Janibek Alimkhanuly retained his IBF and WBO middleweight titles with a ninth-round knockout of Andrei Mikhailovich at The Star in Sydney, Australia on Friday night, but the victory came with a lesson.

Don’t play with your food.

Kazakh southpaw Alimkhanuly, 31, was all over Mikhailovich in the opening rounds, clearly hurting his Kiwi opponent and dropping him late in the second heat. But Alimkhanuly stood off, wanting his opponent to suffer after a bitter lead-up to the rescheduled bout.

One more punch would’ve made it an early night for everyone. Alimkhanuly didn’t take it.

Instead, he was forced to battle through seven more rounds of grappling and inside fighting. For the most part, Alimkhanuly got the better of the action. But the Russian-born Mikhailovich, 26, made him work every inch of the way.

Mikhailovich crowded Alimkhanuly on the inside. He threw chopping shots with each hand, denying the titleholder leverage for his sharper punches at mid- and long-range. But Alimkhanuly, rated at No. 1 by The Ring at middleweight, looked two shirt sizes bigger than Mikhailovich, and was able to get his own hands flowing with heavier shots.

Victory always looked like a matter of time for Alimkhanuly, even if he had to go the long way about it. Mikhailovich, bleeding from the mouth and nose, managed to squeeze out a short break in the action when referee Katsuhiko Nakamura sent him to his corner to get the tape fixed on his glove.

That respite wouldn’t last long.

Alimkhanuly nailed him with a left uppercut, swiftly followed by a left cross. Mikhailovich went down. That was enough for referee Nakamura, who wisely waved off the contest at 2:45 of the ninth.

DEMOLITION ⚠️

🏆🏆 @QazaqStyle remains in a league of his own. pic.twitter.com/8sADRIfQyi

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 4, 2024

The clean-punching Alimkhanuly shifts his ledger to 16-0 with 11 knockouts, but he might not be long for the weight class after tonight’s experience. For Mikhailovich, who is now 21-1 with 13 knockouts, it’s back to the drawing board.

In the main support bout, Mea Motu took on seasoned veteran Shannon O’Connell over eight two-minute rounds at a 125-pound catchweight.

Motu had been scheduled to face The Ring junior featherweight champion Ellie Scotney (9-0), who also holds the IBF and WBO titles, on the undercard of the Jack Catterall vs Regis Prograis undercard at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England on October 26 before the 26-year-old Londoner withdrew from the bout due to injury.

Motu was determined not to let her training camp go to waste.

The powerfully built Kiwi opened up a cut in the hairline of O’Connell above the right temple in the first round after an accidental clash of heads. The 34-year-old mother of five backed Brisbane’s O’Connell, 41, onto the ropes and drew her into a furious exchange.

O’Connell, who has three kids of her own, returned to her corner drenched in blood.

Motu went on with it in the second, bulling O’Connell back and mauling her in close. Motu hammered the body with both hands and finished off with power shots upstairs. The pressure from the Auckland native continued in the third, with O’Connell returning to her stool with a large egg over her right brow.

O’Connell was as game as always, landing a jarring right hand early in the fourth, but she simply didn’t have the firepower to keep Motu off her. O’Connell’s corner threw in the towel and referee Andrew Lazich called the contest at the 1:02 mark.

With the victory, Motu moves to 20-0 with 8 KOs. O’Connell drops to 24-8-1 with 12 KOs.