After withdrawing from their previous date due to a last-minute weight cut disaster, Janibek Alimkhanuly is once again set to battle IBF mandatory Andrei Mikhailovich on October 4th in Sydney, Australia.
No Limit Boxing narrowly outbid Top Rank for control of the fight earlier this month, but it doesn’t appear that there are any hard feelings, as ESPN+ will carry the show stateside.
Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KO) fights for the first time since pummeling Vincenzo Gualtieri for the IBF belt last October. That victory marked his third defense of the WBO title, but oddly enough, that belt won’t be on the line despite Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO) sitting at no. 5 in their rankings. If there’s an explanation out there, I haven’t found it.
It’s not the big fight Alimkhanuly has clamored for for years, but that could change soon. Even if unifications with Carlos Adames and Erislandy Lara remain elusive, Hamzah Sheeraz sits atop the rankings and could very well get the call if he smashes Tyler Denny this weekend.
“In the Olympic Games in Sydney, two Kazakh boxers won gold. Bekzat Sattarhanov and Yermakhan Ibraimov inspired many Kazakhs,” Alimkhanuly said. “I grew up with a dream to glorify my country like them. I am very happy that I will box in Sydney. I want to show the world my flag in Sydney once again, as our Olympic champions did in 2000.”
The fight with Andrei is very important to me because he is an official contender for my title. He is like a cloud for me now. I must quickly get rid of the cloud to see the sun. Everyone knows and understands that he is easy work for me. I will knock him out very quickly!”
“I live in the present, but I certainly haven’t forgotten the past,” Mikhailovich said. “I respect him as the champion, but I know that he doesn’t respect me. It’s why I look forward to taking absolutely everything from him.”
“I will be writing my name into the history books alongside Joseph Parker and Maselino Masoe as a world champion. This is my destiny, it’s my everything. I will stop at nothing to make sure the world remembers the name Andrei Mikhailovich.”