Alimkhnauly stops Mikhailovich to retain IBF Middleweigth crown
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On Friday in Australia fans saw unbeaten Kazakh Zhanibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11) , make his latest defense of the IBF Middleweight title, in a mandatory defense, as he took on New Zealand based Russian born fighter Andrei Mikhailovich (21-1, 13). On paper this one looked good, and given it was a bout that was rescheduled after falling through, at short notice, earlier in the year the hope was that we were going to get something good to watch. Especially given that Mikhailovich had spent much of the build up running his mouth, and had come across as very confident of scoring an upset. He had also made it clear that he had felt messed around after the issue that originally forced the bout to be cancelled.
Sadly however it seemed Alimkhanuly didn’t think much of Mikhailovich, thought him to be an unworthy challenger and almost treated him with contempt. He travelled to Australia for the fight much later than a fighter usually would to avoid jetlag. Typically over-look an opponent, and travelling late would be an issue, but for Alimkhanuly he was right, he could over-look Mikhailovich as the class between the two was evident from the off.
From the opening round Alimkhanuly looked too sharp, too crisp, too powerful, too quick and too good for Mikhailovich, who struggled to avoid the champion’s powerful left hand, and failed to really land anything of note himself. Things went from bad to worse for Mikhailovich in round 2, when he was rocked, and looked ready to go, only for Alimkhanuly to step off the gas for a moment and letting Mikhailovich have a second to clear his head, something he repeated moments later. Later the same round Mikhailovich would hit the canvas and it became clear that it was a case of “when” and not “if” he was going to be stopped.
From there on it was a case of Mikhailovich showing his toughness, and making things a little bit competitive, whilst Alimkhanuly pieced his man up, leaving him bloodied, bruised, battered and eventually broken, late in round 9. A hard straight left sent Mikhailovich into the ropes and the referee, showing some sense of mercy, immediately stepped in and waved it off.
Whilst some will be frustrated at Alimkhanuly dragging this out, when he could have finished it very early on, it’s worth noting that the Kazakh has been out of the ring since late 2023 and he likely saw this as a chance to get some rounds it, have some fun, and look for a much more interesting and busier 2025. He lost a lot of momentum this year and we dare say he wanted to take some frustration out on Mikhailovich, letting this drag out just to punish his man a bit more.
Sadly however it seemed Alimkhanuly didn’t think much of Mikhailovich, thought him to be an unworthy challenger and almost treated him with contempt. He travelled to Australia for the fight much later than a fighter usually would to avoid jetlag. Typically over-look an opponent, and travelling late would be an issue, but for Alimkhanuly he was right, he could over-look Mikhailovich as the class between the two was evident from the off.
From the opening round Alimkhanuly looked too sharp, too crisp, too powerful, too quick and too good for Mikhailovich, who struggled to avoid the champion’s powerful left hand, and failed to really land anything of note himself. Things went from bad to worse for Mikhailovich in round 2, when he was rocked, and looked ready to go, only for Alimkhanuly to step off the gas for a moment and letting Mikhailovich have a second to clear his head, something he repeated moments later. Later the same round Mikhailovich would hit the canvas and it became clear that it was a case of “when” and not “if” he was going to be stopped.
From there on it was a case of Mikhailovich showing his toughness, and making things a little bit competitive, whilst Alimkhanuly pieced his man up, leaving him bloodied, bruised, battered and eventually broken, late in round 9. A hard straight left sent Mikhailovich into the ropes and the referee, showing some sense of mercy, immediately stepped in and waved it off.
Whilst some will be frustrated at Alimkhanuly dragging this out, when he could have finished it very early on, it’s worth noting that the Kazakh has been out of the ring since late 2023 and he likely saw this as a chance to get some rounds it, have some fun, and look for a much more interesting and busier 2025. He lost a lot of momentum this year and we dare say he wanted to take some frustration out on Mikhailovich, letting this drag out just to punish his man a bit more.