-month layoff since beating Danny Garcia by a ninth-round stoppage on September 14, 2024. He looked good in dominating Garcia, showing the technical skills that he’d been known for earlier in his career when he was fighting the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Austin Trout, Paul Williams, and Vanes Martirosyan.
The southpaw Janibek will have the power and youth advantage over Lara. He’s also been the more active fighter, already having fought earlier this year, knocking out Anauel Ngamissengue in the fifth round on April 5, 2025.
Written by Ken Woods, Ringside Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2018.
Last Updated on 10/13/2025
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