Once upon a time not long ago, Janibek Alimkhanuly and Hamzah Sheeraz made a vow to meet once the latter won a middleweight title.

Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) will be an interested observer this weekend to see if his fellow unbeaten middleweight can take the next step to honor that agreement. That said, he’ll gladly settle for whoever wins between Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) and reigning WBC middleweight titlist Carlos Adames (24-1, 18 KOs).

“To be honest, I don’t know who will win,” Alimkhanuly told The Ring. “It’s a tough fight for both of them. May the best man win; it doesn’t matter who wins since I am ready to fight both of them.

“I just hope the winner is ready to fight me.”

Adames-Sheeraz is part of a loaded Riyadh Season show this Saturday, which will air live on DAZN Pay-Per-View and PPV.com from ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

England’s Sheeraz is The Ring’s No. 2 middleweight, while the Dominican Republic’s Adames is one spot behind him at No. 3. Both are just behind Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly, The Ring’s No. 1 middleweight and the current unified IBF/WBO titlist.

Alimkhanuly spent much of 2024 chasing unification bouts with both Adames and WBA middleweight titleholder Erislandy Lara (31-3-3, 19 KOs), The Ring’s No. 4 middleweight. When neither materialized, the 31-year-old southpaw set his sights on Sheeraz, the division’s hottest challenger who has stopped has past fifteen opponents.

The pair of unbeaten middleweights met at the Ring Magazine relaunch gala last December in Riyadh. It was decided at that time that Sheeraz would circle back to a showdown with Alimkhanuly should he get past Adames this weekend.

Sheeraz was in a position to challenge for either the WBC or the WBO title, as the mandatory for both belts. It was decided by his team to pursue the Adames fight first for the WBO belt, to bring something more to the table for a future showdown with Alimkhanuly.

You can’t blame Alimkhanuly for taking a wait-and-see approach, as he has taken the necessary steps to move forward with his own career. The top-rated middleweight will defend his unified crown against Anauel Ngamissengue (14-0, 9 KOs) atop an April 5 homecoming in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, he will tune in this weekend to see if Sheeraz can hold up his end of the bargain.

“First of all, Hamzah still needs to win this weekend,” noted Alimkhanuly. “But if he wins, I will be very happy for my fellow Muslim brother. I am ready to fight Hamzah if he wins. For now, he needs to win.

“We tried to fight him before but he was avoiding me. I’m ready to fight anywhere, anytime.”