Unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly of Kazakhstan lost out on his opportunity to take a step toward becoming the undisputed champion on Saturday’s PBC on Prime Video card after being pulled from the fight due to a failed drug test.
Alimkhanuly (17-0, 12 KOs), who won the WBO title in 2022 and the IBF title in 2023, has only fought twice in the last two-plus years. Now he will sit on the couch in Oxnard, California, where he trains, and watch his opponent, WBA champion Erislandy Lara of Cuba (31-3-3, 19 KOs), fight a backup opponent stepping in on short notice.
VADA officials informed all the parties involved of the test results from a November 15 sample. It was positive for meldonium, which is prohibited whether in or out of competition. Other notable athletes have tested positive for the same banned substance, most famously tennis player Maria Sharapova. She received a 15-month ban.
Janibek’s response was posted to social media this morning.
I support clean sport. I’m against athletes using doping! We took the VADA test, and the results came in yesterday – everything’s clean ✅ pic.twitter.com/7LmFLzKPSu
— Janibek Alimkhanuly (@qazaqstyle) November 12, 2025
Erislandy Lara Now Faces Johan Gonzalez
Lara will fight on and defend his title against Johan Gonzalez of Venezuela, who trains in Las Vegas. Gonzalez was reportedly training and on standby in the event of a problem with the co-main event. It’s not unusual to have backup opponents for significant fights, whether available to move up from a scheduled undercard fight, or to fly in on short notice like Gonzalez.
It’s a tactic promoters rely on when they have concerns about any scheduled opponent, including visa issues, fragility from prior injuries, or sketchy circumstances, or even rumors around drug tests.
Lara and Gonzalez will remain on the card headlined by title fight between WBC interim junior middleweight titlist Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz and WBA junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach Jr. on the PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view card on Saturday at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.
However, the much-anticipated showdown between two-division world champion Stephen Fulton Jr. and WBC Super Featherweight World Champion O’Shaquie Foster has now been elevated to the co-main event.
Lara vs. Gonzalez will be the second of four fights on the PPV, which begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
At age 41, Erislandy Lara has reinvented himself in the back half of his boxing career as an impressive power puncher. Rather than fighting in the classic Cuban school relying on tactical skills, Lara goes toe to toe and can end a fight with a knockout punch.
In his previous fight in September 2024, Lara took out former two-division world champion Danny Garcia. He won his title with a first-round knockout of Thomas LaManna in May 2021.
Before moving up to the middleweight division, Lara was the longest reigning super welterweight world champion before losing by split-decision to Jarrett Hurd in 2018, the Boxing Writers Association of America Fight of the Year.
Johan Gonzalez (36-4, 33 KOs) is coming off his best win last March, ironically also against Jarrett Hurd in another split decision victory. In October 2024, Gonzalez was stopped by well-regarded prospect Yoenis Tellez on a ProBox card. His other notable loss came to Jesus Ramos.
Gonzalez’s solid wins include Ricardo Ruben Villalba and Guido Emmanuel Schramm. Gonzalez won his first 22 bouts before dropping a split decision in 2018. He’s a significant underdog, but he won’t be a pushover for Lara and the pair should deliver an entertaining fight for fans for as long as it lasts.
What’s Next For Janibek?
After months of griping on social media and calling out opponents, claiming no one of stature would fight him, Janibek Alimkhanuly finally secured a unification fight with Lara, only to blow it up with a dirty drug test.
The Kazakh was considered a poor risk vs. reward fighter. Unlike his countryman Gennadiy Golovkin, who was beloved by fans, Alimkhanuly has never been able to develop as a fan draw. His promoters at Top Rank are unsurpassed at promoting talent, but struggled to gain any traction with Alimkhanuly.
Fighters who test dirty but who have a significant fan base and deliver ticket and PPV sales get more leeway to survive their suspensions (Canelo Alvarez, Ryan Garcia, you can fill out the rest of the list). But if you’re struggling to be good box office like Alimkhanuly, you’re in a dire situation.
Alimkhanuly will proceed with requesting testing of his B sample, which is all but guaranteed to replicate the original results. He will face some form of suspension as punishment, but the real punishment will be his move to the very back of the line for future opportunities, and even less reason to offer him an opportunity to fight a champion.