Mike Coppinger reports that unified middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly’s first fight of 2024 will see him battle IBF no. 4 Andrei Mikhailovich atop a July 13th ESPN doubleheader at Las Vegas’ Palms Casino Resort.
New Zealand’s Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KO) was slated to meet no. 3 Denis Radovan in a final eliminator last December, but missed out on the chance when Radovan suffered a “muscle injury” and withdrew. The fight was never rescheduled, leaving Mikhailovich to shake off a year’s worth of rust last month by handing Les Sherrington the 17th knockout loss of his career.
That took all of 84 seconds and Mikhailovich weighed in above the super middleweight limit, so I’m sure that’s prepared him for arguably the best middleweight in the game. Hopefully Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KO) can finally put together that unification with Carlos Adames after their respective squash matches.
More interesting is the co-feature, which pits rising lightweight Raymond Muratalla (20-0, 16 KO) against former super featherweight champion Tevin Farmer (33-5-1, 8 KO). Farmer spent more than three years on the sidelines after a rough loss to JoJo Diaz in 2020, a layoff highlighted by multiple failed attempts to fight Mickey Bey. His current three-fight comeback tour includes wins over two no-hopers and struggling fellow Philly product Avery Sparrow.
Speaking of Philly, this will be going head-to-head with Jaron Ennis vs Cody Crowley on DAZN. Good luck with that.