Modern Zealand middleweight contender Andrei Mikhailovich says he always knew he would fight in Las Vegas.

The 26-year-old Aucklander will have a chance to fulfill his dream when he faces 160-pound number one Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KO) for the IBF and WBO belts in Vegas, Nevada, on July 13.

“I feel fantastic. I feel great, I feel alive, I feel ready. This is my moment, this is my destiny. This is what I have trained for years. If a city was built for me to fight in, it would be Las Vegas,” said Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO).

“I’m a born artist and I just do it, baby. For me it’s an amazing thing that I can fight for the world title, but it’s not the most significant thing in the world. It’s amazing, but for me it’s just another day in paradise.”

Mikhailovich began his life in a world away from the radiant lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Born in Saint Petersburg in post-Soviet Russia in 1997, as a child he was sent to an orphanage along with his twin brother Nikolai and given up for adoption. Kiwi couple Marcel and Paula Driessen adopted them as toddlers and raised them in the Land of the Long White Cloud.

“If you really put it into perspective, when I was born, I was a baby that my mother didn’t need or want at all,” Mikhailovich said. “And I understand that after the fall of the Soviet Union they couldn’t feed their children or anything like that. I don’t know the whole story, but I came from absolutely nothing, right? If you think about it in this context, I wasn’t loved for the first 18 months of my life – sure, people took care of me in the orphanage and stuff like that – but from that point on, I had this journey where I had to really discover who I was.

“I haven’t met people who say that’s who you really are. I had to go on this journey of self-discovery. I forget who I am and what I like about myself. And I think that’s why when I win, people will be shocked and say, “How did you do it?” Trust me, brother, the battle I’ve had in my life has lasted much longer than 36 minutes.

“The shit I’ve been through in life, the pain I’ve felt, the ups and downs and all that, it’s just another day to me, man.”

There was intense sibling rivalry in his home. As children, Andrei and Nikolai often argued, so he became accustomed to the bumps and bruises that the twin brothers often exchanged.

“Let’s imagine two Russian twins growing up together in a house. Do you think it will be an airy, fairy-tale, loving relationship? No, buddy, it’s not,” he recalled.

However, his first contact with boxing came much later, when he was a teenager, after a chance encounter in an alley.

“It sounds like nonsense, but it happened,” Mikhailovich said. “I got into a lot of fights at school. I got into fights at school. I was known for it. But one day I was walking down the aisle and a guy, bigger than me, nudged me with his shoulder and asked, “What are you going to do about it?” I didn’t know what to do, and then he stubbed out his cigarette on my chest. Simply put, this is a true story. I felt so scared that I went and took up boxing.

“I fell in love with boxing and that’s it. I never saw this guy again. I actually mentioned him maybe a few years ago and thanked him for it because he was the reason I got into the sport.

Mikhailovich joined Isaac Peach’s gym in Auckland at the age of 15, and the rest, as they say, is history. Peach, a former boxer turned trainer, became something of a father figure to Mikhailovich, who learned from him the dedication and discipline it takes to succeed in the prizefight.

“I feel like we have a great relationship,” said Mikhailovich, whose stablemates include David Delicate, Jerome Pampellone and Mea Motu.

“There is a huge level of respect between us. I respect him as a coach, as a friend and I listen to him. But I think the most significant thing is that I needed a man like that in my life. I had problems with authority figures and people telling me what to do. He found the right path for me and we just have a great relationship.

“The most significant thing I will say about our relationship is that we trust each other. I trust him in everything. He knows everything about me. When I go to the gym, he calls me and tells me by my eyes whether I’m going to have a good or bad day. He knows me better than anyone else.

“One thing I will say about his training is that he is tough but fair. He knows when he needs to kick my butt and scold me, he knows when I’m having a good day and he’ll tell me I’m doing great.

Mikhailovich turned professional six years after a moderately successful amateur career. He won the national crown in his 13th professional fight and quickly moved on from there, winning regional titles in international fights that gave him a foothold in the WBO and IBF rankings. The usually sturdy Venezuelan Ernesto Espana lasted less than three rounds against him in June 2022, while another Venezuelan, Edison Saltarin, exposed him in the first set before succumbing in five frames last April.

