Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) easily retained his IBF and WBO middleweight titles with a ninth-round knockout against a badly overmatched novice-like challenger Andrei Mikhailovich (21-1, 13 KOs) on Friday night at the Star in Sydney, Australia.
After the contest, the 31-year-old Janibek said that he had carried Mikhailovich and that he could have knocked him out in the second round. Indeed, it looked like Janibek eased off after seconding Mikhailovich to the canvas with some hard punches in round two.
He had Mikhailovich hurt in rounds three and four but didn’t go for the finish. One could see Janibek back off each time, allowing Mikhailovich to stay in the fight. It almost looked like Janibek was showing mercy on the 26-year-old because it was too easy and not a fair fight.
Mikhailovich was totally overmatched and getting wobbled repeatedly by Janibek’s hard punches. In hindsight, the IBF and WBO didn’t do Mikhailovich any favors giving him a high ranking despite him lacking experience against world class fighters. Mikhailovich had never fought a top 15-level fighter before facing Janibek, and it showed.
Mikhailovich made adjustments after the fourth round by crowding Janibek, fighting in close, and not letting him get leverage on his shots. Still, he was getting worked over by the champion, face bleeding, and looking exhausted.
Janibek hurt Mikhailovich with hard left hands in the eighth and ninth, which wobbled his legs. Finally, the referee stepped in and stopped the fight in the ninth round after Mikhailovich was knocked into the ropes. The time of the stoppage was at 2:45.
After the fight, Janibek said he wants to fight a unification match next at 160 against champions Erislandy Lara and Carlos Adames. It’s questionable whether either of those guys will accept his offer for a fight because he’s a dangerous puncher, and neither of those fighters is fighting at the level he showed tonight.
“I could have finished him in the second round, but I didn’t because I needed to work a little bit,” said Janibek to the media after the fight, making it clear that he had carried Mikhailovich. “He changed his tactic, and I had to adjust to his next tactic. I actually liked what I did.
“He was talking a lot during the press conferences. I just said to myself that I’m going to bring him a little pain. So, knocking him out in the second round wouldn’t be very easy. So, I wore him down, and as you can see, he took a lot of punishment for what he did.
“I didn’t feel his punches coming in. So I handled them very well without question. I know both fighters. I was in the ring sparring with Adames, so I know him. I have my tactics for both fighters, and I’m ready as soon as they’re ready,” said Janibek when asked about his interest in fighting WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames and WBA champ Erislandy Lara in a unification fight.
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