The run of world title action continues this weekend as Janibek Alimkhanuly faces off with Vincenzo Gualtieri for the WBO and IBF World Middleweight Titles, whilst the exciting Tim Tszyu defends his WBO 154lbs crown against the hard-hitting Brian Mendoza in Australia. 

You can probably make a case for these fighters being four of the most avoided boxers on the planet but this Sunday, they put it all on the line. Three unbeaten records, four world champions, something is going to have to give on both sides of the world.

Starting off in Texas on Sunday morning, Alimkhanuly looks to become a unified world champion in just his 15th fight when he takes on the undefeated German Gualtieri. 

Faultless in 14 outings so far, Alimkhanuly has been dubbed ‘the new Golovkin’ by many due to his explosive, hard-hitting style and given the fact nobody is overly keen to fight him, it’s easy to see why. 

Victories over Brits Danny Dignum and Denzel Bentley saw him claim the WBO title outright before a typically explosive second-round KO of Steven Butler last time out set up this unification clash with the lesser-known Gualtieri. 

Also unbeaten so far in his career, the German has very much gone under the radar. He produced a career-best performance last time out to become the first man to beat Brazilian Esquiva Falcao and picked up the vacant IBF world title in the process. 

As fights go, this could be a tricky one to predict. On paper, this should be a Janibek masterclass once again but don’t be surprised if Gualtieri takes him to depths that he is yet to venture into and puts up a stern test for the tricky southpaw. 

Over on the East coast of Australia on Sunday, Tszyu makes the first defence of his WBO 154lbs title. 

Son of the legendary Kostya Tszyu, Timmy has built up a reputation as being one of the most fearless fighters in the sport. 

With 23 wins from 23 fights, including 17 KOs, he’s blasted through the likes of Jeff Horn, Tony Harrison, Denis Hogan and most recently Carlos Ocampo. 

He was due to fight Jermell Charlo for the undisputed titles before Charlo pulled out through injury and then stepped up two weights to fight Canelo. This saw the American stripped of his WBO 154lbs world title, which was handed to Tszyu, the ‘interim’ champion at the time.

A fighter who we believe has it all, Tszyu can box, he can punch, he’s intelligent and as we saw in the Terrell Gausha fight, he has huge cojones after climbing off the deck in the first round to claim a unanimous points decision win.

However, in Mendoza, he comes up against his toughest opponent to date. The American shocked the world in his last fight as he stopped the highly rated and undefeated Sebastian Fundora for the WBC ‘interim’ title with a knockout-of-the-year contender in California. 

A fighter who isn’t short on power in both hands, a fighter who has shown on numerous occasions that he has one of the best chins in the division and most frighteningly, a fighter who has nothing to lose, Tszyu will have to put in a career-best performance to beat Mendoza and even then that may not be enough.

Expect the first couple of rounds to be fairly tight. Tszyu knows he’s going to have to think his way through this fight without being reckless, as he sometimes can be when he smells blood. Both men possess the power to stop each other.

The winner will likely get a crack at undisputed against Jermell Charlo in the near future so neither will want to overcommit, but Tszyu will view this as a perfect opportunity to show he’s not just a brawler, but in fact one of the best technical boxers in the division. 

Either way, whoever wins, a star will be born in the 154lbs division.