ASTANA – Kazakh boxer Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 knockouts) retained the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) title as he defeated New Zealand’s Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 knockouts) in a fight at The Star in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 4, reported Sports.kz.
Initially, only the IBF title was at stake, but both world titles were contested in the bout. Alimkhanuly secured a technical knockout in the ninth round out of twelve, after knocking down Mikhailovich in the second round.
Alimkhanuly won the sixteenth victory in his professional career and successfully defended his IBF and WBO belts, while Mikhailovich experienced his first professional defeat.