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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Naoya Inoue and Sam Goodman are finalizing an agreement to fight on December 24 in Tokyo for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight title, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The fight will be broadcast on ESPN+ on Christmas Eve morning in the US

Inoue, the third-ranked pound-for-pound boxer on ESPN, will face the Australian for the second year in a row. The Japanese star, known as “The Monster,” scored a seventh-round TKO against TJ Doheny last month.

According to ESPN BET, Inoue (28-0, 25 KO) was a -6500 favorite against Doheny, and while he will have a good chance of beating Goodman, the odds won’t be that high. Goodman (19-0, 8 KO) is ranked the No. 4 junior featherweight by ESPN and has proven his mettle with wins over fellow title challengers Ra’eese Aleem and Doheny.

The 25-year-old Goodman is coming off a July decision victory over Thai rival Thachtana Luangphon.

Inoue’s second defense of his undisputed world title will be his third fight this year and he will fulfill another mandatory obligation. The 31-year-old will have one more mandatory defense after the match against Murodjon Akhmadaliev from Uzbekistan.

Inoue, a future Hall of Famer, has not competed in the U.S. since June 2021, but is scheduled to return to fight stateside next year.