Unified middleweight titleholder Janibek Alimkhanuly sat stoically as challenger Andrei Mikhailovich stole the show at their press conference with lively comments contrasting Alimkhanuly’s typically professional, monotone responses. The two will fight for the titles on Saturday at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KO), 31, a Kazakhstan native training in California, has not been known for his mic skills, but his prowess in the ring is a different story. He won a world title in his 12th pro fight and unified the middleweight titles in his 15th. His only blemish was a lackluster performance against Denzel Bentley, leading some to question his ceiling. At the press conference, Alimkhanuly expressed frustration over his inability to secure unification bouts with fellow middleweight titleholders Erislandy Lara and Carlos Adames.
“I have to be critical of them because they are champions; they don’t want to fight other champions,” said Alimkhanuly via a translator. “I think the real champion has to fight the real champion.”
Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs), 26, of Auckland, New Zealand, lightened the mood with humorous comments about Las Vegas and Los Angeles, calling them “pretty G” and adding that “everyone else is very pretty, I’m very pretty, so I just fit the mold, man.” He also shared a serious story about his and his twin’s upbringing in a Russian orphanage following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to them being given up for adoption.
“Everyone tells me this is a huge fight. ‘Andrei, this is a big deal,’” said Mikhailovich. “’How are you going to handle the pressure of Vegas and the IBF and WBO unified world champ?’ The fight of life is a lot tougher than this.”
“If you live in the future, you are anxious; you live in the past, you are depressed,” Mikhailovich said. “I just stay right here in the fucking center – that’s how I roll.”
Alimkhanuly acknowledged Mikhailovich’s bravado, saying, “Of course we want to thank him for taking this fight. Not too many champions agreed to fight me – but he did step up. He’s undefeated, he’s a young fellow, he’s very hungry, and he brought everything he has to show us on Saturday night.”
In the co-main event, undefeated lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KOs), 27, of Fontana, California, will fight former junior lightweight titleholder Tevin Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KOs), 33, of Philadelphia, in a 10-round bout. Each fighter believes he is in a different class than the other.
“I’m ready for a title shot,” Muratalla said. “He’s a good fighter, but I just think I am on another level right now, and it is going to show Saturday night.”
“I am just going to show there are levels,” Farmer said. “There are definitely levels in boxing. He hasn’t yet faced somebody at this level, and it is going to show Saturday night.”
Responded Muratalla: “You are going to have a long night on Saturday night.”
Featherweight Ruben Villa (22-1, 7 KOs), 27, of Salinas, California, who is ranked No. 1 by the WBC, will open the main card when he faces Sulaiman Segawa (16-4-1, 6 KOs), 33, of Silver Spring, Maryland. Villa, who wants a title shot, expressed interest in fighting titleholders Luis Alberto Lopez and Rey Vargas. Villa’s only career loss came in a title fight against Emanuel Navarrete for a vacant featherweight title.
“There is ‘Venado’ – I beat him already,” Villa said of Lopez. “I would like to fight him. That was a fun fight. We’ve both gotten better since, but I would fight Venado. I’d fight Rey Vargas – he has the WBC title. Like I said, I want a world title shot. I am not going to be boxing forever.”
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