IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly stopped IBF Pan Pacific title and WBO world champion “King” Andrei Mikhailovich in a ninth-round war on Friday night at The Star in Sydney, Novel South Wales, Australia.

The fight had to take place in July in Las Vegas when Alimkhanuly passed out on fight day due to weight gain.

IBF middleweight champion Aimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KO) knocked out Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO) at 2:45 of the ninth round in a fight scheduled for 12 rounds.

Aimkhanuly used his jab effectively in the first round, rocking Mikhailovich mid-round with a left hand to the chin. Mikhailovich landed a solid shot right to Aimkhanuly’s chin after the bell.

In the second round, after a minute of Mikahilovich holding firm against punches, Aimkhanuly was landed behind the head and warned by referee Katsuhiko Nakamura.

Aimkhanuly rocked Mikhailovich, knocking him to his feet. In the last seconds, Aimkhanuly’s left to the chin knocked down Mikahilovich for 8 from referee Nakamura.

In the third round, Aimkhanuly was dominated by Mikhailovich, who fought well but was lost until the bell. In the fourth round, Aimkhanuly outperformed the tough Mikhailovich throughout, keeping the fight single.

In the fifth round, Mikahilovich kept him inside, not allowing Aimkhanuly to break free with his knockout power for half the round. In the last round, Aimkhanuly had Mikhailovich on defense.

Aimkhanuly drew blood from Mikahilovich’s nose in the first minute of the sixth. It was Aimkhanuly who stood his ground, and Mikahilovich came back and fought well.

Aimkhanuly landed three or four punches at once in the seventh set. Arriving two days before the fight may have had an impact on Aimkhanuly as Mikahliovich fought well.

In the eighth round, Aimkhanuly sucked blood from Mikhailovich’s mouth in the first minute. Mikhailovich was punished several times by referee Nakamura for using his head. In the final seconds, Aimkhanuly’s left uppercut injured Mikahliovich.

In the ninth round, Aimkhanuly left Mikhailovich almost defenseless, bleeding from his nose and mouth. Aimkhanuly took Mikhailovich to the ropes and almost knocked him to the ground when referee Nakamura wisely called a timeout.

IBO featherweight champion Mea Motu (20-0, 8 KO) defeated Shannon O’Connell (24-8-1, 12 KO) at 1:06 of the fourth round of a scheduled 10-round fight.

In the first round, 41-year-old former Commonwealth champion O’Connell, who was playing as a substitute, endured a solid round by both her and Motu until heads clashed midway through the round, which resulted in O’Connell suffering a massive gash after right side of the head, which caused the doctor on duty to come and check it out.

In the second round, O’Connell, with blood streaming down her face, fought bravely until the final seconds when she was crushed by a Motu combination.

There was no blood flowing in the third round of action, but by the end an egg-sized lump appeared on O’Connell’s forehead.

In the fourth round, both were landing punches mid-round when the towel was thrown in and O’Connell was concussed by a Motu punch, causing referee Andrew Lazich to order a stoppage.

O’Connell was a true fighter in defeat and was expected to fight for the WIBF World Super Bantam title in Germany, taking the fight on tiny notice. Motu showed her respect by hugging O’Connell after the break.

Lightweight Charlie Kazzi (7-0, 3 KO) knocked out Lui Magavia (4-7 (1 KO) featherweight) at 1:18 of the seventh round of a scheduled eight-round fight in an action-packed fight for the vacant WBC Australasia silver title.

It was a fast-paced action with the taller Kazzi going to the body, ending the round with a strenuous punch right to Magavia’s chin. In the final seconds, Kazzi rocked Magavia with a left hook to the chin.

In the third round, referee Will Soulis warned Kazzi not to stop punching. In the final thirty seconds, Kazzi rocked Magavia with a solid punch to the chin.

In the last twenty seconds of the fifth round, Kazzi rocked Magavia, who took a lot of blows to the head. In the seventh round, Kazzi landed a series of punches that caused referee Soulis to stop play, possibly prematurely, much to Magavia’s displeasure.

Lightweight Amed Reda (3-0, 3 KO) defeated super featherweight Joe Kara (5-7-1, 5 KO) by knockout in the second round of a scheduled six-round fight.

Liam Paro was an underdog contender before his previous trip to Puerto Rico.

This time it’s a man on a mountaintop trying to defend his crown.

In June, the 28-year-old Australian was given the unenviable task of traveling to the Caribbean island to challenge local hero and IBF junior welterweight champion Subriel Matias at the Coliseo Juan Aubin Cruz Abreu in Manati.

