Janibek Alimkhanuly thought he knew exactly who his next opponent would be.

Every chance he got, Hamzah Sheeraz called The Ring and unified middleweight champion out. Alimkhanuly barely said a word. He allowed Sheeraz to say what he wanted without giving much of a rebuttal.

Fighting over social media isn’t fun for the 31-year-old. He’d much rather let his fists do the talking. So, when Sheeraz (21-0, 17 KOs) was ordered by the WBO to be his next opponent, Alimkhanuly was the happiest man around. His smile and happy attitude, however, morphed into a confused one as Sheeraz withdrew from their showdown.

Team Sheeraz gave little explanation but just a few months later, it all made sense. Behind the scenes, a matchup with Carlos Adames, the reigning WBC champion, was slowly coming together. Once those conclaves made it to the finish line, Sheeraz was satisfied.

Officially, the two will get it on next month on February 22nd in Saudi Arabia. For most fans, all is forgiven. Sure they wanted to see Sheeraz and Alimkhanuly square off but a showdown with Adames has fireworks written all over it. But while fans are willing to give him a pass, Alimkhanuly isn't. From his point of view, Sheeraz simply wanted to take the path of least resistance.

“I think he needed an easy opponent,” said Alimkhanuly of Sheeraz to Boxing News during a recent interview.

Picking a winner is extraneous. All Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) cares about is fighting the victor. As he waits for the dust to clear, The Ring’s No. 1 ranked middleweight takes a hard look at his world titles.

Of course, he’s proud of what he’s accomplished. He wouldn’t change his championship status for practically anything. Nevertheless, he also views those shiny trinkets as somewhat of a curse. In his younger years, Alimkhanuly had no issues getting the fights he wanted. Now, for whatever reason, things have completely changed.

“When I became champion of the world, everybody started avoiding me and he is one that’s also avoiding me.”