While the middleweight division might not be what it once was, the leader of the current pack is unquestionably Janibek Alimkhanuly, who defends his IBF title against Andrei Mikhailovich on Friday, Oct. 4, at The Star in Sydney, Australia. The 12-round bout, plus undercard action, will be broadcast on ESPN+.
WATCH: Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Andrei Mikhailovic, exclusively on ESPN+
Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs) was an amateur sensation who captured World Championship gold in 2013. The Kazakhstan-born lefty has been fast-tracked as a professional and picked up the interim WBO title with a second-round thrashing of Danny Dignum in 2022. After being upgraded to full champion, Alimkhanuly made two defenses before scoring a TKO 6 win over previously unbeaten IBF champ Vincenzo Gualtieri in October.
"The fight with Andrei is very important to me because he is an official contender for my title," Alimkhanuly said. "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!”
Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) is a Russian-born New Zealander and the IBF’s mandatory challenger. At 26, he’s five years younger than the defending champion and full of ambition despite the odds being stacked against him. In June 2022, Mikhailovich picked up regional IBF and WBO titles at the expense of Ernesto Espana and defended them last April against Edisson Saltarin.
"I know that he doesn’t respect me," Mikhailovich said. "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 (from New Zealand). This is my destiny, it’s my everything. I will stop at nothing to make sure the world remembers the name Andrei Mikhailovich.”
This fight was supposed to happen in July in Las Vegas, but Alimkhanuly withdrew because of weight-making issues. The subsequent delay has led to bad blood between the camps.
The Sporting News looks at the odds for this world title fight and predicts the outcome.
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Andrei Mikhailovich odds, betting
Per BetMGM, Alimkhanuly is the -900 favorite while Mikhailovich is the +600 underdog. The draw is +2000.
Janibek Alimkhanuly vs. Andrei Mikhailovich prediction
Mikhailovich is a good fighter with quick hands and respectable power. While he’s very aggressive, the challenger is also an adept counter puncher and he makes a real target of the body, particularly with the left hook.
The problem is that Mikhailovich has not been given the proper time to develop. The IBF has a habit of rushing fighters into mandatory positions and that’s the case once again. In his six years as a pro, Mikhailovich has not faced one legitimate top-10-rated middleweight and now he goes in against the best in the world.
MORE: How good is Janibek Alimkhanuly?
Alimkhanuly has had fewer fights as a professional, but the level of competition is night and day. If you juxtapose that alongside the champion’s near-unmatched amateur pedigree, then this fight looks like a mismatch. There’s nothing that Mikhailovich brings to the table that Alimkhanuly hasn’t seen before, so the champ can win this fight in whatever way he chooses.
The best we can hope for is that Mikhailovich learns more from his first professional defeat than he’s learned in the 21 fights he’s had to date. If that happens, then the Russian-born Kiwi can be a legitimate force in this division in years to come.
SN Prediction: Alimkhanuly TKO 6 (-350)
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