Janibek Alimkhanuly made weight today for his second IBF 10-pound check and is ready to defend his IBF middleweight title against Andrei Mikhailovich tonight, October 4, at The Star in Sydney, Australia. Janibek’s photo on social media shows that he is skinny to control his 10-pound hydration limit.

Janibek (15-0, 10 KO) looked much bigger and older than Mikhailovich during the weigh-in and the last press conference. They should be the same height at 6’0″, but that’s not exact.

Mikhailovich appears to be around 5’10” lofty and not that forceful. He can’t punch like Janibek with a knockout, so he’ll have to find another way to win today.

The Janibek-Michajłowicz event will be broadcast live on ESPN+ in the US from 5:00 ET/2:00 PT.

“When you beat a dog, you become a dog. I always knew I would fight for the world title, no matter what people said. The fight with Janibek is amazing,” said Mikhailovich Fight. “It’s a real honor and a real privilege for me. I think he’s a great fighter.

“Sharing a ring with him is fantastic. I’m really proud and really elated. Janibek is a stern matter. He’s stern as hell. He comes from the Eastern Bloc. These are tough, tough people. I also come from the Eastern bloc, but I also have a weakness for kiwi. That’s the only difference.

“I still come from the same place as him, but don’t be fooled by all the playfulness and silliness. If you take yourself so seriously, it’s monotonous. People want to have fun. I want to have fun. I don’t drink or gamble. I’m having fun winding people up.

– Besides, it’s all just fun. The next gigantic thing is going to happen in 72 hours or a week. People will forget about me and Janibek until I fight again. It’s a constant cycle. You have to enjoy it when you do it.

“I believe he is humble. If you listen to what I’m saying, I didn’t say a single bad word about him. I’m just here to have fun,” Mikhailovich said.

We are ready 😤 pic.twitter.com/3Ye7caa2N9

— Janibek Alimkhanuly (@kazaqstyle) October 4, 2024

Janibek Alimkhanuly had twice as much trouble making weight as his team had in determining the stakes for Friday’s fight.

The undefeated and unified middleweight champion weighed in at 171.7 pounds at the second day of the IBF weigh-ins. The result was just under the allowed 7.5 percent excess under the IBF’s modified same-day weight control regulations. IBF mandatory challenger Andrei Mikhailovich weighed in at 169.2 pounds as he prepared for his first career title fight.

At Thursday’s official pre-fight weigh-in, both fighters were within their contracted 160-pound limit. Alimkhnauly (15-0, 10 knockouts) weighed 159.5 pounds and Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO) weighed 159.9 pounds.

Their fight will headline Friday’s ESPN+ show on The Star in Sydney, Australia. The event will also be broadcast locally on Kayo Sports.

Originally, Alimkhanuky was only supposed to defend the IBF belt. However, a recent WBO ruling reiterated that her belt is also at stake in what the sanctioning body considers a voluntary title defense.

The public declaration irritated the Alimkhanuly team, which felt cheated and agreed to comply with the IBF’s second day weigh-in. The clause does not apply during a unified title defense. This fight was considered a mandatory defense of the IBF title only until October 1. However, it was always known that Alimkhanuly would be stripped of his WBO title if he lost on Friday.

The Alimkhanuly-Mikhailovich gala was previously scheduled to take place on July 13 in Las Vegas. The fight was canceled before the pre-fight weigh-in when Alimkhanuly was hospitalized with dehydration.

As a result, Mikhailovich was left without a fight. Alimkhanuly was then summoned by the WBO – whose title he also holds – to provide medical evidence as to what led to his dehydration and whether he was fit to resume his reign.

Meanwhile, the IBF intervened and put the fight back on the table. This case was an epic moment for the #PurseBidHeads sports faction. No Limit Boxing, Mikhailovich’s promoter, outbid Top Rank by just $1,000 ($351,000-$350,000) to win the rights to the fight scheduled for September 3.

Alimkhanuly is making his fourth attempt to defend his title in the general classification and the first in the history of the IBF belt. He knocked out undefeated Vincent Gualtieri in the sixth round of their IBF/WBO unification fight on October 14 in Rosenberg, Texas.

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Lightweight Tevin Farmer knows the game all too well. A sneaky hunter, he became a measuring stick for promoters trying to gauge how their fighters would fare against WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson. Farmer, with his slick defensive style and southpaw attitude, sees a pattern and is ready to prove he is more than just a test case for the next massive name.

On November 16, Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KO) returns to the ring in Riyad, Saudi Arabia, to face Mexican William Zepeda (31-0, 27 KO) in a fight that could make or break his career.

Farmer, a former IBF junior lightweight titleholder, is looking at a close decision loss to Raymond Muratalla – a fighter who, like many, is close to facing Stevenson. Now Farmer faces Zepeda, an aggressive, high-performance fighter who is on a four-fight knockout streak.

The farmer is fully aware of what is at stake. He had been here before, but this time the pressure was greater.

“They say me and Shakur [Stevenson] I have a similar style and I’m the one who wants to see how good Zepeda is to see if he’s ready for Shakur,” Farmer said. “But I promise you it won’t get to Shakur.”

28-year-old Zepeda looks unstoppable, and his last fight ended with a third-round knockout of Giovanni Cabrera. But Farmer, 34, still sees himself as a force to be reckoned with, despite setbacks. After losing the title to Joseph Diaz Jr. in January 2020. Farmer took a three-year hiatus before returning to win three fights in the Northeast. His recent loss to Muratalla was a close call, and now he’s determined to bounce back and clarify how he sees himself.

“I feel like I’m a adolescent veteran,” Farmer said. “I started boxing behind schedule, so I still feel adolescent, but I have a lot of fights ahead of me. I have to go out there and beat the guy that everyone is afraid of, and that’s William Zepeda.”

For Farmer, this fight is more than just another notch on his belt. It’s about regaining your place in the sport – or maybe leaving for good.

“The last fight was a do-or-die decision for me, but unfortunately it didn’t go my way,” Farmer said. “This time it’s really a matter of do or die. We come to put on a show.”