If manoeuvring your way to a boxing title is akin to a game of chess, Andrei Mikhailovich is just two moves away from calling checkmate.
The undefeated Kiwi middleweight could fight for a world championship belt as early as this summer.
It comes after the IBF confirmed this week theywould be ordering a bout between fifth-ranked Mikhailovich and fourth-ranked German Denis Radovan as a title eliminator.
The order will be officially made after the belt, vacated by Kazakh star Gennady ‘Triple G’ Golovkin, is claimed by Brazil’s Esquiva Falcao or Germany’s Vincenzo Gualtieri when they meet on July 1.
While dethroning the winner of that fight and becoming world champion is Mikhailovich’s ultimate goal, for now it’s all eyes on Radovan.
“He’s 16-0. He’s a good basic boxer, I’ll definitely say that,” the Peach Boxing product told the Herald.
“But I’m an exceptionally good boxer and you’ll see on the night why I am who I say who I am because I believe in myself so much and I believe I knock him out in probably five or six rounds.
“I have a lot in my arsenal. This is a game of chess, not checkers, and I’m a chess master.”
The elimination bout is expected to take place in Germany in late August or September.
That’s between four to five months after Mikhailovich extended his perfect record to 20-0 with a fifth round stoppage of Venezuelan Edisson Saltarin at April’s Fight for Life event in Auckland.
Four to five months could be a long wait for such an ambitious fighter, especially considering he was forced to get up from an early knockdown in that most recent win.
Andrei Mikhailovich celebrates defeating Edisson Saltarin. Photo / Photosport
But 25-year-old Mikhailovich knows he’s now at a stage where you must bide your time to turn a dream into a reality.
“It’s definitely nice to have a target. But I also know that this is just another fight because straight after this, I go to fight for the world title.
“People get so tied up into believing, ‘oh, this is such a big fight’. It’s not. I fly somewhere and I hop in the ring and I fight.
“The toughest part about being a boxer is you get asked questions about your career and where you’re going. You answer and then everybody looks at you sideways like ‘is that really going to happen, champ?’
“It’s like, man, if I’m in the ring more often, you’ll see it more often. But I guess I have to be patient and my time will come.”
It’s a skill he’s had plenty of chance to learn being part of a small West Auckland gym doing big things on the global stage.
Along with Mikhailovich, the Peach Boxing stable includes super bantamweight world champion Mea Motu, recent world cruiserweight title challenger David Light and world-ranked light heavyweight Jerome Pampellone.
Head trainer Isaac Peach, just like Mikhailovich, is undaunted by the challenge they’re set to face in a few months.
“These fights are why we box in our gym. It’s what keeps me alive.
“I’m not interested in these mediocre fights. These big fights are what it’s all about. We’re all up for it.
“The one goal for everybody is to win world titles and Andrei is two fights away.”
That starts with Radovan, who Mikhailovich plans to put on the canvas in more ways than one.
“I want to make this fight look like a performance and a work of art.
“To make it look like a work of art, you’ve got to do your due diligence and make sure every rock has been looked under.