In the first moments of this fight, the left-handed Saltarin threw a right hook, at the same time Mikhailovich threw a lob and a right hand. Saltarin’s punch got there first. Mikhailovich found himself on the canvas.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” Mikhailovich whispered. “Before this fight, me and my friends came up with a plan to throw some soap into the ring so that I would go down in the first round, really dramatic and shitty. So for the first 10 seconds of the fight, that’s what they did. They threw some soap in the ring and I fell over and it got really dramatic. And the hat is exactly what I wanted. This made the fight dramatic. This is what really happened.”

Mikhailovich laughs.

“But no, it’s all or nothing, brother,” he said. “I didn’t even get hurt. I was more unnerved. As I was descending, I thought: “There is no way that I, Andrei Mikhailovich, am falling, falling!” When I got up, I didn’t feel hurt. Honestly, I thought it was more about balance.

“If you watch the replay of the knockdown, I actually put my hand down to brace myself. When I got up, the guy just ran at me, huffing and puffing and throwing all these wild punches. I thought, “You’ve got another 21 minutes with me, buddy.”

Saltarin attacked. Mikhailovich withstood the pressure. He then launched his own counterattack, attacking the Venezuelan’s liver like Hannibal Lector. The body attack paid off. Saltarin was stopped in the fifth place.

Mikhailovich showed great composure, dealing with complex moments at the beginning of the fight. Saltarin, like Alimkhanuly, is a southpaw.

“I am very lucky,” he said. “I started boxing when I was 15 and I think after two months of boxing I broke my right arm, so I had to learn to employ my left hand. Since then, I have always had an exceptionally forceful left hand. Over the last four or five years, I have developed the ability to change positions quite comfortably. I’m probably a failure at the gym 60 or 70 percent of the time.

“When it comes to perspectives and ideas on how to fight a southpaw, you can read and study as much as you want. I think three of my last five fights have been against southpaws.

“But it’s like this, man. If you think it’s going to be a substantial deal, it’s going to be a substantial deal. If you don’t think it will be a substantial deal, it won’t be a substantial deal.

“It all depends on conceptualization. If I decide this table is too hefty for me to lift, it will be much too hefty to lift. But if I think it’s just a table, I’m sure with the right attitude and leverage I can move it.

“Don’t make it too complicated, man.

“We overcomplicate a lot of things in life and make a substantial deal out of it. That’s why many fighters are drowning while fighting for the world title. They go through this huge trial: “I’m fighting King Kong!” They have to prepare for King Kong, but King Kong is a gorilla; I’m just fighting a man.

Despite his self-confidence, Mikhailovich does not underestimate his next opponent. Alimkhanuly has a well-deserved reputation as one of the most hazardous men in boxing. The 31-year-old Kazakh is a highly qualified technician who has fought over 300 amateur fights. As a professional, he dominated virtually all of his opponents with his speed, angles and clever punch selection.

Mikhailovich knows what he’s getting into.

“First of all, I will say that I have a lot of respect for Janibek,” he said. “I think he’s a fantastic player. I think he is an amazing midfielder, has a wealth of amateur experience and is the unified world champion for a reason. I will have to raise the bar and hit all the I’s, cross all the T’s and look under every rock. So obviously I have to be more diligent, I have to be extremely focused, 24/7, 365, but it’s all part of the job, man.

“But for me, the excitement is that I can focus on the next level, focus on some other things, stylistic issues with this fight. And yes, in the end it’s just a fight. No matter what’s going on or what’s at stake, it’s just me and him in the ring and whatever happens, happens. He’ll find what he wants to do, and I’ll find what I want to do, and we’ll just mix and match.

“It’s just a game of chess and whoever gets checkmate is the winner.”

Getting to where he is has been quite a challenge for Mikhailovich. Questions about his identity plague him everywhere. At one point in his career he was known as “The Renegade”. In another he was “Russian”.

Now he seems at peace with who he is.

“Renegade” was a period in my life. Russian was a period in my life, he explains. “Now you can just call me Andrei fucking King Mikhailovich.”