Boxing
Chris Eubank Jr-Conor Benn undercard star calls out 'most feared world champion'
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Rising middleweight star Aaron McKenna is targeting a fight with unified 160lbs titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly, describing the Kazakh as ‘the most feared world champion’.
McKenna established his presence at the top end of the middleweight division in April on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr’s victory over Conor Benn. The Irishman inflicted defeat upon former Eubank Jr rival Liam Smith, cruising to a unanimous decision win over the ex-world champion.
The 26-year-old is ranked inside the top 10 by three of the major sanctioning bodies, with the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) the outlier in rating the Irishman at 13th.
Alimkhanuly currently holds the WBO and International Boxing Federation (IBF) titles, the latter organisation making McKenna eligible for a world championship fight due to his seventh-placed perch in their ratings.
McKenna told The Ring: "No-one really is interested in fighting me, a rising star in the division.
"I just want to take anyone on who is a test, and Janibek is one of them, he's world champion, he's in the same situation, he's trying to get a fight with the other world champions, but they don't want any of it.
"So I think between me and him, we're probably the two most feared in the division, I'm a rising star, he's a world champion, he'd be the most feared world champion in the division, so I think a fight between me and him would make perfect sense, because we're two guys that find it hard to fight anyone else in the division, no one really comes knocking on the door for us.”
Unbeaten in 20 fights, McKenna made clear his ambitions for his career. Not content with simply becoming a world champion, ‘The Silencer’ hopes to unify all four belts at middleweight before moving up to 168lbs.
"I believe I am the best middleweight in the world, and I just have to prove it again. In my last fight I came through it in flying colours, and the next fight I intend to do the same, and I just want to fight the best.
"I do believe I beat him, and I want to become undisputed in the division, so I can move up to 168 then."
Alimkhanuly has launched a month-long offensive on social media, calling out World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Carlos Adames. Boxing’s kingmaker, Turki Alalshikh, was keen on seeing the two champions unify, but claimed in July that Adames had ‘wasted his time’.
World Boxing Association (WBA) titleholder Erislandy Lara has also been called out by ‘Qazaq style’, with Alimkhanuly keen on uniting all the belts at 160lbs. McKenna himself would like to see the best fighters face each other, believing that modern boxers avoid tough tests.
He continued: "I want to bring [boxing] back like the 80s and 90s, when boxers weren't afraid to fight each other.
"That's what boxing's about, I studied a lot of the 1980s fighters like Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray (Leonard), Tommy Hearns, (Roberto) Duran, all them guys.
“When I do my studying on boxers, they'd be the ones I watch. It's the activity. They fought numerous times per year, but world champions now, they'd be lucky to fight once a year, twice a year if they're very active in their eyes, but that's just what I want to bring back."
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