Mikhailovich’s coach Isaac Peach gave his fighter a free pass to let his frustrations out at their press conference earlier this week.
“I think he needed to get that stuff off his chest and sometimes a blow-up can be quite good, you can get that emotion out and it’s done, it’s not suppressed,” Peach said.
The fiery back-and-forth was Team Mikhailovich’s chance to get some jabs in before the bell rung, headlined by Peach calling Alimkhanuly a “disgrace to boxing” and accusing the champion of deliberately failing to make weight in July.
“They want to teach us about respect when they were the ones who did the most disrespectful act that’s ever happened to us, which is to not make weight in Vegas and waste all our time and money,” said Peach.
“There was a bit of heated discussion, but it’s no big deal. At the end of the day, it’s fight time now.”
Following July’s cancelled bout the Kiwi’s promoter, No Limit Boxing, would win the purse bid to host the rescheduled fight over Alimkhanuly’s Top Rank group.
Despite the Kazakh holding the IBF and WBO belts, the Australian promotion pushed for only the former to be on the line.
Under IBF rules, fighters must make weight at the usual weigh-in process between 20-30 hours before the fight and also must undergo secondary weight checks the morning of the bout.
The added stipulation was an effort by No Limit to put pressure on the champion after the events of Las Vegas.
The 21-0 fighter reflects on the cancelled bout in the United States but doesn’t yield any anger that was poured out at the press conference.
“When that fight fell through, a part of me felt like I already won. I felt like how I thought I was going to feel in Vegas. I felt like this was my city, I felt like I was going to own it, and I did all of that.
“I took away that this is exactly where I’m meant to be in life, and I haven’t been brought this far for no reason. I feel like in my heart and soul that I’m already a champion.
“I’m in a very fortunate position in life due to my hard work, but I also honour this position because the percentage of fighters who get into a world title fight is low.”
It’s a subdued outlook from Mikhailovich but he doesn’t want people to think he’s letting his guard down.
He remains fearless in his approach, as he steps into the ring with a champion who’s claimed 15 wins without loss – 10 of them by way of knockout.
“Say you go for a drive, there are so many things that could go wrong. The wheel could come off, a rock could fly through the window screen and hit you in the head, a truck could hit you, but you don’t think about any of that, you just hop in your car and drive,” Mikhailovich said.
“It’s the same thing with how I approach fighting.”
Mikhailovich knows the later rounds will be the deciding factor if he’s to join the likes of Joseph Parker and Maselino Masoe in rarified air as world champions from New Zealand.
“Everyone looks like a champion for the first round. Over the longer fights, it’s a war of attrition and more about your ability when you’re under fatigue and the endurance sets in and that’s one thing I’m good at.”
The longer his career’s stretched, the better Mikhailovich has become at swapping his mouth for his fists and enabling them to do the talking.
Peach knows it’s business for his fighter as usual.
“He’s calmer, he’s more focused than he’s ever been, which he has to be because it’s the biggest fight of his life,” he said.
“We’ve put a game plan together and we’re ready to shock the world, that’s what we’re here to do.”
