Janibek Alimkhanuly not only stepped on the scale this time, but passed the scale comfortably.

The unified 160-pound title weighed 159 ½ pounds, while mandatory IBF title challenger Andrei Mikhailovich weighed 159.9 pounds. Their fight will headline Friday’s ESPN+ show on The Star in Sydney, Australia.

Both fighters must still pass day two of the IBF hydration check, during which they must weigh no more than 170 pounds. IBF regulations require that participants in title and elimination fights weigh no more than 10 pounds over the established limit when weighing in on fight day.

Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 knockout) is the IBF WBO champion. However, Fresh Zealander Mihajłowicz (21-0, 13 KO) refused to fight for the WBO title and has only a chance to win the IBF belt.

Alimkhanuly will retain both titles if he wins. A defeat would see Mikhailovich take home the IBF title, while the WBO belt would remain vacant.

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.

Mikhajłowicz (21-0, 13 KO) starts his first title fight in his career. The timing means he will fight for one belt instead of two, although it was presumed the tactic was intentional this time. Under IBF rules, unified world titles are not subject to weight control on the same day, but only when more than one title is at stake. This is not the case here, which resulted in Alimkhanuly and Mikhailovich being bound by IBF rules to the letter of the law.

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Former rivals Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez met for the first time since their two fights at the Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame last weekend.

The event, which is becoming one of boxing’s annual must-see attractions, saw the fighters reunite and embrace 15 years after Martinez defeated Williams by majority decision in his first fight, before the Argentine champion scored one of the best knockouts of the 2010s – if not always – to stop Williams in two rounds upon his 2010 return. Both fights took place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Williams had only two more competitions before he was confined to a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident.

The event was attended by fight fan Donovan Kasp. Kasp, a regular every year at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, said one of the highlights was meeting Marvin Hagler’s son, James Hagler, and then taking a photo of Wonderful’s son hugging Hagler’s former rival Roberto Duran and his daughter.

“There were so many memorable things,” Kasp said of the weekend. “Spending time with Nate Campbell who broke my heart when he destroyed Kid Diamond, hanging out with Roberto Duran and stopping him from tasting one of the hottest sauces in the world during our group challenge! I joke with James Toney, but I also talk personally about both of our fathers dying at the same age of 65. I play the slot machine with Vito Antufermo, I drive Michael Spinks and his wife Flo in my car. I’m sharing lots of laughs with my boxing crew, making recent friends and making memories.”

This year, Mario Maldonado, Martinez, Sharmaba Mitchell, Mark Breland, Buster Douglas, Eva Jones-Juvenile, Gerry Cooney, Tyrone Frazier and Williams were drafted.

Special authors honored included Randy Gordan, Sampson Lewkowicz, Buddy McGirt, Bruce Blair, Eric Bottjer and Guy Gargan, posthumous members included Howard Davis Jnr, Judge Eddie Cotton and Jay Larkin, and pioneers included Eric Seelig, George Godfrey and Joey Giardello.

It was the eighth annual Atlantic City Boxing Hall of Fame, held at the Difficult Rock Hotel & Casino.

Boxing star Terence Crawford said he turned down a contract to fight UFC great Conor McGregor because he didn’t want to take part in a mixed martial arts fight.

In separate interviews, both Crawford and McGregor revealed that Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, offered them a two-fight contract, one in boxing and the other in MMA. McGregor said they would receive “hundreds of millions.”

But while McGregor was willing to compete in both sports, Crawford refused.

“They offered me this fight,” the four-division champion said in an interview with Bernie Tha Boxer. “Me and Conor called and started getting political to figure something out. Man, I’m not going into any fucking Octagon with you so you can kick and elbow me!”

McGregor, 36, is no stranger to crossover fights. In 2017, the former two-division UFC champion boxed Floyd Mayweather. McGregor lost by TKO in the 10th round, but reportedly earned over $100 million. The Las Vegas fight grossed $55.5 million live and sold 4.3 million pay-per-view buys, the second-most in boxing history.

The undefeated Crawford, 37, is arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world and one of three boxers to have won all four major world titles simultaneously in two different weight classes.

However, Crawford has not competed in MMA, and although he has a background in wrestling, he said he would prefer to keep his fights in the boxing ring.

“He said, ‘I respect that,’” Crawford said of McGregor’s reaction to him turning down the fight. “You respect my sport as much as I respect your sport. You understand that if you entered the octagon with me, I would be at a disadvantage. Just like if I got into a boxing ring with you, I’d be at a disadvantage.'”

McGregor confirmed the story during a live broadcast with Duelbits.

“[I told Crawford] They are asking for a fight,” McGregor said. “There are hundreds of millions at stake. What’s up? He said, “I don’t want to take a kick.” You have to respect that.”

While McGregor said he held no ill will toward Crawford’s decision, he made sure to tell him what he left on the table.

“We would have made a lot of money,” Crawford said, referring to what McGregor told him.

McGregor is recovering from a toe injury that delayed his long-awaited return to the Octagon against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June. It is not known who his opponent will be when he ends his over four-year break in MMA.

Crawford will win a unanimous decision over Israil Madrimov in August. His goal was to fight Canelo Alvarez in a massive fight, but no agreement was reached for that fight.