Paro had little chance of winning against the powerful Matias (20-2, 20 KO), widely considered the division’s boogeyman. However, the challenger started swift, weathered the storm in the middle rounds and came home with saturated sails to win by unanimous decision on scores 116-111 and 115-112 twice in enemy territory.

Paro (25-0, 15 KO) will return to the island to defend his title against Richardson Hitchins (18-0, 7 KO) on December 7 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The battle of undefeated 140-pounders will be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.

“All the so-called massive fighters at 140 pounds have lost their tongues, so I decided to start my mandatory defense against Hitchins early and prepare my way for 2025,” said Paro, who is ranked third in The Ring rankings behind champion Teofimo Lopez. “I can’t wait to fight and show again why I’m a top contender at 140 pounds! I’m coming to shine again in stunning Puerto Rico!”

Hitchins has yet to be tested at this level. In his last fight in April, he went to the death against Argentine Gustavo Lemos and won by decision.

Still, the 27-year-old American is confident he has the tools to get the job done.

“For as long as I can remember, I’ve told anyone who would listen that I was the best 140-pound fighter in the world. On December 7, I will finally have the opportunity to cement it,” said Hitchins, who is ranked No. 10 in The Ring rankings.

“Hats off to Liam Paro, he beat the so-called boogeyman of this division, but I’m not Subriel Matias. He’s never fought a fighter like me before. He didn’t want this fight, and for good reason.

“This is my unit. I’m a 140-pound man and when I get that belt, I’ll take it back to Up-to-date York and it’ll all go through me. And up-to-date!”

Galal Yafai believes that his amateur boxing experience will come in handy when he faces a challenging client, Sunlit Edwards, on November 30.

Yafai, winner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medal, will face Edwards in Birmingham for the interim WBC flyweight title. However, this won’t be the first time the pair have shared the ring after first facing off a decade ago in the ABA semifinals. Edwards said goodbye to the winner that day, and the pair played countless rounds together during their time with Team GB.

Their rivalry first took shape in the British boxing team. Yafai was selected ahead of Edwards to compete in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers. Edwards considers this decision unfair because he defeated his rival in the vest. Edwards then went a different route and turned professional, winning the IBF flyweight title, while Yafai competed at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics. Now the pair has a chance to face each other again, this time in the fight for the world title in 2025.

“I’ve known Sunlit for a long time, so there’s a lot of history behind it, but not only that,” Yafai told BoxingScene. “Honestly, I’m being respectful, but I’m waiting for him to try something so I can just jump over it. It’s good, it builds the fight, there’s a lot of story, people are interested. Now it’s up to us to put on a show, it’s up to me to win.

“When he beat me in the amateur competition, he beat me by split decision,” he continued. “I basically won that fight. But yeah, that was when he beat me, then we had a rivalry, we got to the UK and started sparring more and more. I improved a lot, I felt better, I went to the Olympics. He thought he should go to the Olympics, he became a professional, he won the world title, I won Olympic gold. We just went our separate ways, but he kept his end of the bargain, I kept my end of the bargain, so now we can meet in the middle and it could be a substantial fight. I just have to win it.”

Many of his opponents see Edwards as an enigma that can’t be solved – unless you’re Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. His quick feet and movement often leave fighters stunned and punching the air. However, this is not something Yafai is worried about after his experience sparring with the former world champion.

“It was a good spar; It was a 50-50 sparring,” he said. “Sunlit is a good fighter. I’m not just going to beat him. But in this case there were good sparrings where I could see what he was about. I know that fighting and sparring are different. Sunlit knows I’m a sedate fighter. We lost a lot of rounds. If anyone has shared many rounds with me, it’s Sunlit. He knows if people don’t do it, if they think it’s too early, or what. We’ll see on November 30.

“I’ve sparred a lot of matches with him, so I’m already used to his style,” he continued. “Sunlit has a bit of an amateur style; it’s on the butt and so on. I’m used to fighting guys from behind as an amateur who are probably a little more clumsy. But we’ll see on fight night. I have to be the best I can. The best Galal should beat the best Sunlit. But I have to be the best I can be, and if I’m not good enough, I’m not good enough.

Yafai achieved what many can only dream of, winning a gold medal at Tokyo 2020 thanks to a brilliant performance against Carlo Paalam. Yafai now has a taste of glory and is looking to achieve what only fellow Brits James DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Nicola Adams and Lauren Price have achieved – winning both Olympic gold and a world title.

“Being world champion is the only thing I can do,” Yafai said. “It’s something I want to do. I know there are few people who have been both world champions and Olympic champions. I think there are two or three of them. So if I get on that list, it will be a substantial deal for me.”