Janibek Alimkhanuly’s unified title reign is at risk even though one belt is at stake for his next fight.

The Ring’s No. 1-rated middleweight will put his IBF title on the line versus mandatory challenger Andrei Mikhailovich. Their bout will take place on Oct. 4 at The Star in Sydney, Australia. ESPN+ will stream the fight in the U.S., while it will air live for free on Kayo Sports in Australia.

Kazakhstan’s Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 knockouts) also holds the WBO title. However, the sanctioning body rendered the bout as a non-title affair. Because of that, New Zealand’s Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) is only eligible to win the IBF strap.

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

The timing comes as The Ring has learned a Hamzah Sheeraz-Denzel Bentley fight is being explored for later this year. Sheeraz (20-0, 13 KOs) must first defeat red-hot contender Tyler Denny (19-2-3, 1 KO) this Saturday at Wembley Stadium in London.

Sheeraz and Denny are rated No. 1 and No. 2 by the WBO. Such a fight is expected to come with at least an interim title at stake.

Alimkhanuly-Mikhailovich was previously due to take place on July 13 in Las Vegas. The fight was canceled prior to the pre-fight weigh-in when Alimkhanuly was hospitalized due to dehydration.

Mikhailovich was left without a fight as a result. Alimkhanuly was subsequently summoned by the WBO—whose title he also holds—to provide medical proof of 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. The matter provided an epic moment for the #PurseBidHeads faction of the sport. No Limit Boxing, Mikhailovich’s promoter, outbid Top Rank by a mere $1,000 ($351,000 to $350,000) to win the rights to the fight on Sept. 3.  Sources informed The Ring that Top Rank VP Carl Moretti was still celebrating Notre Dame’s Aug. 31 win over Texas A&M and forgot to grab the bigger purse bid envelope.

A date was secured to allow Alimkhanuly to resume his career.

“In the Olympic Games in Sydney, two Kazakh boxers won gold,” Alimkhanuly theorized. “Bekzat Sattarhanov and Yermakhan Ibraimov inspired many Kazakhs. I grew up with a dream to glorify my country like them and am very happy that I will box in Sydney. I want to show the world my flag in Sydney once again, as our Olympic champions did in 2000.

“The fight with Andrei is very important to me because he is an official contender for my title. He is like a cloud for me now. I must quickly get rid of the cloud to see the sun. Everyone knows and understands that he is easy work for me. I will knock him out very quickly!”

Alimkhanuly attempts his fourth overall title defense and first of the IBF belt. He knocked out unbeaten Vincent Gualtieri in the sixth-round knockout of their IBF/WBO unification bout last Oct. 14 in Rosenburg, Texas.

Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) enters his first career title fight. The timing means he fights for one belt instead of two but is unbothered by that or his opponent’s lack of respect.

“I live in the present, but I certainly haven’t forgotten the past,”Mikhailovich said. “I respect him as the champion, but I know that he doesn’t respect me. It’s why I look forward to taking absolutely everything from him. I will be writing my name into the history books alongside Joseph Parker and Maselino Masoe as a world champion.

“This is my destiny, it’s my everything. I will stop at nothing to make sure the world remembers the name Andrei Mikhailovich.”

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